I’ve been experiencing several stability issues with my laptop and have already run multiple tests trying to isolate the root cause. I’m posting here in case anyone has gone through something similar or can point me in the right direction.
My system is an HP Omen 16 (c0xxx series approx.), equipped with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX, a dedicated AMD Radeon RX 6600M, and the integrated Radeon iGPU. It has 32 GB of RAM, a 1 TB SSD, and is running Windows 11.
The problems include BSODs (IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL referencing ntoskrnl.exe), system freezes, graphical glitches (black screens, green/white artifacts), and full crashes, especially when using demanding applications like ArcGIS Pro, Leapfrog Geo, Blender, and Cinema 4D. One key observation: in Leapfrog, when using OpenGL, the application crashes consistently, but once I disable OpenGL, it becomes completely stable. This makes me strongly suspect an issue with OpenGL on AMD in this setup.
Additionally, if I disable the integrated GPU (iGPU) from Device Manager, the crashes disappear entirely, but performance becomes extremely poor, with constant lag. This behavior is not limited to professional software—I also tested it with games. When Battlefield 6 released, I tried running it and received an error about outdated drivers related to the integrated GPU. If I disable the iGPU, the game launches, but everything runs extremely laggy (around ~20 FPS), and this sluggish behavior carries over to the entire system (desktop, browser, etc.). This strongly suggests a problem with the hybrid (iGPU + dGPU) MUXless architecture.
In ArcGIS Pro, I noticed it was using DirectX 12 by default. I switched it to DirectX 11 and I’m currently testing whether that improves stability. I’m also planning to buy an external monitor (AOC 27G4, 27”, IPS, 180Hz) to use as the primary display with “second screen only,” hoping that this might route output more directly through the dedicated GPU and reduce iGPU involvement.
Questions:
- On MUXless laptops like this, do HDMI, USB-C (DisplayPort) or direct Mini DisplayPort outputs usually connect directly to the dedicated GPU, or do they still pass through the iGPU?
- Is there a way to confirm how the display outputs are wired without buying and testing an external monitor?
- Is it common for OpenGL to cause instability on AMD laptops while DirectX 11 tends to be more stable?
- Has anyone experienced similar issues with ArcGIS, Leapfrog, or other 3D software on AMD laptops?
- Are there known “stable” AMD driver versions better suited for professional workloads like this?
My main goal is not higher FPS, but achieving real stability for work without crashes. Any help or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated 🙌