[SOLVED] Predator PHN16-72 — CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT BSOD + NVMe disconnects due to overheating

artkirius
artkirius Member Posts: 1 New User

Hi everyone! Here’s my solution to a persistent BSOD and thermal issue on the Acer Predator Helios Neo PHN16-72 (Intel Core i9-14900HX).

❗Symptoms:

  • Random CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT BSOD;
  • System freezes when launching Adobe Premiere Pro / After Effects or under CPU load;
  • CPU temp reached 80+°C even when idle;
  • Second NVMe SSD (Lexar NM800 PRO) randomly disappeared from BIOS and Windows:
    → turns out it was overheating — SSD triggered thermal protection and went offline;
  • Reinstalling Windows didn’t help.

✅ What worked:

  • Full manual reinstall of all critical drivers via Driver Easy Pro;
  • Snappy Driver Installer Origin didn’t help, even with the full offline database;
  • Disabling virtualization (Hyper-V, VT-x, VT-d) only mitigated symptoms;
  • BSOD disappeared after updating these drivers:

🔧 Drivers that caused the crashes:

  • Intel(R) Dynamic Platform & Thermal Framework (DPTF)dtt_sw.inf;
  • Intel GNA (Gaussian & Neural Accelerator)gna.inf;
  • **Intel HID Event Filter (ACPI\INTC1070)`;
  • **Intel Chipset INF — RaptorLakeSystem.inf`;

💡 After the fix:

  • No more BSOD, even with full virtualization features enabled in BIOS;
  • CPU temps dropped to ~50 °C, even under load;
  • NVMe SSD no longer disappears, works flawlessly;
  • Adobe apps work without any freezing;
  • Restore point and full driver backup saved (Export-WindowsDriver).

📢 Message to Acer:

Please pay closer attention to BIOS and driver updates for PHN16-72 and similar newer Predator models.
Users shouldn’t be forced to debug system-level issues on high-end laptops.
Also — overheating issues that cause NVMe drives to shut down deserve urgent attention.

Answers