Question Computer Turned Itself Off, But Now Seems to Have Mysteriously Stopped

apiltch

Editor-in-Chief
Editor
Sep 15, 2014
218
108
18,870
Hi All,

I have a weird problem with a PC I just recently built and I am looking for theories as to why this happened and seemed to have magically fixed itself (and could it happen again)? Could it be something causing a short? Loose cables? Bad PSU?

Last week, I built a PC with a Ryzen 9 5900X CPU, RTX 2080 GPU, X570 motherboard, a brand new Thermaltake GF1 750W PSU, quite a few fans and RGB controllers and Lian Li Strimer extension cables for the ATX and PCIe cables.

The computer had been working fine since I built it last weekend but this afternoon, after I used it for web browsing and YouTube for like an hour, I walked away for 10 minutes and it had turned itself off (the motherboard's own RGB was on showing it was getting some power) and I had to turn off the power strip to be able to turn it back on.

Then about 15 min later, I was in the middle of a video call when it happened again. Then about 2 min later it happened again. Then I went into the UEFI BIOS and it happened again (so it's not software if it's happening preboot). After that, it wouldn't even get to the BIOS as it would light up for a few seconds, fans would start to spin and then it would immediately turn itself off.

I got annoyed and left it off for like 10 minutes. I opened up the PC, checked the ATX connections and pushed on them a little and then turned it on again and now it has been working continuously for about 5 hours. I even ran a CPU and GPU stress test and had no problems. Neither my CPU nor GPU has gone above temp.

Any idea what could be causing the problem, why it suddenly appeared and just as suddenly seems to have disappeared (for now)? Could have been loose cables? Something touching metal in the case? It's very odd.

Also, before the first outage, Windows Event log logged something about a TPM error (this is running Windows 10 Home) but I can't see how that would cause power shutdowns even when I was in the UEFI.
 
Hi All,

I have a weird problem with a PC I just recently built and I am looking for theories as to why this happened and seemed to have magically fixed itself (and could it happen again)? Could it be something causing a short? Loose cables? Bad PSU?

Last week, I built a PC with a Ryzen 9 5900X CPU, RTX 2080 GPU, X570 motherboard, a brand new Thermaltake GF1 750W PSU, quite a few fans and RGB controllers and Lian Li Strimer extension cables for the ATX and PCIe cables.

The computer had been working fine since I built it last weekend but this afternoon, after I used it for web browsing and YouTube for like an hour, I walked away for 10 minutes and it had turned itself off (the motherboard's own RGB was on showing it was getting some power) and I had to turn off the power strip to be able to turn it back on.

Then about 15 min later, I was in the middle of a video call when it happened again. Then about 2 min later it happened again. Then I went into the UEFI BIOS and it happened again (so it's not software if it's happening preboot). After that, it wouldn't even get to the BIOS as it would light up for a few seconds, fans would start to spin and then it would immediately turn itself off.

I got annoyed and left it off for like 10 minutes. I opened up the PC, checked the ATX connections and pushed on them a little and then turned it on again and now it has been working continuously for about 5 hours. I even ran a CPU and GPU stress test and had no problems. Neither my CPU nor GPU has gone above temp.

Any idea what could be causing the problem, why it suddenly appeared and just as suddenly seems to have disappeared (for now)? Could have been loose cables? Something touching metal in the case? It's very odd.

Also, before the first outage, Windows Event log logged something about a TPM error (this is running Windows 10 Home) but I can't see how that would cause power shutdowns even when I was in the UEFI.
Yeah contacts most probably, if there was a short it would most probably kill something. Also check power cable, just the other day I had a case where power cable was loose at PSU causing similar problems.
 

apiltch

Editor-in-Chief
Editor
Sep 15, 2014
218
108
18,870
Thanks. I had pushed on the ATX and GPU power cables so I think that might have fixed it. I don't know how they came loose on their own and I'm concerned that it could happen again. Maybe best not to use extension cables? The problem is that this is a huge case and the PSU cables are hard as a rock and hard to bend.
 

apiltch

Editor-in-Chief
Editor
Sep 15, 2014
218
108
18,870
Ok, it just happened again at 3:22 pm for no apparent reason. I turned the computer back on and it is working again (for now). If a plug were loose wouldn't it not work when I attempted to turn it back on?
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
You mentioned the Window Event log (Event Viewer).

Also take a look in Reliability History. More user friendly and presents a time line format that can be very revealing with respect to errors and error patterns.

Could be heat related. Something warms up and expands causing a short or outright disconnect. May or may not also be affected by vibrations.

This: "Maybe best not to use extension cables? The problem is that this is a huge case and the PSU cables are hard as a rock and hard to bend. "

What brand extension cables and where were they purchased?

If they have little real flexibility then any warming/heating up and subsequent expansion is likely to crack or break somewhere. Likely in a connector.