Question Computer Turns Off Randomly By Itself

[Mr. White]

Hi everyone 👋

Two weeks ago my PC started to turn itself off randomly. After it turns off the power LEDs of my GPU are still on but it won't start by pressing the power button. To start it again, I have to replug the power cable. It worked for almost a week after this issue reappeared.

I haven't been able to track this issue as it is quite random. It's not caused by temperatures nor drivers/system updates as I always keep them up to date. Dust should not be the reason either as I clean often and I have dusted my PC not a long time ago. This can happen when I'm just scrolling internet or while I'm gaming so it should not be related to high power usage etc.

One of my friends suggested replugging RAM sticks while the PC is off. It seems that by doing that the issue goes away for x amount of time. If I don't replug the RAMs it just keeps shutting down again and again (see the screenshot below). I bought my Kingston 32GB HyperX Fury DDR4 3200MHz in 2021. I've never dropped the sticks or done anything harmful to them. I always use the antistatic strap when handling the components.

Another obvious reason might be the PSU as I bought it in 2017 (Corsair RM750x), but I'm not sure if it's broken as I've been able to play games for a week without problems. I don't know how to investigate if it's the PSU or not. This is my oldest component, rest of them are 2020+.

21/04/2024 shows you how often it shuts down without taking RAMs off etc. That was the day this issue first appeared, don't mind those from 2023.

Next time it happens I'll turn on logging in HWiNFO and wait for another shutdown. Maybe it will give some details, although I'm not sure does it save the file when the PC just shuts down.

Any ideas?

 

[DaleH]

Hi everyone 👋

Two weeks ago my PC started to turn itself off randomly. After it turns off the power LEDs of my GPU are still on but it won't start by pressing the power button. To start it again, I have to replug the power cable. It worked for almost a week after this issue reappeared.

I haven't been able to track this issue as it is quite random. It's not caused by temperatures nor drivers/system updates as I always keep them up to date. Dust should not be the reason either as I clean often and I have dusted my PC not a long time ago. This can happen when I'm just scrolling internet or while I'm gaming so it should not be related to high power usage etc.

One of my friends suggested replugging RAM sticks while the PC is off. It seems that by doing that the issue goes away for x amount of time. If I don't replug the RAMs it just keeps shutting down again and again (see the screenshot below). I bought my Kingston 32GB HyperX Fury DDR4 3200MHz in 2021. I've never dropped the sticks or done anything harmful to them. I always use the antistatic strap when handling the components.

Another obvious reason might be the PSU as I bought it in 2017 (Corsair RM750x), but I'm not sure if it's broken as I've been able to play games for a week without problems. I don't know how to investigate if it's the PSU or not. This is my oldest component, rest of them are 2020+.

21/04/2024 shows you how often it shuts down without taking RAMs off etc. That was the day this issue first appeared, don't mind those from 2023.

Next time it happens I'll turn on logging in HWiNFO and wait for another shutdown. Maybe it will give some details, although I'm not sure does it save the file when the PC just shuts down.

Any ideas?

The only sure way to determine if it is the PSU, is to temporarily replace it with a known good one.

 

[Mr. White]

The RAM thing might just be a coincidence. It shut down 2 times and I didn't replug my RAMs. Now I have been gaming for an hour or more without problem.

 

[Mr. White]

Here is a HWiNFO log which ends when the PC shuts down itself. Maybe it shows something that causes the shutdown. I played War Thunder almost the whole time it was logging.

OneDrive Link

 

[Mr. White]

This is another log which ends to the shutdown. I was gaming while it shut down.

Onedrive Link

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Hey there,

Before we go guessing, can you list your full PC specs.

Cheers

 

[Mr. White]

Hey there,

Before we go guessing, can you list your full PC specs.

Cheers

Here is what my case contains:

MSI B450 GAMING PRO CARBON AC
CORSAIR RM750X 80 Plus Gold
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 2070 SUPER GAMING OC
KINGSTON HYPERX FURY DDR4 32GB 3200Mhz (2x 16GB)

SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS SSD 250GB (Windows)
KINGSTON 120GB SSD (Extra)
SAMSUNG 860 QVO 1TB SSD (Games)
SEAGATE GUARDIAN BARRACUDA 2.5" 2TB HDD (Files)
SEAGATE BARRACUDA 3.5" 2TB HDD (almost broken (bad noises), was too lazy to take it out)

To note, I haven't overclocked anything.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

The symptoms you've described are typical of a PSU problem. It doesn't necessarily need to be at load (i.e. gaming), but often is. System shuts down and restarts.

As suggesting getting a donor PSU is a good way to start the diagnosis. If you don't have one or can't borrow one, you could bring to a local repair store, and get them to swap it out to test. Might only cost 20£$€ or so.

In the meantime, what bios are you running? It could need updating which might have a potential fix.

Run memtest86+ on your ram. Any result other than '0' errors means the ram could be faulty.

 

[Mr. White]

The symptoms you've described are typical of a PSU problem. It doesn't necessarily need to be at load (i.e. gaming), but often is. System shuts down and restarts.

As suggesting getting a donor PSU is a good way to start the diagnosis. If you don't have one or can't borrow one, you could bring to a local repair store, and get them to swap it out to test. Might only cost 20£$€ or so.

In the meantime, what bios are you running? It could need updating which might have a potential fix.

Run memtest86+ on your ram. Any result other than '0' errors means the ram could be faulty.

I was just thinking about the BIOS. I guess it's not the latest... But, what if it shuts down during the BIOS update?

 

[ohio_buckeye]

If it shuts off during bios update you can brick your board.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

If it shuts off during bios update you can brick your board.

Whilst this in theory could happen, it's very unlikely nowadays. With that said, knowing how to do an update is needed.

A lot of mobo's have a Windows app that can do it. Armoury Crate, HP Assistant etc. The preferred way is through the bios. It's only a matter of downloading the bios update file to a bootable USB, and then following simple on screen instructions in the bios/uefi itself. It's more akin to a driver update, rather than the 'this could fry my machine' situation.

Any self respected Ryzen 3xxx/5xxx CPU's know this only too well. It's not something to fear, it's something to do, which for the most part are to enhance your system, one way or another. This could be improved CPU performance, bug fixes, memory (DIMMs) compatibility improvements.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

You say that but it actually happened to a guy on here just the other day I think in the gpu forum and the power cut off as he was doing an update. So while yes it should be ok 99% of the time it can happen.

 

[35below0]

At the moment, the PSU looks like guilty until proven innocent.

If you buy a new one, and it turns out it wasn't the cause, you will have upgraded your ageing PSU. Probably won't be happy about the expense, but at least it can serve you in a future build.

The Corsair is 6-7 years old by now. That's not too bad for a good PSU. Depending on warranty 5-10 years is what you could expect. PSU internals can degrade over time, and often fail to supply the stated watts. This might be what's causing system shutdowns.

Ideally, you should borrow a PSU and test it before making decisions/purchases.