My Computer Reboots Unexpectedly... Why?

[jfcarvalho]

Hey everyone at THW,

I'm hoping someone can help me understand what's going on with my PC:
I'm getting unexpected restarts out of nowhere. No BSOD. It's as if someone pulled the plug. Sometimes, it happens only once every two or three days. Sometimes, 3 times in a row.

It happens more commonly when I'm trying to play video (either online or files on my pc), when I skype, or when using chrome. I do some mixing and mastering which relies heavily on ram and CPU but I don't think I ever got a crash when doing it. My PC was fine until some time ago, then I suddenly started having these situations. My build is about 2 years old.

So far I've done all this until I got another unexpected reboot:

- Reinstalled Windows on a new drive and even disconnected the old one.
- Took the Graphics Card out and ran onboard video; disabled onboard and ran from graphics only
- Checked my PSU voltages: All within acceptable range
- Took each of the memories out, ran memory tests
- Checked the MOBO for any damage, ran some software tests I actually found on another thread here, checked all connections
- Cleaned any dust, checked for temps, all perfectly normal
- Stress tested my processor
- Disabled temperature protection and even logged temps
- Used another wall socket
- Changed my spike surge
- Checked if power consumption was adequate for the PSU
- Verified BIOS options; Resetted the BIOS config; tried different options that would apply

Here is my build in case it can assist you:

- ASRock z97 pro 3
- i5-3470
- 8GB dual channel G-Skill Ripjaws
- MSI R7750 Power Edition 1GD5/OC
- Corsair VS450
- Kingston 120 GB SSD
- Seagate 1TB
- Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

Is this a PSU problem? Can a PSU not be able to draw enough power even though all the voltages are normal? My knowledge, although better than most normal users, is still limited so I deeply appreciate every single contribution.

Many thanks,

João

 

[Paul NZ]

It can mean a faulty PSU. If there's an error 41 in event viewer this maybe the cause

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Corsair VS series is dead last in terms of quality in the Corsair lineup.

I would invest in some quality power for your setup.

This type of power loss is more than likely the PSU.

 

[jfcarvalho]

Thanks guys. I have error 41 on event viewer cause I've been checking it regularly and it's the only critical I ever see. I actually still have some warranty time left on my PSU, so I'm gonna replace it tomorrow and see if it works: I'll keep you guys posted. I'll try to get a better one like SR-71 Blackbird suggested! Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Paul NZ]

No probs