[SOLVED] My desktop is shutting down randomly

[liviuamdi]

Hi guys, I have some detective work for some of you.

My desktop is shutting down randomly followed by a PSU click and, if that happens, if I try turning on my desktop it shuts down right away followed by the same click or is stays in a continuous reset loop, it depends.

The PSU is a Corsair AX1200i which I have just RMAd and the guys said there's nothing wrong with the unit. The GPU was removed, same with the sata SSDs for troubleshooting but it's still shutting down randomly (similar to a short circuit).

My desktop components:
MB: Gigabyte Z390 HD3P (Just updated to the latest BIOS this morning hoping it would fix the issue)
CPU: Intel i5-8400
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V Black DDR4 3200MHz 2x8GB
GPU: Sapphire Nitro Vega 64
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C
Storage 1: M2 970 Evo 1TB
Storage 2: Sata 850 Evo 250GB
Storage 3: Sata 850 Evo 250GB

What would be the culprit in this situation? Do you have any suggestions? Thanks

 

[Wolfshadw]

Test your system with a known, good power supply (one you may have laying around or borrow from a friend). Test it without the GPU installed. If the system boots, then you can start to suspect the power supply. If it still fails to boot, then you should start looking at other issues.

-Wolf sends

 

[liviuamdi]

The system has behaved the same with an older PSU, the same model Corsair ax1200i. I suspect the MB but I am open for other advice.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Z370 HD3P Motherboard Manual

Pgs. 12 (item 19) and 19.

Are you getting any status lights from the CPU/VGA/DRAM/BOOT (Status LEDs) ?

-Wolf sends

 

[liviuamdi]

Z370 HD3P Motherboard Manual

Pgs. 12 (item 19) and 19.

Are you getting any status lights from the CPU/VGA/DRAM/BOOT (Status LEDs) ?

-Wolf sends

Thanks for the heads-up. There are two scenarios (as I stated above)

• if it's shutting down right away after pressing the power button -- the CPU red led lights up then turns off
• If the desktop turns on properly, during the booting period, the status LEDs light up in this order CPU > VGA > Boot, one at a time then windows boots up. After a while the PC just shuts down.

 

[Ketchup79]

What is the power supply plugged into (wall, battery backup, surge protrctor)?

The click is the voltage regulators in the power supply. It's probably not being caused by the power supply itself.

 

[liviuamdi]

The power supply is connected to a brennenstuhl extension cord. I have tried to connect the cable directly to the wall outlet with the same results..

 

[Ketchup79]

What extra components are in the case, besides the parts you listed? Any lights? Do you have anything plugged into a front USB port (or through added components mounted) on the case, which would run off the USB external connector pins on the motherboard?

 

[liviuamdi]

I have tried to get to a bare minimum of connected components to run the PC.

So far, I have connected to the motherboard:

• 2 RAM slots
• CPU
• M2 SSD

I have nothing connected to the front USB panel of the case.

 

[Ketchup79]

That is a very good way to do it. Honestly your power supply is almost double the power you need for that build, so a couple suggestions:

1. Move the computer to another room to make sure something in the circuit isn't causing your issue.
2. Buy a 600-watt power supply locally if for nothing else testing purposes.

 

[liviuamdi]

Thanks for the suggestion, Ketchup. It shuts down in the same random way, unfortunately.

A friend of mine said that the case power button cable could actually do a short circuit somewhere. Is this even possible?

I will start looking for a 650-700w PSU today. Any suggestions are appreciated. I might change the platform and upgrade to a 3700x in the upcoming months.