[SOLVED] New PC sudden power down when spike in demand/usage after idling for a while

[dannofdawn222]

This is a by now 1-month-old PC. At this point I've gotten so good at working around this problem, I can also recreate it 100% of the time. Here's what would happen. If I leave my PC idle, or in low usage (like generic web browsing /youtube for too long (15mins+), then when anything starts to demand the PC for a bit more (ie. games, Photoshop, installing games in Steam) it powers down INSTANTLY, like someone pulled the plug. Then, I would need to wait 1-3mins+ before I can turn it on again.

For this past month, I've been working around this problem by constantly running a game that demands sufficient resources in the background regardless of what I'm doing, I tend to use Valhiem because its main menu renders an in-game background. This keeps the PC at moderate usage constantly. Whenever I boot up into windows, I need to start Valhiem ASAP or risk power down (this can sometimes happen faster than I can start Valheim). For a whole week, the PC didn't shut down once involuntary. I could do anything I would normally do without fear, as long as Valhiem is running. However, this of course costs performance in other things, and I obviously want to fix it. Especially when I bought this new PC for 3D work, running a game in the background seriously hamper my workflow.

Spec:
Ryzen 9 5900x
Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero
RTX 2060 Super
Two Corsair Vengeance Pro 2x8GB 3600Mhz DDR4
EVGA 850w G+
Crucial P5 NVMe SSD
Windows 10 Home Edition


I've already tried all the usual software troubleshoot. I've fresh install windows at least 6 times the first week alone, reinstall AMD chipset drivers, Mobo drivers, Nvidia drivers. I've tweaked settings in BIOS like turning on or off Core Performance Boost, Precision Overdrive, over and under volt CPU, memory frequency, and more that I can't remember. None of those did anything for the problem.
I also swapped out my 2060 Super for a 980 FE I had lying around to check if that was the culprit, it wasn't. Unfortunately, I don't have access to any other parts to check the rest. So before I go buy other parts to test, I would like to see if anyone might have an idea as to why this is happening. Thank you.

 

[Ralston18]

Use (one at a time) Task Manager and Resource Monitor to observe system performance when running games and and not running games.

Learn what resources are being used, to what extent (%), and what is using the resource. What changes when Valheim is running or not?

Also look in Reliability History and Event Viewer. Either one or both may be capturing some related error codes, warnings, or even informational events.

= = = =

My thought is that the PSU may be the problem. When "put upon" to suddenly provide more power it falters in some manner.

Perhaps at some threshold low value. If power demand is at X power level (with Valheim running) then the PSU can easily provide more power when needed.

If idling at less than that X power level (Valheim not running) the PSU simply cannot handle a larger increase in power requirements.

I do not know what starting power level that may be and how much of a jump would cause such a falter.

In any case, I would try swapping in a known working PSU.

 

[dannofdawn222]

Use (one at a time) Task Manager and Resource Monitor to observe system performance when running games and and not running games.

Learn what resources are being used, to what extent (%), and what is using the resource. What changes when Valheim is running or not?

Also look in Reliability History and Event Viewer. Either one or both may be capturing some related error codes, warnings, or even informational events.

= = = =

My thought is that the PSU may be the problem. When "put upon" to suddenly provide more power it falters in some manner.

Perhaps at some threshold low value. If power demand is at X power level (with Valheim running) then the PSU can easily provide more power when needed.

If idling at less than that X power level (Valheim not running) the PSU simply cannot handle a larger increase in power requirements.

I do not know what starting power level that may be and how much of a jump would cause such a falter.

In any case, I would try swapping in a known working PSU.

About 5% cpu and 45% gpu.

Reliability and Event only give me Critical - Unexpected Shutdown Event ID 41 with no Bugcheck Code. No other warning or error leading into that.

So, yeah it is probably the PSU? I'm hoping it is, much easier to replace than the CPU or Mobo.

 

[Ralston18]

If you have a multi-meter and know how to use it or know someone who does you can do some testing on the PSU

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-manually-test-a-power-supply-with-a-multimeter-2626158

However, even if the voltages are in spec the test is not a load test.

The PSU could still being the source of the problem.