[SOLVED] Old computer from 2013 having random shutdowns these days ?

[Unvaxed_n_Happy]

I have an old computer which I am now using as a headless PC to run tasks, and bots and sometimes light gaming in the living room. It randomly shutdowns during high loads and I suspect it could be the PSU or Graphics Card. I don't have a new PSU to test if the cause is the psu but I did disconnect the GPU and its been 1 hour and no random shutdowns yet. Also, when it does shut down randomly, I can not turn it back on until I have unplugged the power cable from the PSU and drain the electricity by pressing the power button first.


Can the PSU Degrade overtime where it can not handle the GPU anymore? I was thinking it could also be the GPU drivers being so old and there isnt much I can do about it as the graphics card isnt getting anymore driver updates from nvidia since its at its End of Life cycle. Has anyone have this problem before or can someone suggest how I can determine what the cause is?


Specs are:
PSU: ThermalTake Smart M 750W Gold+
Motherboard: gigabyte z77-d3h
GPU: Nvidia Geforce GTX 570
CPU: Intel i5 3570k (Not overclocked)
Ram: Corsair Vengeance Blue 16 GB (2X8 GB) DDR3

 

[punkncat]

Check Event Viewer and Reliability History is a good start.

Are you cleaning this machine regularly?

 

[Unvaxed_n_Happy]

Check Event Viewer and Reliability History is a good start.

Are you cleaning this machine regularly?

Yes I clean it, its actually insanely clean. I removed the dust from everything with a high pressure air blower and also used safe contact cleaning spray to clean off everything else. The only thing I havent done is re-seat all the cables. So it looks like it hasnt randomly shutdown when I unplug the GPU from the PSU and use the integrated graphics instead.

 

[punkncat]

It is not uncommon for power supplies to put out less power over time. It might be worthwhile to consider a new one, but would also take into consideration what you will do with it (such as a backup plan system build) such that if it doesn't solve your issue alone, it would be appropriate for a newer build. I wouldn't personally put a lot of time, energy, money into a PC of that age.

 

[Unvaxed_n_Happy]

It is not uncommon for power supplies to put out less power over time. It might be worthwhile to consider a new one, but would also take into consideration what you will do with it (such as a backup plan system build) such that if it doesn't solve your issue alone, it would be appropriate for a newer build. I wouldn't personally put a lot of time, energy, money into a PC of that age.

Yeah I don't think its logical for me to spend too much on this old build. I was looking at some psu's on amazon which would you recommend for this pc that is going to run 24.7 headless.

Thermaltake Toughpower GX2 700W ($59.99)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08MWVV7Z2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Thermaltake Toughpower GX2 80+ Gold 600W ($65.99)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087CDR14Z/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Thermaltake SMART 600W ($39.99)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014W3EMAO/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_3?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Thermaltake Smart BX1 550W Bronze ($49.99)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NPMJ7RM/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_4?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Thermaltake Smart BM2 550W ($54.99)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08DHD3RMH/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_5?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

 

[punkncat]

I have used some of the "Smart" series PSU in office type, low draw builds. I don't think they are considered to be very "good", but I have had no issues out of any of them. In those cases the PSU is rated well higher than the draw from the system. I don't know anything specific about the Toughpower series, but surely a user here will.

 

[neojack]

I advise you to go to the "pwer supplies"part of the forum, and read the stickied posts

TL;DR : avoid thermaltake
here is the tier list (last update 18 months ago but most models are still sold : https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...er-list-rev-14-8-final-update-jul-21.3624094/ )

 

[Tac 25]

this sounds like a deterioration of the psu.

I had a similar issue with an old pc. The problem got fixed after replacing the power supply with a new one.

 

[Unvaxed_n_Happy]

I advise you to go to the "pwer supplies"part of the forum, and read the stickied posts

TL;DR : avoid thermaltake
here is the tier list (last update 18 months ago but most models are still sold : https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...er-list-rev-14-8-final-update-jul-21.3624094/ )

I saw the list, a lot of the A to B tier PSUs are over 80.00. I didnt want to spend much on this old build. The cheapest psu on the list under budget is the thermaltake toughpower 80+ gold or smart 750w+ which I found for 59.99 on amazon.

I don't think i'd find another one from that list under 80.00 unless i get it on blackfriday or hopefully around xmas the prices for those corsairs will come down to around 50-65.

On a side note, the thermaltake psu I had lasted 12 years.

 

[punkncat]

I saw the list, a lot of the A to B tier PSUs are over 80.00. I didnt want to spend much on this old build. The cheapest psu on the list under budget is the thermaltake toughpower 80+ gold or smart 750w+ which I found for 59.99 on amazon.

I don't think i'd find another one from that list under 80.00 unless i get it on blackfriday or hopefully around xmas the prices for those corsairs will come down to around 50-65.

On a side note, the thermaltake psu I had lasted 12 years.

Yup, for this use case I would consider the absolute cheapest PSU with the appropriate cabling and power output....IF it were only going to be for this rig. If it is part of a plan that includes what is next in the case this doesn't work, I might consider moving up the stack a bit.

As I mentioned above, I have had good service out of Thermaltake PSU. Not a single one of them has failed.

 

[Unvaxed_n_Happy]

Yup, for this use case I would consider the absolute cheapest PSU with the appropriate cabling and power output....IF it were only going to be for this rig. If it is part of a plan that includes what is next in the case this doesn't work, I might consider moving up the stack a bit.

As I mentioned above, I have had good service out of Thermaltake PSU. Not a single one of them has failed.

Yeah I think im going to go for the toughpower one it seems similar to my old smart m 80gold. I think the TT white plus ones are a hit or miss. This pc is going to function as a bot runner for passive income (StorJ Nodes (crypto www.storj.io), Rewards Bot, Survet Bots, WoW Gold Farming Bots, and more all running in the background) so I do need to rely on a PSU that can run 24/7.

Just an update, the computer runs fine for 3 hours now without the GPU plugged in. Using Integrated gpu removed cause of shutdowns.

 

[Unvaxed_n_Happy]

Issue fixed after installing new PSU.

Thanks all

 

[Tac 25]

glad to hear the succesful fix. That should extend the life of your rig for some more years.

 

[John Chesterfield]

I advise you to go to the "pwer supplies"part of the forum, and read the stickied posts

TL;DR : avoid thermaltake
here is the tier list (last update 18 months ago but most models are still sold : https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...er-list-rev-14-8-final-update-jul-21.3624094/ )

The Toughpower is one of their okay ones, the exception that proves the rule..