Question PC forces a restart whenever I try to play a game ?

[Be_Khaos]

Hello everyone,

My old PC has been restarting whenever I try to play a game and I'd like some help troubleshooting...
I've had this system since 2016 and never had any issues with it and was going to gift it to my little brother, rather than sell it. I haven't used it in over a year, so decided to strip it, clean it and upgrade some parts (new fans, an SSD, Wi-Fi card and some LED lights). Here's an up-to-date partpicker list: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/KNWfmD

The PC boots up fine, let's me log in, browse the internet (write this post), do a bunch of stuff and there's no pop-up errors, but whenever I try to play a game, it attempts to load it and then force restarts without warning.

I've downloaded HWiNFO64 and have been monitoring temps while I run some stress tests:
- I used Cinebench to test the CPU and ran 2x Multi-core tests. Both came back with average temperatures between 60-67*C (Max 79*C), which is within "Okay" parameters apparently.
- I also did 2x Single-core tests with Cinebench; both came back averaging at 36*C.
- I ran a full Memtest86 on my 32GB RAM (4x 8GB), no errors, but it took 12 hours which I hear is normal.
- I then ran a Superposition stress test on the GPU at "1080p High" and it went through without issue. I ran this test twice and both results came back between 61-112fps, GPU temps between 23-83*C and GPU Utilization: Max 99% (both).

HOWEVER! When I tried to run a "1080p Extreme" test, it forced a restart within a few seconds. So I figure the GPU is the issue.

I downloaded OCCT and ran a "3D Standard" GPU test and it forced a restart after 6 minutes (never used this software before), so I figure that confirms it's the GPU causing the issue.
I'd posted a query on Reddit earlier and someone commented that I should use MSI Afterburner to adjust the power limit to 50% , as a trouble shooting method.

I did and the game loaded, was playable and I could exit the game via the menus without it restarting on me (on one previous occasion I got to play, but closing the game forced a restart).

Can anyone help me fix my GPU so that I can get it back to working at 100% power?

Note: GPU is an Nvidia GTX 1080. I've recorded all the GPU and CPU HWiNFO tests I did if you want to view them. Thanks in advance!

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Corsair VS650
If the PCPartPicker link isn't wrong, you have the yellow labelled VS unit from Corsair which is on par with the green labelled CX units from years past and I don't mean that as a complement. How old is the unit in question? 7 years? You should first try and source(borrow, not buy) a reliably built PSU with at least 650Wat your entire system's disposal, from a friend or neighbor and then power up the build to see if the issue persists.

 

[Be_Khaos]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Corsair VS650
If the PCPartPicker link isn't wrong, you have the yellow labelled VS unit from Corsair which is on par with the green labelled CX units from years past and I don't mean that as a complement. How old is the unit in question? 7 years? You should first try and source(borrow, not buy) a reliably built PSU with at least 650Wat your entire system's disposal, from a friend or neighbor and then power up the build to see if the issue persists.

Thank you for the reply. Yes, the link is correct and the PSU is 7 years old. I don't have another PSU unit laying around but I'll take your suggestion seriously. A lot of other posts on here reference the PSU as the cause and resolved the issue. Is there a way to test the PSU for faults or is that something only a specialist can do?