Question PC keeps randomly shutting down when playing *some* games, light on case stays on

[GaiusCivilis]

As the title says. Whenever I am playing certain games (BG3, Arma Reforger, BF1) my PC just randomly shuts off after playing for a little while. With other games I don't have this issue at all. When it shuts off, my screen goes black and I can hear the PC turning off, while the light on the power button stays on.

I initially thought it was a PSU problem as people with similar issues had a faulty PSU, but today I installed a new one and the issue persists. I also updated my BIOS drivers to the most up to date one, which fixed the issue for one evening, but a day later and the issue is completely back. Some times when it shuts off all fans (especially the PSU one) turn on at their max speeds, and sometimes they don't.

Additionally, I cannot find anything in Windows Eventviewer. The only thing relating to the shut-down is the fact that I have to manually turn off and turn on the PC with the power button (Kernel Power Event 41)

Specs:
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900x
Motherboard: Gigabyte B550M DS3H
PSU: MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 (until today that was a Corsair RM750x)

Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

What is the make and model of your case, the number and orientation of your dans in the case and the temps when the system shuts off...?

Motherboard: Gigabyte B550M DS3H
BIOS version for your motherboard? Have you tried aiming a fan at the VRM area and seeing if your predicament changes? If so, then your VRM/motherboard is being overwhelmed by the Ryzen 9 5900x.

 

[GaiusCivilis]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

What is the make and model of your case, the number and orientation of your dans in the case and the temps when the system shuts off...?

Motherboard: Gigabyte B550M DS3H
BIOS version for your motherboard? Have you tried aiming a fan at the VRM area and seeing if your predicament changes? If so, then your VRM/motherboard is being overwhelmed by the Ryzen 9 5900x.

Thanks old timer!

The case is a be quiet Pure Bass 600. As for the fans, there's one in the back blowing outwards, one in the front that's sucking air in, one in the GPU and one in the PSU blowing down and out (I think).

Tempwise, I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. I've tried monitoring it with AMD's tool, but that doesn't seem to save anything as I have to manually exit the PC. Currently when playing Arma Reforger my PC shuts down so quickly after loading in a game that there isn't enough time for the temperatures to go up. Generally the CPU is around 65-70 C and the GPU 60-70. When playing other games like Helldivers, where my PC does not crash, temperatures can easily go into the high 80's with no problems. I also tried running Heaven Benchmark to see if I could force a shutdown, but to no avail, even with high temperatures.

 

[GaiusCivilis]

Forgot about the second part of your response:
BIOS version is current, flashed it yesterday and reflashed it today to see if I could reproduce the grace period of gaming (which worked, but for a shorter while).
BIOS Version/Date : American Megatrends International, LLC. F20g, 11/03/2025

How would I aim a fan at the VRM?

 

[GaiusCivilis]

I just crashed again, figured I'd upload all system events surrounding the crash:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12aaac1WsIryR0f4XDVYfNt-641qgPVO0/view?usp=drive_link

 

[Misgar]

How would I aim a fan at the VRM?

Remove the side panel from the case and point a large desktop fan at the CPU. The Voltage Regulator Modules are located on two sides of the CPU socket and supply the 5900X with power.

Although your B550M DS3H support list includes the 5900X, I'm inclined to agree with @Lutfij your motherboard's VRM stages aren't ideally suited for a big CPU like the 5900X. The Gigabyte web site mentions 5 + 3 VRM stages for the B550M. They might be overheating or running out of peak (transient) current capacity.

Personally, I'd match a 5900X with a more capable mobo containing additional VRM stages and big heatinks on all the MOSFETs. See image below.

If you're cooling the 5900X with an AIO, position a new fan over the VRMs to provide additional cooling.

 

[GaiusCivilis]

Thanks! I will try that. Out of interest: If it is an issue with a lack of "stages" on the mobo, how come this has only become a problem recently? I've been running this set up for about 2,5 years now.

Remove the side panel from the case and point a large desktop fan at the CPU. The Voltage Regulator Modules are located on two sides of the CPU socket and supply the 5900X with power.

Although your B550M DS3H support list includes the 5900X, I'm inclined to agree with @Lutfij your motherboard's VRM stages aren't ideally suited for a big CPU like the 5900X. The Gigabyte web site mentions 5 + 3 VRM stages for the B550M. They might be overheating or running out of peak (transient) current capacity.

Personally, I'd match a 5900X with a more capable mobo containing additional VRM stages and big heatinks on all the MOSFETs. See image below.

If you're cooling the 5900X with an AIO, position a new fan over the VRMs to provide additional cooling.

 

[Misgar]

Out of interest: If it is an issue with a lack of "stages" on the mobo, how come this has only become a problem recently? I've been running this set up for about 2,5 years now.

If you've been running exactly the same programs/games for the last 2.5 years, I've no idea, but if the apps have been updated and become more "processor intensive", you might have exceeded the transient capability of your VRMs. A lot can happen in 2.5 years.

Although BIOS updates are supposed to improve stability, they occasionally cause problems for some people. If your BIOS has the option to reduce CPU power limits, you could experiment. Alternatively, if you're overclocking your RAM with XMP, the settings might be verging on instability. Either run MemTest86 (no errors) or temporarily switch off XMP and see what happens.