[SOLVED] PC Randomly Shuts Off

[Gosraj]

So I built my new PC earlier this year, probably around May. It's been working completely fine up until about 2 months ago, when it started to randomly shut off. Like I'll just be on Netflix or something and click it turns off as if I unplugged it. It happens very occasionally usually, but recently it's been acting up a lot more, specifically when I try to play Steam games. I've also had trouble with them crashing a lot for seemingly no reason, doing the whole "__ is not responding" thing.

Normally I'd assume it was from my CPU overheating or something but it happens when I'm doing non-intensive things, and nothing leads to it seeming like it's heating up (fans stay low rpm, air that comes from the tower isn't too hot, stuff like that).

This started around the time that I went into my PC and plugged my CPU fan RGB back in, because I had decided I wanted to start using it for colorful lights, as one does. I don't know if it was EXACTLY when I did that or if it's even possibly related, but it feels like that's when this started happening. As far as I know I didn't unplug anything important, nothing that would affect my PC like this. All that I know I for sure unplugged was two of my front USB ports cause I didn't use them anyways.

Is any of this related? Is it something wrong with my GPU? CPU? PSU? MOBO? Please help!

(I made a similar thread earlier in the month, but I didn't feel like it described my issues too well, and I don't know how to delete it)

My specs:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor
Motherboard: MSI B450-A PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
Storage: Silicon Power 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX VEGA 64 8 GB NITRO+ Video Card
Case: DIYPC Silence-BK ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

 

[Calvin7]

System Requirement

• 850 Watt Power Supply (Recommended).

https://www.sapphiretech.com/en/consumer/nitro-rx-vega64-8g-hbm2

 

[Gosraj]

System Requirement

• 850 Watt Power Supply (Recommended).

https://www.sapphiretech.com/en/consumer/nitro-rx-vega64-8g-hbm2

Really? Cause PCPartPicker says the PC as a whole only needs like 450 so I went with 650 for the overkill, plus I haven't had a problem this whole time until now

 

[DSzymborski]

Honestly, 650W is more than enough unless you're overclocking heavily. The GPU can momentarily close in on 300W when you're really torturing it with higher, brief spikes, but 650W should be fine. You have an excellent PSU, but it's not unheard of for any PSU to fail prematurely.

The behavior of not needing to be at load to turn off is worrisome, though, and it shouldn't be causing actual programs to crash. Honestly, I'd be inclined to do a full Windows wipe and reinstall to try and rule out a software issue causing that particular problem; it's hard to say whether that behavior is indicative of the general problem or a second problem you're having. If that fails, the next thing I would do is try unplugging the RGB again.

 

[Gosraj]

Honestly, 650W is more than enough unless you're overclocking heavily. The GPU can momentarily close in on 300W when you're really torturing it with higher, brief spikes, but 650W should be fine. You have an excellent PSU, but it's not unheard of for any PSU to fail prematurely.

The behavior of not needing to be at load to turn off is worrisome, though, and it shouldn't be causing actual programs to crash. Honestly, I'd be inclined to do a full Windows wipe and reinstall to try and rule out a software issue causing that particular problem; it's hard to say whether that behavior is indicative of the general problem or a second problem you're having. If that fails, the next thing I would do is try unplugging the RGB again.

Windows wipe implying I remove literally everything from my SSD and reinstall it all? Hmm.... I'll try just making sure all the wires are plugged in correctly first

 

[Gosraj]

UPDATE:

After some further Googling and whatnot, I found out the the problem seems to be this Kernel Power error 41 or whatever, and I've tried a few things that the first results tell me to do to fix it (such as turning off fast startup) but it hasn't worked yet. Do you guys have any ideas?

 

[DSzymborski]

You're misunderstanding what Kernel Power error 41 is. It's just a notice that the PC wasn't properly shut down. You'll get that for any sudden power-off situation in a PC.

Just to illustrate, it would be like pointing out the X-ray indicating you have a broken leg as the cause of your broken leg. Like the X-ray, the error is indication that a problem exists, not the problem itself.

 

[Gosraj]

You're misunderstanding what Kernel Power error 41 is. It's just a notice that the PC wasn't properly shut down. You'll get that for any sudden power-off situation in a PC.

Just to illustrate, it would be like pointing out the X-ray indicating you have a broken leg as the cause of your broken leg. Like the X-ray, the error is indication that a problem exists, not the problem itself.

oh.

Well back to square one I guess.

Of course the whole wiping my PC thing still stands but idk if I can/want to do that. Seems like a lot of work for something that might not even fix the problem, ya know?

 

[DSzymborski]

oh.

Well back to square one I guess.

Of course the whole wiping my PC thing still stands but idk if I can/want to do that. Seems like a lot of work for something that might not even fix the problem, ya know?

You have to isolate problems somehow, one-by-one. It's up to you whether you want to prioritize trying to isolate problems in ways that cost you money or cost you time. If you want a free solution that costs nothing, well, nothing's that neat. From what you describe, you could very well have multiple overlapping problems, so anything you can eliminate is helpful.

My feeling is that if a Windows reinstall is that much of an issue, you might want to use the opportunity to get your PC into a situation in which a reinstall isn't traumatic, because it's a normal part of troubleshooting vague issues and it's something that's prudent to do every couple of years.

 

[Gosraj]

You have to isolate problems somehow, one-by-one. It's up to you whether you want to prioritize trying to isolate problems in ways that cost you money or cost you time. If you want a free solution that costs nothing, well, nothing's that neat. From what you describe, you could very well have multiple overlapping problems, so anything you can eliminate is helpful.

My feeling is that if a Windows reinstall is that much of an issue, you might want to use the opportunity to get your PC into a situation in which a reinstall isn't traumatic, because it's a normal part of troubleshooting vague issues and it's something that's prudent to do every couple of years.

What do you mean by that last part? Like to get rid of stuff I don't use you mean?

 

[Gosraj]

Update in case anyone is curious; I've taken a bit of a break cause it was very frustrating and stressful, it was giving me a migraine.

I tried moving my plug from the power strip it was in at the time directly to the wall, thinking it wasn't getting enough power through there, but it hasn't helped.

However I have since realized that I might actually made up (without realizing it) that it's been turning itself off when doing low intensity things like watching Netflix, and it in fact only seems to happen when I'm putting more stress on the components. So I'm gonna try lowering/completely removing my overclocks to see if maybe that helps!

 

[Gosraj]

I forgot to update you guys! All I had to do was flash my bios, which I'll admit I was scared to do but it fixed everything. Thanks for everyone's help!