Question PC restarts while under heavy load

[slevin kelevra]

Just like the title says, my computer will restart only under heavy load in certain games like Red dead redemption 2, Star citizen

In November 2021 I rebuilt my pc buying all new components except for my case my new specs are listed.

Asus Tuf z590 + wifi
Intel I5 11600k
Corsair vengence 32 gb kit of DDR4 3200mhz
Gigabyte 3070ti
Corsair RM 850w PSU
Cooler Master n520 CPU cooler
Old Phanteks Enthoo Pro full tower

At first the pc ran beautifully as expected but, I wasn't playing very demanding titles at first mostly just Escape from Tarkov, but I got bored and moved to other titles like Star Citizen and the very same night I started to play it my PC restarted out of nowhere and I noticed a weird plastic smell (could of been flux) not sure but, it did have me worry a bit so I shut it down and let it cool off before taking everything out of it to find the culprit, I noticed right away it was coming from the RM 850 PSU, a quick google search showed me this was a normal smell and would dissipate after a few hours of use and I started to game normally again thinking I was okay to and maybe the restart was because of the game.
Two days go by and I was playing more star citizen and at almost the same exact time it restarted again and produced the same smell as before, I began to worry so I ran a bunch of benchmarks with 0 ability to replicate the restart, CPU and GPU both got up to 70c and 0 restarts happened after 3 hours of testing.

So I reinstalled windows 10 thinking it was a drive error and a coincidence about the smell as it was new. Didn't have anyone to play star citizen with anymore as my friends moved back to tarkov, so I started to play Red Dead Redemption 2 RP maxed out settings at 1080p with another friend, thinking my problems were solved with the new install of windows. After about 2 hours of gameplay the computer shut down for the 3rd time and produced the same smell as before coming from the power supply and I noticed it was very, very hot this time. too hot for my hand to rest on for more than 1 second. I got worried and shut it down again, I was entirely frustrated at this point so I tested a few more games, Tarkov, Stalker, GTA 5, Fallout 76 and noticed I could game for hours on these titles with 0 restarts or smell being produced, So it led me to thinking that the titles listed before were pushing my GPU to its max and making it require more power from my PSU, but it still didn't explain why I would get restarts and the smell. I get generic kernal errors in the event logger as well as no bsod when auto restart it disabled via bios and windows. I even checked to see if I installed the PSU upside down but, thankfully I didn't and the fan barely moves air out of the PSU shroud in the back until it restarts then it PUSHES air out quickly to an audible level but, not in a bad way. I have 4 case fans in a phanteck enthoo pro 2 intake, 2 outtake, GPU and CPU while gaming never reach above 60c and hover around 51 to 55c in both Star citizen and RDR2.

Which leads me to my question here, could it be the power supply being faulty and not providing enough power for these specific titles or is it my Graphics card (3070ti) actually the culprit, I'd really hate to have to RMA the GPU as it took 3 weeks to get to me but I can RMA the power supply if needed, I am just wondering if anyone else is having these issues specifically to help guide my decision before I waste 3 months on trying my self. Any advice is appreciated and if this is in the wrong section I can delete. PLEASE HELP!

 

[Grobe]

I started to play it my PC restarted out of nowhere and I noticed a weird plastic smell (could of been flux) not sure

Well, this could very well be a capacitor being defective.

I noticed right away it was coming from the RM 850 PSU, a quick google search showed me this was a normal smell and would dissipate after a few hours of use and I started to game normally again thinking I was okay to and maybe the restart was because of the game.

Well, everything one can read on the internet have to be true?

No - I'll claim your PSU are bad, and you better replace it before it causes secondary damage to the rest of your computer.

 

[jonnyguru]

Just like the title says, my computer will restart only under heavy load in certain games like Red dead redemption 2, Star citizen

In November 2021 I rebuilt my pc buying all new components except for my case my new specs are listed.

Asus Tuf z590 + wifi
Intel I5 11600k
Corsair vengence 32 gb kit of DDR4 3200mhz
Gigabyte 3070ti
Corsair RM 850w PSU
Cooler Master n520 CPU cooler
Old Phanteks Enthoo Pro full tower

At first the pc ran beautifully as expected but, I wasn't playing very demanding titles at first mostly just Escape from Tarkov, but I got bored and moved to other titles like Star Citizen and the very same night I started to play it my PC restarted out of nowhere and I noticed a weird plastic smell (could of been flux) not sure but, it did have me worry a bit so I shut it down and let it cool off before taking everything out of it to find the culprit, I noticed right away it was coming from the RM 850 PSU, a quick google search showed me this was a normal smell and would dissipate after a few hours of use and I started to game normally again thinking I was okay to and maybe the restart was because of the game.
Two days go by and I was playing more star citizen and at almost the same exact time it restarted again and produced the same smell as before, I began to worry so I ran a bunch of benchmarks with 0 ability to replicate the restart, CPU and GPU both got up to 70c and 0 restarts happened after 3 hours of testing.

So I reinstalled windows 10 thinking it was a drive error and a coincidence about the smell as it was new. Didn't have anyone to play star citizen with anymore as my friends moved back to tarkov, so I started to play Red Dead Redemption 2 RP maxed out settings at 1080p with another friend, thinking my problems were solved with the new install of windows. After about 2 hours of gameplay the computer shut down for the 3rd time and produced the same smell as before coming from the power supply and I noticed it was very, very hot this time. too hot for my hand to rest on for more than 1 second. I got worried and shut it down again, I was entirely frustrated at this point so I tested a few more games, Tarkov, Stalker, GTA 5, Fallout 76 and noticed I could game for hours on these titles with 0 restarts or smell being produced, So it led me to thinking that the titles listed before were pushing my GPU to its max and making it require more power from my PSU, but it still didn't explain why I would get restarts and the smell. I get generic kernal errors in the event logger as well as no bsod when auto restart it disabled via bios and windows. I even checked to see if I installed the PSU upside down but, thankfully I didn't and the fan barely moves air out of the PSU shroud in the back until it restarts then it PUSHES air out quickly to an audible level but, not in a bad way. I have 4 case fans in a phanteck enthoo pro 2 intake, 2 outtake, GPU and CPU while gaming never reach above 60c and hover around 51 to 55c in both Star citizen and RDR2.

Which leads me to my question here, could it be the power supply being faulty and not providing enough power for these specific titles or is it my Graphics card (3070ti) actually the culprit, I'd really hate to have to RMA the GPU as it took 3 weeks to get to me but I can RMA the power supply if needed, I am just wondering if anyone else is having these issues specifically to help guide my decision before I waste 3 months on trying my self. Any advice is appreciated and if this is in the wrong section I can delete. PLEASE HELP!

First: http://jongerow.com/automatically-restart/index.html

See what happens.

THEN: Run Memtest86+.

 

[slevin kelevra]

Okay so this was already troubleshooted when I rebuilt the PC I kept my older Gskill 2400mhz ram instead of upgrading as I thought it was pointless in upgrading. I had the restarts with the older ram kit as well and I ram Memtest 86+ on said kit with 0 bad sectors, I didn't include this in the base question to avoid unwanted answers as I was positive the bad memory questions would be asked, both kits tested and neither kit had bad sectors so I moved on from the memory being the problem Sorry to not include this in original post but, I've grown a bit impatient. To avoid any other further unwanted questions I also updated my motherboards bios yesterday to 1203 and I am still getting the restarts, I turned off restart automatically in both windows and in bios already as was said in my question above, I am not getting a BSOD, it is literally just restarting then radiating mass amounts of heat from the PSU shroud I used a Peak Meter on the PSU shroud just after it restarted the last time and it was at 94c right after it rebooted and the PSU fan was at full speed I believe judging by the sound and force of air flow.

I appreciate the help though even if I have already tested the suggestions but, I've been at this for a little while now and as I stated before I can play other non-demanding titles such as escape from tarkov and have even ran benchmarks for hours way longer than any normal play session I put it through without any restarts or over heating of the PSU which is just weird as a faulty PSU would just be faulty right ? not faulty on specific titles. I am stumped on why the PSU is reacting this way, I ordered a Sensonic 850 gold to replace the Corsair RM 850 watt just a few minutes ago to avoid damaging the other components as Grobe suggested above. The only thing I have been able to do to stop the PSU from overheating when playing these titles is to cool the room down to 65f I ran RDR2 for 8 hours overnight at these ambient temps and woke up to the game still running which just makes things even more complicated. I would still like to know what is going on and why this is even happening to begin with, I will update the post when I receive my new PSU on the 28th and again Id still appreciate any and all comments to why this might be happening.

The only other thing I can think of is maybe a faulty motherboard but, again it would crash on all titles and benchmarks not just 2 random games. This is just stupid, I know! I am sorry for even asking it to begin with TBH.

 

[jonnyguru]

Well, this could very well be a capacitor being defective.

So, PSUs are a lot more than a box of capacitors. And if a capacitor was actually emitting a smell, you probably wouldn't want to be in the same room as it and... oh yeah... the PSU would not be working any more.

 

[slevin kelevra]

So, PSUs are a lot more than a box of capacitors. And if a capacitor was actually emitting a smell, you probably wouldn't want to be in the same room as it and... oh yeah... the PSU would not be working any more.

Well when it does happen the smell is very bad and it did make my wife leave the room, I for one am used to strong smells from work and smoking so it didn't bother me as it did the Mrs. I don't know if it's a capacitor or not but I'm open to suggestions regardless. Please refrain from arguments and side discussions as it does nothing to help me.

 

[AntonyLovric]

If the PSU is getting too hot to touch something is getting too hot. If the PSU is 3 months old I would RMA it. The fan / fan controller could be bad and perhaps it's overheating.

There are some threads about these models having a smell to them when they're running: NEW RM850x PSU Smell while underload? - Build Hardware Troubleshooting - Corsair Community (The smell might just be normal / a red herring.)

 

[Grobe]

So, PSUs are a lot more than a box of capacitors.

Were did I say otherwise? Trying to make my suggestion look stupid isn't actually helpful for the OP, and we do want to help the OP, don't we ?

If it indeed turns out being a faulty transistor, it doesn't matter for OP, because if not trained and understanding electricity he is also not supposed to open the PSU as it may be dangerous.

If the PSU is getting too hot to touch something is getting too hot. If the PSU is 3 months old I would RMA it. The fan / fan controller could be bad and perhaps it's overheating.

Second that. Also when a component get so hot that there begins to be danger of fire, it's time to RMA just on base of that itself.

When that is said, a faulty main board cannot be ruled out as you in practice have little control over any secondary damage caused by a faulty component. But this goes two ways, meaning one cannot rule out the possibility that the primary fault was initially on motherboard or GPU (have good look and see for any burn marks).
In theory the PSU should be capable to output something in the ballpark of 60A @ 12V so it isn't quite impossible that it is just powerful enough to not power off immediately even in case of a full short-circuit in the motherboard. However, in such situation I'd expect to see visible heat marks on the motherboard.

 

[slevin kelevra]

Okay, so I looked for visible burn marks and noticed something weird, there are what looks like oil splats in small places all around the board near the connectors, I looked it up and found nothing helpful to my case. There's no burn marks to be found though, front or back. I'm not going to RMA as it's only a few weeks old so I'm just going to return/refund it to the local store I picked it up from. I ordered the new PSU From Newegg and it should be here on the 28th. I am now convinced it's the PSU shutting off due to a faulty fan controller, maybe it gets too hot too quickly and the fan controller can't keep up as it never really kicks on fully until the restarts judging by the force of airflow and when it restarts it cools down relatively quickly. Thanks for the help gentlemen I really appreciate it, I will update further when I receive the new PSU. Just another curiosity question, the motherboard I have has a 8 pin power slot and a 4 pin power, the PSU I have doesn't provide a supplemental 4 pin, just the 8 pin. Could this be a cause of my problems? or should I just ignore it like others have said online as I'm not overclocking.

 

[jonnyguru]

Were did I say otherwise? Trying to make my suggestion look stupid isn't actually helpful for the OP, and we do want to help the OP, don't we ?

If it indeed turns out being a faulty transistor, it doesn't matter for OP, because if not trained and understanding electricity he is also not supposed to open the PSU as it may be dangerous.

True. Sorry about "lashing out", but far too often people assume that something is bad because of a capacitor and that something must be poor quality because it doesn't use "Japanese capacitors" and it just gets old.

Well when it does happen the smell is very bad and it did make my wife leave the room, I for one am used to strong smells from work and smoking so it didn't bother me as it did the Mrs. I don't know if it's a capacitor or not but I'm open to suggestions regardless. Please refrain from arguments and side discussions as it does nothing to help me.

When it shuts down, it's a complete shut down? Can you just press the power button on the front of the case to get it to power back up again? Or do you have to wait? Or do you have to cycle the power on the back of the PSU?

 

[jonnyguru]

Okay, so I looked for visible burn marks and noticed something weird, there are what looks like oil splats in small places all around the board near the connectors

Describe the "oil splats". You're not talking about the RTV they use around the heavier components?

the motherboard I have has a 8 pin power slot and a 4 pin power, the PSU I have doesn't provide a supplemental 4 pin, just the 8 pin.

The RM850 has two 4+4-pin connectors. These will split into two four pin connectors.

 

[slevin kelevra]

See this is the kick in the head, it doesn't shut down! none of the RGB turns off or even flickers it literally just restarts, and YES auto restart has been disabled this whole time in both windows and bios and I get a generic error in the event viewer, error "The previous system shutdown at 1:37:15 AM on ‎1/‎22/‎2022 was unexpected" code 6008! I looked it up and found multiple reasons/problems behind it with 1 thing sticking out above all else and that's others with this error code have complete power loss and just shuts down, while my machine just restarts like a quick surge/loss of power. I've switched outlets and even switched surge protectors that was the first thing I did, oh and the CPU never reaches above 55C, neither does the motherboard and its brand new so 0 dust has been built up I even removed the PSU fan filter on the bottom to help airflow and I've formatted my main drive (NVME) and flashed my bios. No, the PSU I have does NOT have 2 4+4 pin connectors it came with 1 SINGLE 4+4 pin power connector, and yes, it's a brand-new unit!

The oil splats are really hard to notice, and I have no idea what RTV is 100% but a google search shows it's just silicone and no I don't know if this is that or not as it's my first motherboard that has done this. I did have a GPU (gtx 1070) back in the day that had this splatting all over the backside of the PCB and it never failed, and I never figured out what it was 100% but I think it was thermal pad leakage. Could be wrong on that I am not sure...

Like I said before I will update further when the new PSU comes in on the 28th. Even if it's not the PSU at fault 94c is too freaking hot and I don't feel comfortable leaving this in my machine weather its faulty or not. I ordered a Sea Sonic 850w gold with manual fan controller in its place and will return this unit ASAP.

 

[jonnyguru]

See this is the kick in the head, it doesn't shut down! none of the RGB turns off or even flickers it literally just restarts, and YES auto restart has been disabled this whole time in both windows and bios and I get a generic error in the event viewer, error "The previous system shutdown at 1:37:15 AM on ‎1/‎22/‎2022 was unexpected" code 6008! I looked it up and found multiple reasons/problems behind it with 1 thing sticking out above all else and that's others with this error code have complete power loss and just shuts down, while my machine just restarts like a quick surge/loss of power. I've switched outlets and even switched surge protectors that was the first thing I did, oh and the CPU never reaches above 55C, neither does the motherboard and its brand new so 0 dust has been built up I even removed the PSU fan filter on the bottom to help airflow and I've formatted my main drive (NVME) and flashed my bios. No, the PSU I have does NOT have 2 4+4 pin connectors it came with 1 SINGLE 4+4 pin power connector, and yes, it's a brand-new unit!

The oil splats are really hard to notice, and I have no idea what RTV is 100% but a google search shows it's just silicone and no I don't know if this is that or not as it's my first motherboard that has done this. I did have a GPU (gtx 1070) back in the day that had this splatting all over the backside of the PCB and it never failed, and I never figured out what it was 100% but I think it was thermal pad leakage. Could be wrong on that I am not sure...

Like I said before I will update further when the new PSU comes in on the 28th. Even if it's not the PSU at fault 94c is too freaking hot and I don't feel comfortable leaving this in my machine weather its faulty or not. I ordered a Sea Sonic 850w gold with manual fan controller in its place and will return this unit ASAP.

Where did 94°C come from? This is the first time I heard about this.

Also, if the PSU latches due to thermals, it doesn't "restart". It latches. Which means it completely shuts down and will not let you start back up again until the unit cools down.

Maybe you can take the picture of the "oil splats".

 

[slevin kelevra]

Where did 94°C come from? This is the first time I heard about this.

Also, if the PSU latches due to thermals, it doesn't "restart". It latches. Which means it completely shuts down and will not let you start back up again until the unit cools down.

Maybe you can take the picture of the "oil splats".

I said before in a previous reply that I used a peak meter on the shroud of my PSU unit outside of the case and it read 94c right after restarting and IT IS restarting, NOT SHUTTING DOWN! you can use all the fancy words you want but, I am telling you its restarting not shutting down!
I get the feeling you really don't want to help me out here and you are looking for any and all other problems it could be when in fact the PSU is overheating and emitting a terrible smell. I appreciate the help, but I am going to be honest with you here bud you have yet to offer any advice worth following while also refusing the answers I give you with retorts like "latching will cause a system shutdown" like are you 100% sure that is what's happening here and not the PSU just overheating due to a faulty controller/fan. Sorry if I come off rude but, take a step back and at least read what I am writing before offering advice in other areas.

https://imgur.com/PLdeinW

View: https://imgur.com/PLdeinW

https://imgur.com/sSaMLjq

View: https://imgur.com/sSaMLjq


imgur links above, couldn't figure out any other way to upload them as it told me to contact the admin when trying to embed the images with CTR + P . Notice just above the tb header on the 2nd link and notice just next to the debug light to the top right on the 1st link. Those are the splats I am referring; I don't really know what they are. No, the motherboard is in a dry environment, and I have spilled nothing on it before you ask and its barely 2 months old.

 

[jonnyguru]

I said before in a previous reply that I used a peak meter on the shroud of my PSU unit outside of the case and it read 94c right after restarting and IT IS restarting, NOT SHUTTING DOWN! you can use all the fancy words you want but, I am telling you its restarting not shutting down!
I get the feeling you really don't want to help me out here and you are looking for any and all other problems it could be when in fact the PSU is overheating and emitting a terrible smell. I appreciate the help, but I am going to be honest with you here bud you have yet to offer any advice worth following while also refusing the answers I give you with retorts like "latching will cause a system shutdown" like are you 100% sure that is what's happening here and not the PSU just overheating due to a faulty controller/fan. Sorry if I come off rude but, take a step back and at least read what I am writing before offering advice in other areas.

Umm... I never saw anything about 94°C temps anywhere in your post. Sorry if I missed it.

I think we're just criss-crossing our info.

I know you said it's restarting and not shutting down. That's why I said it's not a thermal problem with the PSU. An OTP event on the PSU will cause the PSU to latch. Not "reboot".

And yes... I am 100% sure that a latch from OTP will not allow you to turn the PC back on from the front power button. Nevermind cause a reset.

This makes me think the problem is NOT the PSU overheating.

 

[slevin kelevra]

Umm... I never saw anything about 94°C temps anywhere in your post. Sorry if I missed it.

I think we're just criss-crossing our info.

I know you said it's restarting and not shutting down. That's why I said it's not a thermal problem with the PSU. An OTP event on the PSU will cause the PSU to latch. Not "reboot".

And yes... I am 100% sure that a latch from OTP will not allow you to turn the PC back on from the front power button. Nevermind cause a reset.

This makes me think the problem is NOT the PSU overheating.

I am not criss crossing any info, it's literally 4 comments above. And the PSU is over heating. Corsair contacted me back from their support service a few hours ago saying the PSU is not suppose to reach those temperatures, they even asked if I was using it outside as the ambient temps needed to get the PSU that hot would have to be around 80f and suggested me to RMA the unit, I will not be RMA the PSU as I am just going to get a refund. Everytime it restarts the PSU makes a terrible smell of plastic and the fan kicks on 100% judging by the force of airflow until it cools down and then the fan shuts off or slows down judging by the force of air flow, while gaming the force of airflow is minimal at best and doesn't kick on fully until the restart happenes. I already narrowed the problem down to the PSU as it shouldn't be acting this way to begin with. Until I get the new PSU in I will hold off anymore questions and will update after I test the new PSU out on the 28th.

 

[jonnyguru]

I am not criss crossing any info, it's literally 4 comments above. And the PSU is over heating. Corsair contacted me back from their support service a few hours ago saying the PSU is not suppose to reach those temperatures, they even asked if I was using it outside as the ambient temps needed to get the PSU that hot would have to be around 80f and suggested me to RMA the unit, I will not be RMA the PSU as I am just going to get a refund. Everytime it restarts the PSU makes a terrible smell of plastic and the fan kicks on 100% judging by the force of airflow until it cools down and then the fan shuts off or slows down judging by the force of air flow, while gaming the force of airflow is minimal at best and doesn't kick on fully until the restart happenes. I already narrowed the problem down to the PSU as it shouldn't be acting this way to begin with. Until I get the new PSU in I will hold off anymore questions and will update after I test the new PSU out on the 28th.

Again...

If a PSU overheats, it latches off. It doesn't restart. Period.

Yes, you speculated the PSU is overheating, but you didn't imply the 94°C temperature until just now and now I'm wondering where you got that information. I simply asked how you obtained that temperature reading as this is "new information" to this thread.

 

[slevin kelevra]

Again...

If a PSU overheats, it latches off. It doesn't restart. Period.

Yes, you speculated the PSU is overheating, but you didn't imply the 94°C temperature until just now and now I'm wondering where you got that information. I simply asked how you obtained that temperature reading as this is "new information" to this thread.

I said in a previous comment that the 3rd time it happened (restarted) I used a peak meter to test the shroud of the PSU (outside of the case) and it read 94c... Can you not read the previous comments or something? I'm struggling to talk with you buddy. Please just leave this discussion if you are having trouble reading previous comments as I'm done reiterating everything to you for you to offer 0 suggestions to MY problem.

 

[DSzymborski]

You literally have someone who has spent years heading a team designing these PSUs donating his time to try and resolve your issue and your response is to be nasty? All because he missed a detail in text that's very difficult to read? Not to mention that there are multiple reasons anybody reading would be highly skeptical that your PSU shroud was 94 degrees.

In any case, if you cannot treat people using their time to solve your problem with even minimal respect, this thread will be closed.

 

[slevin kelevra]

You literally have someone who has spent years heading a team designing these PSUs donating his time to try and resolve your issue and your response is to be nasty? All because he missed a detail in text that's very difficult to read? Not to mention that there are multiple reasons anybody reading would be highly skeptical that your PSU shroud was 94 degrees.

In any case, if you cannot treat people using their time to solve your problem with even minimal respect, this thread will be closed.

Like I said before, I am not here to argue with anyone, just explaining my situation. I had already said in a previous comment that the only way to avoid the restart was to have the ambient temperature below 70f and I got it down to 65f to run the machine overnight, this alone should be evident enough that it's overheating.

You're response doesn't help my situation either, 0 suggestions from jonnyguru besides a mem test, which I performed before I even posted. I wasn't rude at all, maybe he couldn't see the previous comments and I was legitimately asking just that, and if he wasn't able to see them then his involvement in this thread would cause more issues overall.

Again the PSU was not tested on the inside but the shroud with a peak meter thermometer and it read 94c just after restarting, ( did not control the ambient temp but it was probably around 76f) believe me or don't believe me that's on you.

I'm not going to turn it back on and play rdr2 for 2 hours just to prove it! Risking the possibility of damaging something. If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them. Insults also won't help nor are they appreciated but, again I'm not going to argue.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Civility is required at all times in these forums. It is quite obvious that the OP has no intentions of following that rule so this thread is now closed.