Question PC shuts off after a few minutes and won’t turn back on until power supply switch is flipped on and off

[philgravy]

Hi everyone,

My parent’s PC that I built before leaving to college started having some issues recently where it shuts off after a few minutes of using it, mostly when opening applications / games but still does it otherwise. It used to not be like that at all. It started by just shutting off after about 4 hours of use, then became progressively worse. My dad bought a new power supply to hopefully fix the issue but nothing changed, so he returned it and put the old one back in. Now, the computer shuts off after just about 3 mins of use and won’t turn back on (if clicking the case power button) until the power supply switch is flipped off then back on.

I’ve ran task manager and temperature monitors to see the load on the computer and there is nothing that jumps out at me, everything is pretty much at a normal level. Disk runs a little high consistently but I feel like that’s pretty normal.
Only thing I can really think of it being is a software issue that may be linked to the fact that I bought a $20 windows key instead of the full original. Beyond that, I have no clue. I’m open to all suggestions. Feel free to ask any further questions!

Thanks y’all

 

[TrufflesG]

I like to take my computers outside every few months and use compressed air to blow them out.
Sometimes dust can build up and cause heat retention in places you wouldn't suspect.

Remember that there are more chips on the MoBo than just the CPU. Pretty much all of them are subject to problems if overheated.
Check that the video fan is spinning if it has one.

Open it up and visually look at the tops of the capacitors. Any bulging even slightly?
The way you describe it could be dust buildup in the PSU.
Or a component problem in there.

Create a USB Windows Boot thumb drive and boot it using that to rule out the Windows in stall and software on the internal storage drive (HDD or SSD)
All I can think of for now.