PC "shutting off" randomly, acting like it's in "Sleep" mode

[hlefevre24]

Before I start with my problem, I'd like to give my PC's specs:

CPU: AMD FX-8350 (not overclocked)
CPU Cooler: Hyper 212 EVO
GPU: MSI Twin Frozr V GTX 970 (not overclocked)
RAM: 8gb DDR3
Mobo: MSI 970 Gaming
PSU: XFX TS-550w
Storage: 240gb Sandisk SSD; 1tb Western Digital HDD
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 200R
OS: Windows 10

Also, I built this computer in late 2015, so it is about 2 and a half years old. None of the components have been replaced since then, and the newest addition is my CPU cooler, installed last year because the stock cooler was really loud and still had my PC running hot. Anyway, on to my issue...

This started happening a few nights ago while I was trying to install a game from Steam (Dark Souls 3). I started the install late at night, and left it installing while I went to sleep as it is a pretty large game. When I woke up in the morning, my PC's power button was flashing like it does when put in "Sleep" mode, but I noticed that all the fans were still running and my GPU lights were on. I tried pressing keys on my keyboard and shaking my mouse and got no response. I pressed the power button and nothing happened, then I held the power button for a while and still nothing happened. I tried pressing the "hard restart" button next to the power button and still nothing happened. I then just unplugged the computer from my surge protector, then waited a few minutes and plugged it back in. Everything seemed to go back to normal: there was a normal boot, Windows didn't say anything went wrong when it started up, and I even checked the event logs from the previous night and nothing suspicious had occurred.

I dismissed the problem and started playing the game, and, after about 40 minutes, my screen went black, the power button flashed, and my computer became unresponsive again. At this point, I thought that the problem might have something to do with the game since any issue like this had never happened before until I installed the game, so I looked up several possible solutions to minimize PC crashes while playing the game. While I believe these solutions made the amount of time I was able to play before a crash longer, the crashes still persisted. Again, I just thought that they had to do with the game, until one night a few days ago, I was done with my computer and was going to shut it off like I do every night, when the screen went to black and it crashed like before, with the power button flashing and fans and such still running. Keep in mind that the game was not running and hadn't been for a while at this point. It was then that I thought this was probably a hardware issue.

At first, I believed it was my GPU failing, so I updated the drivers and things seemed normal for a while, but the crashes still happened after a while of PC use. Most of the crashes occur after playing Dark Souls 3 for a while, but there have been 3 crashes where no game was running, 1 of those in which no programs (except background ones) were running at all. Whenever these crashes occur, the only thing that can get my PC working again is unplugging it and replugging it. At this point, I believe it might be a PSU issue, but I'm not 100% sure. Like I said earlier, I've had the computer for about 2 and a half years now, and I don't know if I should consider replacing the PSU or if it is something else entirely.

Sorry if this is a bit long, I just wanted to provide as much detail as possible. Please, if you have any questions or need any more information, ask and I will do my best to provide that information to you.

 

[helpstar]

Please check the temperature of your CPU using amd overdrive. Post the temperature margin while the system is under load.

The problem with the 8350 is that it consumes more than 125W sometimes and the cooling and the amount of the motherboard's voltage regulators VRMs is not sufficient, this can happen.

 

[hlefevre24]

Thank you, helpstar, for responding to my question. Sorry I've gotten back a little late, I've been busy and haven't really had time to work on this issue. But, I followed what you said, and here is a screenshot of the readings AMD Overdrive gave after a 15-minute session of Dark Souls 3. I tried doing a 30-minute session last night, but my computer crashed again before the 30 minutes were up:

As you can see, those temperatures aren't excessive. In fact, I'd say they're pretty cool considering I'm running a modern game with mostly high settings. I'm forced to believe that this is a Power Supply problem, but I'm just not sure what could be going wrong or how to fix it.

 

[helpstar]

5.25°C is not a good value, could be a thermal problem then. You should reapply thermal paste / reinstall cooler.
The thermal problem I mentioned is a general problem with mostly any FX AM3/+ board. Very view of these have a good passive cooling of the VRMs and a reasonable amount of more than 6 good VRMs. These components are stressed all day long while the CPU can be very low in temperature. Because of this these components can shutdown/crash while getting old or overheating under stress.

 

[hlefevre24]

Thanks again, helpstar. I guess my question at this point is: why is this just now happening? Like I said in my original post, I've had my CPU cooler installed since last year, so why is this problem just now popping up? Does this just happen after a certain period of time? Is it because Dark Souls 3 in particular is just a very intensive game to run? If so, why does my computer crash after not running any intensive programs at all? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

[helpstar]

That´s not really easy to answer. Mostly because consumer products are not designed to live longer than 2-3years. In your case, its a design problem of the motherboard in combination with the high wattage CPU.

If the VRMs get old, the power spikes can´t be regulated that good and if the CPU is clocking in idle from 800MHz to 4GHz, which happens in milliseconds, it can crash. You can try to run the CPU always at max. , could prevent such phenomenons.