Multiple attempts at failure with BIO resets over the years
Multiple attempts at failure with BIO resets over the years
Hi, I've been trying, unsuccessfully, to diagnose this for quite some time. Seeing if anyone has any ideas or ways to diagnose I've not thought of. I'll start with the symptoms. When playing games, my PC will sometimes hard shutdown (not a BSoD, just power off). On restarting, the bios is wiped and I need to load my old profile. Here are some notes of stuff I've been through and some points of interest I've picked up on: It's not all games. Though it seems to be consistently when I using the PC for games. I recently started playing Deaths Door (great game fyi) and this is probably the most consistent game I've ever had produce this problem, and will crash the PC within 5 minutes of playtime. That's what inspired this post as now I have a somewhat consistent way to reproduce. Before other games would only crash once like every 10 or so sessions - so very irregular. The motherboard on this machine has been replaced as the same board died a few months back and I replaced it with the same board (I was kind of hoping this was going to resolve the issue and was dodgy board and it had finally died). I've tried running with default bios settings just to make sure it's not any of the virtualisation or XMP settings I have enabled being unstable. I've got the latest, and continued to get the latest chipset drivers for the motherboard as they've been released. None have solved my issue yet. Maybe some have made it less frequent, but that's had to tell and my just be a skewed perception as it's irregular anyway. I've got a Voltmeter out and tested the voltages on all the pins are what they should be. They are. I've also sent the PSU back to the manufacture, and they tested it, said it was fine, and sent it back. No idea what their tests were though, and if they test under load. I've looked through the Windows Event Viewer (though I'm by no means that familiar with it, so happy to hear more places I should check). There's nothing there that looks useful, other then a Kernel-Power (Event 41) logged after the PC has been rebooted. I've ram a Memory Check, got the all clear. I ran `sfc /scannow` to fix any windows corrupted files. It found stuff, but didn't solve this problem. Finally, also my graphics card drivers are regularly kept up to date. So my current thoughts are dialling in on the processor itself. Maybe some function on the processor that is commonly used in gaming APIs (if that's a thing)? That would line up with such a hard crash with a BIOs reset in my head. And I can be fairly certain it's not the motherboard, as it's been replaced now. I also know it's not a load related thing because it happens on quite undemanding games like Deaths Door, and has no problems with games like Control. Here's my build: OS: Windows 11 Pro 64bit MOB: X570 I AORUS Pro WiFi (BIOS F35) CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 GPU: RTX 2070 Super PSU: NJ450-SXL MEM: 16GB (cant recall exactly the make/model but can get it if we care). Any pointers of what to try next... Also happy to upload any logs that may be of help. Thanks
have you put the system through stress tests? i mean running cinebench and heaven benchmark at the same time to check for shutdowns. it might just be a weak power supply that can't handle the hardware. putting the machine under heavy load should reveal this. if it shuts down, run cinebench or heaven separately to see if it still stops when only the GPU or CPU is stressed. if not, your PSU likely isn't strong enough for both components under game-like conditions.
Sounds like a power delivery issue with the power supply if it's just totally powering off like that. The load exceeds what the PSU is capable of handling for a brief moment, causing the OCP to trigger. Even if files were corrupt on your installation of Windows, that wouldn't cause a shutdown like that - it would more likely simply cause a BSOD.
Hi there,
I haven't run those since setting up the machine a few years back. Just tested them together for 10 minutes now—CPU hit 100% and GPU around 90-95%. That matches what I mentioned earlier, especially in games like Deaths Door where performance isn't affected by CPU or GPU load. Let me know your thoughts!
The evaluation overlooks particular methods the game might use to strain the system. The testing remains uniform since it uses benchmarks, unlike a game that experiences unpredictable load bursts requiring power management...Transient surges are part of the challenge. These can momentarily push the power supply beyond limits and activate OCP. Even at full capacity, not every component is consistently stressed, which explains why varying 100% loads lead to different temperatures.
I've checked online power draw calculators and watt monitors, and everything seems to fall within the 200W to 300W range. Unless there are unexpected spikes that push beyond these limits, which I haven't observed yet. I also ran some benchmark tests to see how much power I actually use, but the results suggest it's likely under the 450W rating. Most users tend to exceed specifications, so I'm not surprised if some go higher. Let me know your thoughts!
When I launch Deaths Door, the system experiences consistent crashes. The CPU reaches 40% utilization and the GPU hits 70%. It seems uneven workloads aren't the main issue, but differences in load distribution might matter. If a reequipment brings the total to over 450W, it could point to a firmware or manufacturing flaw causing excessive power draw for what's expected from the machine. This might be worth checking with additional details about your PSU.
The problem centers on the transition phase, influenced by how Deaths Door loads its components—especially at different usage levels. The spikes in load exceed what the unit can handle, even briefly, triggering a shutdown. Have you got another power supply that could work temporarily? Also, do you have a Kill-A-Watt device to measure the actual power draw?
I lack a spare fully charged PSU, but I have a Kill-A-Watt. Plugging it directly into the PSU isn’t convenient because my cable setup is tucked under my desk and hard to reach. Instead, I measured power usage from the wall that powers both the extension cord and my monitors (4K and 2K) as well as other devices. These readings are higher than usual due to the proximity. Here are some figures:
- Windows desktop with monitors on: 206W
- Windows desktop with monitors off: 114W
- Monitor consumption: about 92W
- Peak power draw during PC boot and game save: 418.5W
- Maximum power drawn after shutdown: 418.5W
I’m unsure how responsive the Kill-A-Watt is to these quick spikes, but it might not have caught them. If you suspect a surge, consider a PSU rated for at least 500W to stay safe. Let me know if you need more details from the device.