My PC crashes while loading games. It occasionally recovers for a month or more before returning.
My PC crashes while loading games. It occasionally recovers for a month or more before returning.
This has been occurring for a while now (about two years), typically on the game loading screen, especially when pressing 'Press ... to start' and sometimes in menus. The PC just crashes and restarts. I fixed it with a factory reset before, but this hasn't always worked. Recently, after another factory reset, the problem returned, so it wasn't resolved by that method. I haven't played any games for a few days since leaving it, and the PC recovered within two weeks, but the issue has come back. The PSU test didn't point to the problem, but I suspect it might be related to the motherboard or power delivery system.
Here are my PC details:
Motherboard: Asus Prime B365-Plus
CPU: Intel i5-9400F
GPU: Nvidia RTX 2060 (KFA2)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB 2600Mhz
(It seems the RAM is capped at 2666Mhz due to motherboard limits)
Storage: Intel SSDPEKNW010T9 1TB and WD Black SN85X with Heatsink 2TB
Please share any suggestions you might have about what could be causing this, it would be really helpful.
The PSU's make and model (or part number) are provided. The age of the PSU is also noted, along with whether it was purchased new or used/refurbished. The testing method for the PSU is described in detail. How the PSU was tested is explained clearly. MoBo only has VRMs, which can fail, making PSU issues more probable than VRM problems. The term "feel like" is not used to confirm or deny anything.
Hello Aeacus, thank you for getting in touch and offering assistance. I truly value your help.
The PC I have is a prebuilt model I acquired in March 2021, using the Bequiet! System Power 9 500W PSU. I ran a PSY test with a PSU tester from Amazon just to verify that all connections were functioning correctly and delivering power as expected. Although this wasn't an ideal test—since it couldn't simulate load conditions—it was the only option available. Please let me know if you need any further details.
(Responses may take some time due to the UK timezone, sorry for any delays)
Low grade power supply unit. It came with a three-year warranty, which makes the PSU seem likely to be the problem. Here, I’d switch to a higher quality, reliable unit.
Recommended good PSUs are:
Seasonic Focus/Vertex/PRIME, Corsair RMx/RMi/HXi/AXi, Super Flower Leadex Gold/Platinum/Titanium.
(My three PCs also use Seasonic. I have two PRIME TX-650 units and one Focus PX-550. Full specs with pictures are in my profile.)
A 650W unit works well. A higher capacity model wouldn’t hurt either;
pcpp:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/products/com...xr,R4RwrH/
These PSU testers are a waste of money.
What they do is similar to assuming the car runs perfectly right after turning it on—without actually testing it. So just checking the PSU without applying any load doesn’t confirm its performance.
If replacing the low-quality unit still causes issues, it’s time to consider other parts, such as VRMs or the GPU. But I’m pretty sure the PSU is the culprit, because it fails to keep the PC running when you apply real power (like starting a game, which increases GPU load, forcing the GPU to draw more watts from the PSU and causing shutdowns).