PC begins operation and halts instantly, repeating every three seconds
PC begins operation and halts instantly, repeating every three seconds
The issue began a few days ago when my PC would power off unexpectedly under light to medium usage. Even after pressing the power button, it kept attempting to start—lights flickered and fans spun rapidly before shutting down again within seconds. After removing all non-essential parts and reinstalling them, the system functioned normally. Since then, the PC has randomly stopped 1–2 times daily but always restarted successfully. Last night it failed again during low load and has been restarting repeatedly since. Each time it powers on or off, a clicking noise comes from the power supply unit. I’ve stripped down all non-essential components once more (GPU, storage, etc.), tested RAM modules and slots, verified all connections, reattached the CPU cooler, and replaced the CMOS battery. The CPU is an i5-8600k (second hand) and the motherboard is MSI Z370-A PRO (second hand). RAM includes two 4GB modules—HyperX Fury and Corsair Vengeance LPX at 2133MHz. The graphics card is MSI RTX 2070 Super Gaming X Trio. The PSU is a Corsair RM 750x from 2018. Storage consists of one Seagate HDD, one Samsung SATA SSD, and one Intel NVMe SSD. For the past three years, the system has operated flawlessly after most components were replaced.
Consider trying alternative PSUs and checking your PC's stability with benchmarks. It might point to an issue with that specific part.
This seems to be a motherboard problem. The clicking noise from the PSU when it powers up is completely normal—it’s just the sound it makes as it activates the main power lines. You could try using a spare motherboard for testing. If you don’t have one, look for a nearby PC repair shop that might be willing to inspect the system.
I received a brand new power supply unit. It started up properly. After roughly 20 seconds in Windows, a crash occurred displaying acpi.sys failed. The computer rebooted, but right after logging back in, another crash appeared indicating a system service exception. Now it freezes on the BIOS boot screen with no response.