PC shut down unexpectedly [once more]
PC shut down unexpectedly [once more]
About a month back, my computer functioned normally. When I powered it down, the next morning it was completely unresponsive, with no signs of life.
I attempted various solutions:
- Booting without a GPU
- Booting with just one RAM stick and swapping RAM slots
- Booting without any hard drives or SSDs
- Booting without USB cables connected
- Resetting the CMOS battery
- Replacing the CMOS battery
- Changing the main PSU cable
- Connecting the PC to a different power outlet
- Jumpstarting the system using a screwdriver
- Inspecting and re-plugging all wires
Despite these efforts, nothing worked. The only unusual observation was that my keyboard's RGB lights stayed on continuously, which is unexpected since they usually turn off when the PC isn't running.
I repeatedly tried to restart the computer every few days, but it remained unresponsive. After a week, I noticed the keyboard's RGB lights were off. When I finally turned it on, everything functioned normally—games ran as expected and it seemed to recover after a week of being dead.
I conducted some troubleshooting, but found no unusual issues. The system continued working for about a month until yesterday. Once I powered it off again, slept, woke up, pressed the power button, and it was completely dead. After several attempts, the keyboard's RGB lights came back on after a few presses, and they remained active continuously.
Please let me know if you have any advice.
Hey there,
Which PSU powers the system? Also, when you reset the CMOS, did you remove the battery and connect the two pins?
I’d probably guess it’s the low-quality PSU, but since the whole system is pretty old, the motherboard might also be the issue.
Hello, sorry for the delayed response
The PSU is DeepCool DE500 v2 350w
The issue resolved itself again yesterday, I tried booting it and it turned on. I powered it off and on several times, everything seems fine. However, if this happened twice, it might happen a third time too—do you have any troubleshooting steps you could try while the PC is running to help find the cause?
Hello, sorry for the delayed response
The issue resolved itself once more yesterday. I tried restarting it and it turned on properly. I switched it off and on several times, and everything seems fine. However, if this happened twice, it might happen a third time as well. I was thinking about replacing it, but my budget is limited, so I wanted to find out whether the problem lies with the PSU or the motherboard. Even though used parts are inexpensive, I wouldn’t want to buy a PSU just to check if the motherboard is the cause or vice versa. Are there any steps I can take now to help identify the problem while the PC is actually running?
I also noticed that the CPU usage is extremely high. Opening Chrome or playing games instantly brings it to 100% continuously, and none of my programs or games run smoothly as before.
Hello, sorry for the delayed response
The system is clearly outdated and I’m saving up to get it updated, which will take some time because my income isn’t high enough. I’m trying to pinpoint the exact issue so I can replace the faulty part and at least keep using the PC until I can afford an upgrade.
In earlier messages, I mentioned that the PC still boots up and is functioning properly, but if there’s any way to detect the problem now that it works, that would be really helpful.
Also, I’ve noticed my CPU keeps spiking to 100% whenever I try to open anything—Chrome, games, programs, even basic tasks freeze.
The high CPU usage isn't unexpected for me: the I5-4590 is quite old. We use these in my office, and updating Windows 10 fills all four cores; those CPUs lack hyperthreading. After those hard restarts, it's likely Windows runs many integrity checks.
Do you have a hard drive or SSD installed? If it's a hard drive, then the high CPU usage while performing those checks makes sense.
I usually test my rig with a spare power supply to confirm the issue. However, I avoid unreliable PSUs because I can't risk further troubleshooting without replacing them and checking again. Even if the problem persists later, it's possible the power supply is gradually damaging the board.