PC stops working unexpectedly despite fresh power supply and memory installation
PC stops working unexpectedly despite fresh power supply and memory installation
Recently (around a year ago, though the PC didn’t get much use), I replaced my brother’s system with my previous parts (I shared this here asking for advice—turns out I missed updating the BIOS). His configuration changed from: MSI Z370 gaming pro carbon oc mobo Corsair ax760 power supply Intel i7-8700k CPU G.skill trident z rgb 2x8GB RAM GTX 1080TI NZXT dual fans AIO Some unknown Wi-Fi card I can’t recall To: MSI Z370 gaming pro carbon oc mobo Corsair ax760 power supply Intel i9-9900k CPU G.skill trident z rgb 2x8GB RAM Gygabyte RTX 3080 10G eagle oc Be Quiet! pure rock 2 Some unknown Wi-Fi card I can’t remember Or identify. We noticed the PC would shut down unexpectedly. We believed it was due to insufficient power supply, so we lowered the PSU limit to 70% which reduced crashes. Eventually we saved some money and upgraded to Seasonic G12 GC 850 watt Gold. Then we restored the power limit to 100% last week. But after a while, random crashes returned again. There doesn’t appear to be any clear pattern—shutdowns happen during games, even light ones like For The King. Event logs don’t show anything, and the behavior seems erratic (it stops suddenly). Hardware checks revealed no error codes, and the RAM seemed fine. We had four G.skill Trident Z RAM sticks, two of which failed over time, so we replaced them with my old Corsair Vengeance 2x8GB DDR4 3200. Updated GPU drivers, BIOS, and Windows (including optional updates) to the latest versions. Still, the issue persists...
A few notes: while the Corsair RAM was temporarily lost, it fell about 20 cm onto a cardboard box, possibly indicating damage. The RTX 3080 has an unusual power pin that needs straightening with tweezers before connecting. I verified everything is properly seated and connected. I suspect none of these parts are faulty, and all components from my system worked when used. Honestly, I’m running out of ideas—we’re considering swapping the motherboard with my old one (and maybe using my old case), but that would be a long and frustrating process. Would anyone have suggestions before we go that route?
I mentioned that the event log displays no issues except for an unexpected shutdown notice. We swapped out the PSU because reducing the card’s power to 70% cut down crash frequency. I thought it might be related to the PSU’s inability to manage sudden power spikes from the RTX 3000 series (afterburner indicated power usage could jump up to 113% even when limited). After replacing the PSU, I ran FurMark with the built-in CPU stress test for a few hours and everything functioned normally, including temperatures. The same went for extended play in Heaven mode. In low-load games, crashes still occur when the GPU isn’t heavily loaded and doesn’t generate heat. I occasionally visited to monitor temps while my brother played, but it’s tough to get an accurate reading before shutdown due to their unpredictability.
I mentioned this in my earlier comment — yes. There’s nothing there; I’ve verified every section: application, security, system, etc. It’s actually strange because we’d need to shut down at 17:11 and restart at 17:12. Looking at the logs, there would be no entries for 20 minutes before the restart, like an event at 16:46 followed by activity at 17:12 when we turned it back on, even though it was still running until 17:11... It happens occasionally. Sometimes there are events during shutdowns with nothing critical, and other times there are no warnings at all.