System shuts down repeatedly.
System shuts down repeatedly.
Hey everyone, I’ve already looked into many possibilities and tried various solutions, but I’m still stuck with my PC problems. The main issues are:
- Playing any game for about an hour causes the system to restart without a blue screen—just a normal reboot. Motherboard error code appears as VGA.
- After rebooting, getting back into Windows isn’t possible. It keeps looping until I force shut it down with the power button while it’s still trying to restart. Once it’s off, I can log in again.
- Starting any game right after the reboot leads to the same problems.
- Leaving the PC idle for roughly 10 minutes helps, but it still tries to restart afterward.
- If I wait about an hour without using it, it works again.
- It seems there’s a power or graphics card problem. I ran stress tests on both CPU and GPU, temperatures stayed normal—no crashes.
- Only Unigine Heaven consistently triggers these issues. It either fails completely during the test or reboots immediately after starting.
- Even browsing with Chrome for an hour doesn’t cause problems.
- Watching TV shows or movies using Plex for hours doesn’t trigger any issues.
- After a reboot, launching Chrome or a game causes an instant restart, not an immediate one.
- I’ve tried reinstalling Windows, updating drivers, reseating the GPU and BIOS battery, but nothing has changed.
It looks like there might be a problem with the power or graphics card. I’ve also noticed that running Unigine Heaven repeatedly causes these recurring crashes.
Anyone have any ideas about what could be going wrong? Right now, this PC is mainly used for Plex streaming and light browsing—no major crashes except during those game sessions.
Ensure total shots are recorded in darkness. Verify your idle power usage in the BIOS settings. Some initial Summit Ridge processors may freeze unexpectedly if "low power idle" is enabled; using "standard power idle" resolves the issue.
It seems like a power delivery concern involving the CPU, GPU, or power supply unit. It might also trigger shutdowns when only the CPU is under load. You may want to check the thermal pads.
Conditions remained stable during testing. The issue arose only when using Chrome. Stress tests lasted around 30 minutes with AIDA64 without any problems. No need to extend the duration.
It's possible the CPU and GPU temperatures are normal, but another part might not be getting enough cooling. Since the system fails to boot after shutdown or restarts quickly, overheating seems likely. A delayed recovery suggests inductors or a NTC resistor in the power supply could be the issue. Do you have a backup power supply available for testing? Frequent frequency changes while browsing may strain the voltage regulators.
No backup power supply available. I initially thought it was overheating, but dismissed it since Chrome can't really cause components to overheat. Also, this doesn’t occur when streaming for a full day. Using the Plex HTPC app. Can Chrome really put stress on any part of the system that would be noticeable?