System stops unexpectedly or displays a blue screen of death.
System stops unexpectedly or displays a blue screen of death.
Hi! I assembled my computer around the holiday season last year. Recently, about once a day, it would crash or shut down suddenly without any blue screen. To restart it, I had to power on the power supply unit. Yesterday I disassembled some components to check for loose cables or misplaced RAM sticks, but that didn’t seem to be the issue. I also looked in the Event Viewer in Windows, but found only “the pc shut down unexpectedly.” The system isn’t overheating either. Should I consider replacing the PSU and rebuilding everything? I’ve also thought about swapping out my old M.2 boot drive since it’s outdated. There’s no clear pattern to when these crashes occur—maybe while streaming or gaming. It’s quite random. I’m new to PC hardware and would really appreciate any advice!
PC specs:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5600X
- CPU cooler: Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT / 240mm
- Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING
- GPU: Radeon RX 6600 XT Speedster SWFT 210
- RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB LED Pro Black DDR4 3200MHz 2x8GB
- PSU: Cooler Master MWE Gold Fully Modular 750W V2
- Old M.2 boot drive (250 GB)
Feel free to ask any questions!
Hello! Could you clarify which programs are active before the shutdown? Also, are you using any monitoring tools such as HWMonitor or CPU-Z to keep track of the PC's status in real time? Before checking the power supply, it would be wise to verify the condition of your SSD. Download CrystalDiskMark and CrystalDiskInfo if you haven’t already, to assess the health of your storage device. The phrase “unbranded old old m.2 boot drive 250 GB” doesn’t sound reliable, and it could indicate worn-out or faulty cells that might be affecting your OS. I’d suggest starting with the SSD first. If that’s confirmed, then double-check the CMOS battery connection and charge. Only after those steps should you proceed to troubleshoot the power supply unit—though you’ll likely need more detailed information about what caused the failure before making a purchase. I’m not very experienced with PSUs, but if everything else checks out, you might find help from jonnyGURU. Let me know if you need further assistance! Cheers! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*
Hey! Thanks for the update. The situation is actually getting worse. I can barely keep the PC running for more than 3 to 5 minutes before it shuts down completely. It also crashes during BIOS setup. I don’t have much time to run any tests right now. I checked HWmonitor yesterday and everything looked normal—temperatures and power usage were fine. Maybe the CMOS battery is the only thing left to check? I’m thinking about trying CrystalDisk Fast, but I’m not sure if it’ll help.
If the system frequently crashes and restarts the BIOS, a failing SSD is likely the cause. Try starting the computer without any SSD or HDD and just with one RAM stick. If it fails to remain active during the post-boot screen or BIOS, the problem probably lies with the power supply—possibly due to Over-Current Protection activating because of a defective part. You can return it for repair if it's still under warranty.
Check the specifications for the QVL section on your motherboard.