I've been experiencing random shutdowns with my PC only during gaming, no matter the game's difficulty level. I'm running Windows 10 Pro and I have an Intel Xeon E5 2680 v2 CPU with 10 cores and 20 threads, paired with an Intel X79 motherboard and an MSI GeForce GTX 980 4GB graphics card. I've got 16GB of memory and I'm using a Cooler Master 460W power supply. I can play demanding games like GTA 5, Hogwarts, CS:GO, and Forza 5 without any issues, but games that are less taxing on the system, like Tanks and Mafia 3, lead to these unexpected shutdowns. I've tried reinstalling the games on both an SSD and HDD, but it didn't help. I also ran FurMark2 at Full HD for a long time and didn't experience overheating, maintaining a stable 60-70 fps. So, I don't think it's a hardware issue.
4 Answers
Usually, sudden shutdowns are due to either power supply issues or overheating, so it’s worth checking both.
Have you enabled XMP for your RAM? Unstable RAM can cause crashes under load when you’re gaming, especially if your GPU overuses VRAM.
I don’t use XMP, and I haven’t had memory issues; I only use about 10 GB during gameplay.
It sounds like your power supply could be the problem. How old is your PSU? Power issues usually lead to shutdowns when the system is under load.
The power supply is about 2 years old, so I’m not sure why the tests show it’s fine under load.
Your PSU seems underpowered for your setup. I recommend upgrading to a 600-700W power supply to see if it fixes the issue.
In stress tests, everything’s normal. My video card alone consumes about 200 watts.
I keep an eye on temperatures while gaming and everything seems fine.