I was using my PC normally when it unexpectedly shut off. It didn't make any noises or show any signs of issues beforehand, just went completely dark. When I tried turning it back on, there was no response—no fans spinning, no lights on the motherboard, and my USB mouse didn't light up at all. I went through my troubleshooting steps: checked the wall outlet for power, did a power cycle by unplugging everything and holding the power button, but nothing worked. Then I had a breakthrough: when I removed my Galax GPU, the PC powered on right away, with fans and lights working. I reinstalled the GPU, and it went back to being unresponsive. But removing it again allowed the system to power up normally. My specs are a Ryzen 3600 and an RTX 2060, both about 6 years old. Could the issue be with my power supply or the GPU?
4 Answers
Next time, try flipping the switch on the back of the power supply. Count to ten, switch it back on, and it might power up again. My setup has done that a few times, and a quick reset like that has solved the problem for me. Also, check if your PSU has a silent mode switch that disables the fan. If that’s accidentally on, it could lead to overheating and shut it down.
What PSU are you using, and how many watts does it provide? That might give a better idea of whether it's the issue.
It sounds like your power supply might be faulty and can't handle the load from the GPU anymore.
It really seems like the PSU has died and will probably need to be replaced.
But when I remove the GPU, it works perfectly, all the fans and lights come up!
Will it work if I install a cheap low-powered GPU temporarily? I'm planning to build a new PC next month.