My AVGPC gaming desktop is about 14 months old and has only been used for roughly 100 hours of gaming. It has an Intel Core i9-11900KF, RTX 5060 Ti, 32GB of DDR4-3200 memory, an Intel B560 motherboard, a 1TB NVMe SSD, a 360mm liquid cooler, and an 850W 80+ Gold power supply running Windows 11.
While playing The Sims 4, the computer suddenly lost power completely. There was no blue screen, error message, freezing, or normal shutdown, and it did not restart on its own. It had been working normally beforehand, and this has never happened before.
I noticed afterward that the bottom intake filter had a fairly heavy buildup of pet hair. We have several shedding pets, so restricted airflow and overheating are possible, although the system did not seem unusually hot at the time. I have not tried powering it back on because I do not want to make a hardware problem worse.
I am planning to have a repair shop clean and diagnose it, but before that I would like to understand the most likely causes. Could this be overheating, a power supply or cable problem, a motherboard or VRM issue, or something else? I am not looking to replace parts based on guesses—just trying to understand what an experienced technician would check first.
4 Answers
An instant loss of power with no blue screen usually points more toward a power delivery problem than a normal Windows crash. Possible causes include a failing power supply, a loose power connector, a motherboard fault, or a short. The shop should inspect the cables, PSU, motherboard, and signs of heat or physical damage rather than immediately swapping random parts.
Monitoring software such as HWiNFO can show CPU, GPU, motherboard, and VRM temperatures, while a controlled stress test such as OCCT can help identify either thermal or power instability. Because this system uses a high-power i9 on a B560 board, the technician should pay particular attention to the board's VRM temperatures and power limits.
Clean the bottom filter and the rest of the case before doing more testing. A badly restricted intake can contribute to overheating, and modern systems may shut themselves down as protection when temperatures get too high. After cleaning, see whether it starts and operates normally.
If it still refuses to start after cleaning and checking the power connections, a technician can narrow it down by testing with only the essential hardware connected. Disconnecting the storage drive temporarily can help distinguish a boot or drive issue, although an SSD problem by itself would not usually cause the entire computer to lose power while gaming.
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