My gaming PC randomly shuts down while playing games. The build uses an 850W power supply, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, an MSI MAG B850 Tomahawk MAX WiFi motherboard, and two DDR5 memory sticks. It does not show a blue screen or error message—the system simply loses power and then starts again. I have already changed several BIOS settings but have not been able to identify the cause. Separate OCCT, FurMark, and SilverBench tests completed without errors or shutdowns. What should I check next?
4 Answers
Since OCCT, FurMark, and SilverBench did not trigger the problem, try testing the exact games that cause it while logging temperatures, GPU power, clock speeds, and voltages. A loose connector, transient power issue, or game-specific driver problem can appear only during certain load changes. Reinstalling the graphics driver with a clean-install option is also worth trying.
An 850W unit should be more than enough for this combination, so total wattage is unlikely to be the issue by itself. Still, the exact PSU model and its age matter. A failing or poor-quality PSU can shut the system down under changing gaming loads even when synthetic stress tests pass. If possible, test with a known-good PSU and check Windows Event Viewer for a Kernel-Power event after the next shutdown.
First, confirm whether it is a true power cut or a reboot. Since yours completely powers off with no error screen, check the power connections carefully. Make sure the graphics card is using the correct power cable arrangement, preferably separate PSU runs rather than one split cable if the card requires multiple connectors. Also reseat the motherboard, CPU, GPU, and PSU cables.
Reset the BIOS to its defaults and run the memory with EXPO disabled for a while. If the shutdowns stop, the memory profile or memory-controller settings may be unstable. After that, update the motherboard BIOS and chipset drivers, then re-enable EXPO only if the system remains stable. Also monitor CPU and GPU temperatures during an actual gaming session, since separate stress tests do not always reproduce the same load pattern.
It is always a hard power-off, then it starts back up normally. There is no crash screen or warning.