I bought a new pre-built PC that arrived yesterday. It worked normally at first, but this morning Windows felt sluggish and my mouse became choppy whenever the system was loading something. When I launched Path of Exile 2, the game was extremely laggy for roughly 10–15 seconds, and then the computer restarted without showing a blue screen. It has been working normally since.
Should I investigate anything now, or is it reasonable to wait and see whether it happens again?
2 Answers
It’s worth checking rather than simply waiting, especially with a new pre-built system. A one-time restart could be Windows or driver setup finishing in the background, but an unexpected reboot during a game can also point to a power or hardware protection event.
Look at the System log around the exact restart time. If Kernel-Power 41 appears, Windows is confirming that the shutdown was unexpected, though it won’t necessarily tell you why. Keep using the PC normally for the next few days, but if it reboots again—especially under load—contact the seller immediately instead of replacing parts or waiting until the warranty period becomes an issue.
I wouldn’t panic after a single incident, but I would check it now since the computer is brand new. In Event Viewer, open Windows Logs > System and inspect the entries immediately around the restart. Kernel-Power 41 indicates that Windows detected an unexpected shutdown, while WHEA or BugCheck 1001 entries may provide more clues. Event 41 by itself doesn’t identify the cause, so the events just before it matter most.
Also monitor the CPU and GPU temperatures and check whether any overclocking or memory profile settings are enabled. If it happens again—particularly while gaming—contact the seller promptly while the system is still covered by its return or warranty period.
The temperatures look normal now, although I’m not sure how to interpret all the Event Viewer entries. I saw several 10016 warnings, a 1014 warning, event 153, event 6008 around the shutdown, event 162, then Kernel-Power 41 and event 1001. There were also many ordinary information entries.