My PC first began shutting down randomly while I was gaming, as if the power had been cut. It restarted normally at first, but the problem happened again later. I then disconnected the components, discharged the system, and reassembled it, after which the computer worked normally for a couple of weeks.
A few days ago, the shutdowns returned. The PC powered off again shortly after startup, and eventually it would shut down almost immediately whenever I tried to use it—even when opening a lightweight application. Now pressing the power button does nothing at all: no fans, LEDs, or other signs of life.
I've already tried swapping the GPU's PCIe power cable, starting the system without the GPU, testing each RAM stick separately, booting with only the CPU and cooler, one RAM module, and the M.2 SSD, and discharging residual power from the motherboard.
The system uses a GIGABYTE B650 AORUS Elite AX motherboard, Ryzen 5 9600X processor, GIGABYTE RX 9060 XT GAMING OC 16G graphics card, be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850W PSU, 32 GB of Kingston Fury Beast DDR5-6000 memory, and an ADATA LEGEND 860 1 TB M.2 SSD.
I don't have another compatible power supply available, so I'm planning to have a repair shop test the system with a known-good unit. Could a failing PSU progressively cause occasional shutdowns, increasingly fast shutdowns, and finally complete silence? Could the motherboard, overheating, or a loose power connector produce the same pattern?
3 Answers
The power supply is the first thing I’d test with a known-good replacement. A failing PSU can shut the computer off under load, work again temporarily, and then become completely unresponsive as the fault worsens. The repair shop should also inspect the 24-pin motherboard connector, CPU power connector, and GPU connections for anything loose or damaged.
Clearing the CMOS is reasonable once the system has standby power, but a BIOS update is not a good first step during unstable shutdowns—and it can’t help if pressing the power button produces absolutely no response. Use a known-good PSU first, then test the motherboard outside the case with only the CPU, cooler, one RAM stick, and the required power cables connected.
Overheating is another possibility, especially since the original failures happened during gaming. Check that the CPU cooler is mounted properly, the fans are spinning, and the heatsink isn’t blocked with dust. However, with no fans or LEDs now, testing the PSU and motherboard power connections is more urgent than changing BIOS settings.
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