I recently built a newer PC and would like to give my previous system to my brother, but it randomly powers off while playing games at medium or high settings. This can happen even when GPU usage is only around 60%. There's also a buzzing sound that I initially assumed was GPU coil whine, although I wasn't sure whether the power supply might be responsible. I've checked for overclocks and updated the BIOS, but the shutdowns continue. The system has an MSI B450 Tomahawk Max motherboard, Ryzen 5 5600X, 16GB of G.Skill Aegis DDR4-3200, a Zotac RTX 2060 6GB, and a be quiet! System Power B9 600W power supply. The PSU is around four to five years old. What should I check before replacing it?
4 Answers
Monitor CPU and GPU temperatures while gaming, including the GPU hotspot temperature if possible. Excessive heat can trigger protective shutdowns, even if the average temperature looks acceptable. If temperatures are normal, the PSU or power connection becomes more likely.
It’s also worth checking the GPU cooling and memory usage. Make sure the graphics card fans are spinning properly, and consider replacing old thermal paste if the hotspot temperature is unusually high. An overlay tool can show temperatures, clock speeds, VRAM usage, and system memory while you play.
A sudden, complete shutdown during gaming is often related to power delivery, so the PSU is worth investigating—especially since it’s already several years old. That said, it’s best to rule out temperatures and other electrical issues before buying a replacement.
The power supply is roughly four to five years old, so I wasn’t sure whether that was considered too old for this system.
The eventual fix turned out to be surprisingly simple: the PC was plugged into a problematic wall socket. The buzzing was genuine GPU coil whine rather than a sign that the PSU was failing. After moving the computer to a different socket, it ran normally.
I checked the temperatures and they looked normal, so overheating doesn’t seem to be the cause.