My PC suddenly clicks off and restarts while loading into Silent Hill f, apparently during the shader-compilation stage when the CPU remains at around 100% usage. There is no useful entry in Reliability Monitor, and Event Viewer only reports a Kernel-Power error saying the system shut down unexpectedly. I previously had BSODs that seemed to stop after replacing my SSD, but this shutdown problem started afterward. It does not happen in other games, although none of them may stress the CPU as heavily for as long.
My hardware is an Intel Core i9-14900KF, MSI RTX 5070 Ti 16GB, MSI PRO Z790-P WIFI motherboard, 32GB DDR5-6400 memory, a 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, a 360mm liquid cooler, and a 750W 80+ Gold ATX 2.0 power supply. What should I check first, and could the power supply or another component be causing the sudden restarts?
1 Answer
A sudden power-off followed by an automatic restart, with only a Kernel-Power event afterward, often points to a power, thermal, or motherboard protection event rather than a normal software crash. The 14900KF can draw a lot of power during sustained all-core workloads, so check CPU temperatures and package power while compiling shaders, confirm the cooler pump and fans are working, and make sure every motherboard and GPU power connector is fully seated. Also update the motherboard BIOS to a version containing Intel’s stability and microcode updates, then load Intel-recommended/default power limits instead of unrestricted motherboard settings. A failing or marginal 750W PSU is another possibility, especially if it is a lower-quality model, but it should be tested rather than assumed to be the cause.
That is frustrating, especially after already replacing the SSD. I’ll check the BIOS, temperatures, power limits, and PSU connections before replacing anything else.