I've recently built a new PC and it's been acting up. It randomly black screens and shuts down, which has happened three times in the last week, always about 48 hours apart. In the event viewer, I see a critical kernel-power error (41) each time, and the mini dump file shows a DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE error. The shutdowns occur shortly after waking the computer from sleep – one time while launching a game, and another time while just sitting idle on the desktop. Everything seems stable otherwise; temperatures for the CPU and GPU are good, no overclocking except for EXPO, and stress tests came back clean. I've updated the BIOS and installed all the latest drivers.
I've tried a bunch of troubleshooting steps including disabling EXPO, reseating RAM and GPU, checking power cables, and running diagnostics, but no luck. Given that my power supply is 850W, I wonder if it could be defective or if I need a higher wattage. I've also considered doing a fresh install of Windows and drivers, even though it's only been a week. I'm really stuck on how to pinpoint the issue since it doesn't happen consistently, and I'd love any advice!
1 Answer
Honestly, I wouldn't let your PC sleep or hibernate for now. Sleep mode has been buggy for quite a while, despite patches from both GPU makers and Microsoft. Aside from that, you’ve done a lot of good troubleshooting already. Your PSU looks fine in terms of wattage, but there's always a chance something might be faulty from the factory. As for the extra PCIe power connector, it’s usually only needed for very high-end GPUs, so it shouldn't be causing issues under normal conditions. But, if the shutting down continues, try disconnecting that and see if it helps.
Thanks! I’ll give that a shot. It’s a shame about the sleep mode, though; I used it all the time on my old Intel build.