I recently bought a used PC online that was running smoothly with a Ryzen 1600x CPU, and I decided to upgrade it to a Ryzen 3600xt. I made sure the BIOS was up-to-date before the swap. After replacing the CPU, the PC powers on, but sometimes the power light flickers and it only makes it to the Windows login screen before restarting.
I'm wondering if the new CPU is drawing too much power—I've got a Corsair RM750 750W power supply, which should be sufficient, right? I put the old CPU back in to test, and while it did get to the desktop, it eventually reset too. Could I have accidentally messed something up while changing the CPU, like loosening a wire or not mounting the cooler properly? Here are the other specs: 3060ti, 1TB NVMe SSD, ASUS Prime b350m-k motherboard, 16GB Corsair RAM, and a Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE cooler.
2 Answers
Hey! It sounds like you might not be tightening the cooler enough. If it’s loose, your CPU could overheat quickly, causing the PC to restart. Try reapplying the thermal paste (just a pea-sized amount) and ensure the cooler is mounted securely. On top of that, check the CPU temps in BIOS—if they hit over 70°C, it indicates improper cooling.
Definitely! A poor connection means less heat transfer, and the CPU can shut down to prevent damage.
You should also look at your power supply unit (PSU) connections. It's essential that everything is seated correctly. Sometimes, loose cables can cause power issues that lead to restarts. Additionally, I recommend resetting the CMOS to refresh the BIOS settings in case something got muddled during the CPU swap.
I didn't think it was a PSU issue since the old CPU did the same. But I'll check the cables now.
That makes sense, but it's always good to rule it out just in case!
Would leaving it too loose really cause restarts within a minute?