For the past few days, my PC has been shutting down unexpectedly after roughly an hour, whether I'm gaming or simply sitting at the Windows desktop. Event Viewer only reports an unexpected shutdown. After powering it back on, the problem becomes more frequent, sometimes happening seconds after logging in.
I suspected overheating, but an HWiNFO log shows normal temperatures with no gradual rise. I've also cleaned the motherboard and tested the memory with MemTest86, which found no problems. I disabled DOCP and ran the RAM at stock speeds, but the shutdowns continued. The only warning I've noticed is that my SSD is approaching its stated end of life, although I'm not sure whether that could cause a complete power-off.
System: ASUS TUF X570-PLUS WiFi motherboard, Ryzen 7 5700X3D, PNY GeForce RTX 5070 12GB, 32GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4-3600, and Corsair RM750x power supply. What should I test next?
4 Answers
The SSD’s health warning shouldn’t be ignored. A failing drive can corrupt system files or cause crashes when Windows reads from a bad area, so back up important data and check its SMART details. Still, a storage problem is less likely to cause an instant, complete power loss than a PSU or motherboard issue.
Keep a sensor log running, but don’t rely only on temperature readings. Watch CPU and GPU voltage, power limits, and whether the log ends abruptly. Also try running without the discrete GPU only if you have another compatible graphics solution available; otherwise, swapping the PSU is the more useful isolation test.
Because it also happens while idle and the temperatures and memory test look normal, I’d put the power supply and motherboard power delivery near the top of the list. Event Viewer’s unexpected-shutdown entry usually only means Windows lost power or crashed; it doesn’t identify the cause. Reseat the 24-pin motherboard cable, CPU 8-pin cable, and GPU power connections, then test with a known-good PSU if possible.
Check whether Windows created a minidump or recorded a bugcheck code. A blue-screen crash may be getting hidden by the automatic restart setting. If there’s no dump and the system simply loses power, that points more toward the PSU, motherboard, cabling, or another hardware power fault.
Related Questions
Lenovo Thinkpad Stuck In Update Loop Install FilterDriverU2_Reload