I've been using the same PC for around six or seven years, replacing and upgrading parts over time. Recently, the system has started powering off completely while gaming. It can happen after 10 minutes or after several hours, with no consistent pattern. I suspected the power supply, but replacing it didn't change anything. The problem seems to have become more noticeable since upgrading from an RTX 2070 to an RTX 4070 Ti Super. What should I check next?
Current specs:
- AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
- NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti Super
- MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk (MS-7D75)
- Corsair 64GB DDR5 (2×32GB)
2 Answers
It could be worth inspecting the motherboard, especially if the system is losing power abruptly. A failing board or power-delivery component can cause shutdowns under gaming loads even when the capacitors don’t show obvious physical damage.
Check the CPU and GPU temperatures while gaming, and consider repasting the CPU if it has been a while. A thermal problem can trigger a complete shutdown once the system reaches a protection limit. Since the paste may be nearly two years old, monitoring temperatures and checking the cooler mount would be a sensible next step.
It has probably been around a year and a half to two years since I last repasted the CPU, so I’ll monitor temperatures and consider doing that again.
I checked the motherboard and none of the capacitors appear swollen or damaged, so I’m not sure whether the board is actually the cause.