I've been facing a frustrating issue with my PC ever since I built it back in 2019. It randomly shuts down and restarts when I'm gaming. This happens inconsistently; for example, I can play games like Valorant, CS:GO, and Minecraft without any issues sometimes, but other times they make my PC restart. More demanding games like Roblox, Call of Duty, and Fortnite often trigger this shutdown, even if I'm not playing for long. Strangely, it can even happen when I'm just browsing the web, although those cases are rare. I've consulted multiple people and even brought my PC to a shop, but the problem persists. I was told that they swapped the power supply at the shop, but that didn't help either. I'm really curious to know what could be causing this ongoing issue. If you need any more details about my setup or the situation, feel free to ask! Here are my PC specs: CPU: Intel i5 9600k, GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 6GB, RAM: 16GB DDR4 Corsair, Storage: 2TB Seagate Barracuda, SSD: 500GB Samsung 860 Evo, Motherboard: MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Plus.
3 Answers
Given that your system is starting to show its age, the GPU you've got is from 2019, and while the games you're playing aren't exactly new, it might just be time for a refresh. Dust and overheating could be culprits, but the shop should have found that. Have you considered reinstalling Windows or doing a deep system cleaning? Sometimes that can breathe new life into an older system.
Since you've replaced the PSU already, have you tested your memory (RAM)? If your memory is maxing out during gaming, it could lead to your system hitting swap space and causing those restarts. It could definitely be worth diagnosing that.
It sounds like there could be a few things at play here. First, your power supply (PSU) might be degraded and unable to handle the power draw, especially during intense gaming sessions. Also, overheating can cause thermal shutdowns. Make sure you're monitoring your CPU and GPU temperatures while gaming to see if they are spiking. If they are normal, then it might be worth checking if your GPU drivers are up to date, though that's probably a lower chance as the issue.
You might also want to run some stress tests for your CPU, memory, and GPU to see if any errors come up. Sometimes memory issues can cause random shutdowns too.
I haven't tested the memory yet, so that's a good suggestion. I did replace the disk before, so I'll focus on checking the RAM first.