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Solved PC randomly turns off and then back on again

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Wigglee

PCHF Member
Sep 30, 2019
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#1
My PC turns off without warning - happened many times. It can happen after no use, or many hours of use of the PC, and the fans have been cleaned within of dust but it still happens. No loud or strange noises coming from the PC before it turns off. No part of the PC is older than 2 years and not sure which component if any is causing it to do this. Within the Windows logs there are no critical errors to be seen at the time the Pc turns off or just before.

What can cause this to happen and what steps do i take to find out what is the cause?
 
#4
the whole PC turns off? - lights, fan screen?
not just the screen?
and then, straight away, it'll turn itself back on?

what have you tried apart from what you have already said?
only running with one RAM chip at a time?
cleaning the RAM chip contacts and slot?
running the PC without the GTX card and only using the mobo graphics ports?
 
#5
Yes the whole PC turns off, pauses for about 2 seconds then automatically restarts. I have removed external cables, changed sockets but have not removed or touched any internal comps other than touching the fans to clean the dust.
 
#8
Can of air ordered and on it's way. Since then I have taken out the graphics card and 1 RAM strip, then run just the onboard one and after about 2hrs the problem still occured. Was suggested to me that the ps2 could be faulty and if nothing else try replace that as it can be the cheapest option.
 
#9
If the computer is a desktop can you post the brand and model name or number of the power supply (PSU).

Download then run Speccy (free) and post the resultant url for us, details here, this will provide us with information about your computer hardware + any software that you have installed that may explain the present issue/s.

To publish a Speccy profile to the Web:

In Speccy, click File, and then click Publish Snapshot.

In the Publish Snapshot dialog box, click Yes to enable Speccy to proceed.

Speccy publishes the profile and displays a second Publish Snapshot. You can open the URL in your default browser, copy it to the clipboard, or close the dialog box.
 
#13
That is a bad choice of PSU when there is an add on video card present, you GPU requires the system to be powered by a PSU that can produce 300W and 27 amps on the +12V rail, the VS series of Corsairs are the budget range and even though it is labelled as being 350W your PSU when independently tested could only produce 300W and 25 amps on the +12V rail, check the specs of the PSU here and what Corsair say about the PSU below

The CORSAIR VS350 is a great choice if you’re building a home or office system with lower power demands, but you still demand the compatibility and reliability that CORSAIR is known for.

Power Profile
Active power scheme: High performance

Not worth saying too much about Speccy as a weak PSU looks to be the culprit (hope it hasn't damaged your GPU or other hardware) but one thing I will suggest is that you change the Windows Power Plan to Balanced, High Performance is a form of overclocking that is known to cause stability and overheating issues and a weak PSU such as the one that you have will get hotter and weaker the more that you use it.
 
#14
Thanks, so buying a new, better PSU should hopefully solve the problem? What would be a recommended one to go for, that would be capable of handling higher end gaming or demands my PC can run?
 
#15
Purchasing a new PSU is a must I`m afraid and for the reasons explained above, not intending to bang on but the VS350 should not have been used with your rig, Corsair make some great PSUs but they also make budget ones for entry level machines.

What I suggest you do is as Bruce previously suggested, remove the add on video card from the MB and hook up the screen to the appropriate video port on the MB and test.

Less easy to do, borrow a known good 500W PSU for testing in your system.

The GTX 1050 is not a power hungry card so a good quality brand Bronze efficiency rated PSU would do but if looking to upgrade the GPU in the future aim higher and go for something that is Gold efficiency rated.
 
#17
Yes, as a starter after turning my Windows Power Plan to Balanced, 3 days later my PC has not had the problem once, with many hours of use. Will not be able to change the PSU until next month, which i plan to do ASAP, but for now it seems maybe the Power Plan change has fixed something
 
#18
Wigglee said:
Yes, as a starter after turning my Windows Power Plan to Balanced, 3 days later my PC has not had the problem once, with many hours of use.
Click to expand...
Some good news at least, was this with or without the add on GPU in use.

Changing the Power Plan has reduced the load on the PSU so is more of a remedy than actually fixing something tbh, hardware breaks whereas human intervention tends to be responsible for changing settings that upset the apple cart.

As mentioned previously, replacing the PSU is a must so had a look for the best quality at the lowest price, I usually recommend Gold efficiency rated PSUs when there is an add on GPU present but seeing that your GPU is an older and not particularly power hungry device you will get by with a Bronze efficiency rated PSU Seasonic M12II-EVO 520W (80+Bronze, ATX 12V) PSU/Power Supply - Black
 
#20
Bruce and myself both advised that you remove the add on GPU and use the onboard graphics but the final choice is yours, as explained changing the Power Plan has lessened the load on the PSU enough for the computer to run stable for now, you plan on swapping in a new PSU next month which is wise so can we take it that you consider the issue that you requested help with as having been resolved.
 
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