PC Shutting Down During Heavy Usage (Gameplay, Streaming)

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furious16

furious16

PCHF Member
Dec 5, 2017
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Specs (Direct from NewEgg Bundle, bought and assembled in 2014)

CPU: AMD FX-8320 Vishera 8-Core 3.5 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W FD8320FRHKBOX Desktop Processor
MoBo::ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 + SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
PSU: Rosewill RD600 – Stallion Series 600-Watt Power Supply – ATX 12V V2.3, SLI & CrossFire-Ready
RAM: HyperX XMP Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model KHX16C9B1RK2/8X
GPU: SAPPHIRE DUAL-X Radeon R9 270 DirectX 11.2 100365L 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Video Card With BOOST & OC
Tower: RAIDMAX Cobra Z ATX-502WBR Black / Red Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Storage:
Seagate Desktop HDD ST1000DM003 1TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive
PNY XLR8 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SSD9SC120GMDF-RB
OS: Windows 7 64 Home

Here's the Issue
About a month ago, the rig started to shutdown during periods of heavy usage (i.e. World of Warcraft, streaming video, etc.). The PC would simply shutdown suddenly without BSOD or any other sputtering or halting. The PC would then be unable to turn back on for up to 6 hours unless left unplugged. Through various posts and consulting with others on sites such as CNET, sitting in BIOS and watching the temperature of the CPU climb to almost 200 degrees in less than 5 minutes, and physically inspecting the CPU, it was determined that the most likely culprit was overheating.

I purchased MX thermal Paste, cleaned off the degraded thermal paste from the cpu, and applied MX. This resolved the issue for 2 weeks. We went on vacation last Monday, returned Sunday evening. During this week, the PC was off. I found the night that we returned that the issue on the PC has once again resumed. I do not understand how or why the issue could have been previously resolved with a fresh application of thermal paste, only to once again return so suddenly if the problem was merely overheating.

From users on CNET, I have been told the following:
Ram: not the correct type for the mobo
PSU: probably failing
MoBo: possibly failing

Seeing as how a fresh application of thermal paste completely fixed this issue for two weeks, only to have the issue return so suddenly, any ideas on what the next step in the process could be? To be perfectly honest, I would be more willing to shell out $$$ for a brand new, expensive rig rather than to buy a new PSU that may not fix the issue. I'm very much prepared (and very eager) to take this rig into my back yard and smash it to pieces with a sledgehammer. I have never had so many issues with a PC that is less than 5 years old, and I have built my own rigs many times in the past. I have been told that NewEgg bundles are frequently poorly put together and their recommended bundles should be avoided in most cases. The major issue here is possibly that the parts in the rig are not particularly compatible.

Thoughts?
 
You may be describing a failed cooling assembly - heat pipe vapor lock or bad fan. The fan and pipes would have been stressed prior to the MX application.
Please identify the cooling device.
But, "The PC would then be unable to turn back on for up to 6 hours unless left unplugged" is not consistent here.
Please clarify, in detail, what you experienced when you attempted to power on the PC on those occasions.
A CPU should cool to a bootable state within a minute or two.

The PSU is suspect.
"The PC would then be unable to turn back on for up to 6 hours unless left unplugged" supports but does not prove this.
Bad capacitors in the PSU might present in that manner.
"This resolved the issue for 2 weeks." does not rule out bad caps. Bad caps behave very strangely.
6 hours has little diagnostic value unless you report that you made attempts to power on at regular intervals.
Please clarify, in detail, what you experienced when you attempted to power on the PC on those occasions.

You are not describing Ram: not the correct type for the mobo
Years of stable use proves that.

Probably not describing MoBo: possibly failing
It has quality caps and the reported affects are not generally consistent with a failing board.

The video card can also cause a similar affect, but you do not report any other behavior consistent with a failing/overheated video card.

Please identify cooling device and CPU fan.

Only two components in that build are low-end. The case and the PSU.
 
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Thank you Antman.

The cooling devices are as follows:

Large fan on front of tower
Standard Heatsink and Fan assembly for CPU (non liquid, came packaged with CPU)
Dual fans on GPU
Medium fan on back of tower
Large top fan on PSU
Tower is currently open on one side to aid with cooling, protected from dust by an anti-static mesh (since this problem began in the beginning of November)

Regarding GPU - the performance in gaming is sub-par by modern standards, and it does from time to time sputter, lag and stagger during gameplay. Periods of particularly intense gameplay can sometimes be accompanied by loud noise associated with the action on screen dragging and lagging. I was experiencing frequent BSOD for 6 months, but was able to identify it as a software problem, NOT GPU problem. Per your input I am actually not sure if the GPU could be associated with this and I still have my reservations about it.

Regarding PSU - although plugged into a surge protector, this is also not the first time that the PSU has caused an issue. This computer's PSU has been hit by major power surges at least 3 times that I am aware of, one of which was during a particularly powerful thunderstorm 2 years ago that caused a major problem with it. I will go into detail below:

PSU Issue #1 (2015) - power outage during a major thunderstorm. Computer would not turn on for almost a day. I unplugged it the following day and "discharged" the overcharge in the PSU by repeatedly tapping the power button, and then plugged it back in. The computer worked as normal without issue.

PSU Issue #2 (2016) - after returning from a week long vacation, during which the computer was turned off, I found that trying to turn on the computer I would be greeted with a black screen, asking me to "select boot device". This issue persisted until I unplugged the computer, and left it unplugged overnight, attempting to plug it in and power it on the next day. The PC resumed normal use at that time. I also began experience significant BSOD issues around the same time (which again, were later determined to be a result of software that was installed on the computer that was reserving memory for itself, causing Access Violations).

PSU Issue #3 (current) - began in tandem with the overheating issue a month ago. Once again, we returned home from a week long vacation, only to find that the computer had once again resumed powering off during heavy usage (i.e. gaming, streaming, etc.) as it was doing before I applied the new thermal paste to the CPU. Issue currently persists.

When the power down occurs, it is sudden - there is no BSOD, slowdown in performance, or any other indicator that something is about to happen - it just shuts down. If I try to turn the computer back on, it will attempt to power on, but will immediately shut down again. The rig won't even make it to the Windows login - power down will occur within 5 - 10 seconds of pushing power button. If I leave the computer plugged in, after several hours I can successfully power it on, but I cannot do anything other than light internet browsing or it will power down again. If I unplug it immediately and repeatedly tap the power button before plugging it back in, the computer will power on immediately, though again it will only be capable of light internet browsing or general use - any form of streaming, gameplay or slightly demanding program will cause shutdown.

Hope this info is useful.
 
Call PC supply stores in your area. Determine that YES you can return a PSU for full refund no questions asked. If yes, buy one. It does not have to a high-end one. It just needs to match or exceed the specs of your current one. Ensure at least 28A on the 12v lead.

Install the PSU. Test PC for stability. If stable, return PSU for full refund and consider your options - new build or new PSU.

Also, consider applying new thermal compound to the GPU cooling assembly. PC Cooling is a system; CPU cooling assembly and GPU cooling assembly work together, each making the other's job easier to perform.

And, for the sake of all that is holy, invest in a decent CPU cooling assembly.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
 
And put the cover back on the PC case. Unless you are pointing a house fan into the open chassis, an open PC case actually diminishes the effectiveness of the cooling system - air does not flow as intended.

If you have a large intake fan on the front, and a small outflow fan on the rear. you may be trapping heated air inside the chassis. You may have more IN and less OUT. Accumulates more dust this way.
TEST - (for this specific build only, you lurkers!)
If the air flowing out of the PSU is cooler than the air flowing out of the rear chassis fan, you have an air flow problem. Common on low-end cases sold in bundles. Don't blame NewEgg. Their goal was a price point and they sold you some good gear in a cheap box.

You have a heat monster in that chassis. Don't feed it after midnight ;-)
 
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Any update for us furious16? If unreplied to within 48hrs this thread will be closed.
 
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