computer cuts off randomly

ash888

ash888

ash888

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19 Jul 2013
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160
Hi guys, i am going to tackle this issue later today but was hoping for some input as im sure someone may have come across this before.

so for the past few weeks i have been using the computer and it will just turn off, screen goes blank and power light goes off. when i press power button the light comes on, fans spin but nothing on screen and no HDD activity led.

only when i switch power supply off and leave for a while, that it will boot as normal.
yesterday it happened at 3 times in the day, while watching youtube/twitch streams.

previously, also randomly, my computer started to power itself on when it was shutdown.
i solved that by disabling fast boot. but that was random as i built this pc myself years ago and never touched any settings since im the only one who uses it.

im going to clean it, and test psu, and stress test cpu.

any other help would be appreciated
thanks
 
my apologies, i realised this as soon as i left my home after sending post.

i7 4770k stock
gigabyte oc force MB
8gb ddr3 team group ram stock
corsair h80i cooler
samsung 500gb ssd
intel 250gb ssd
WD 1tb HDD
psu seasonic 550w
1050ti gpu stock
 
Does what you've described happen when you're in the middle of doing something, or when you're away from the computer for a time?

Your issues are very odd when looked at collectively, your system magically powers itself on? Sounds more like it's went into power saving and something has caused it to wake.

I'm wondering if this could be the result of some borked Windows 10 install and bios/power plan issues.

A crapped out PSU would just shut down entirely.

Can you use another PSU to test, maybe loan a friends?
 
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hello mate, i can try another psu will do that tomorrow when i get a chance.

i know it is really bizarre, i built the computer myself years ago when haswell was released but i havent had any issues until now. even windows 10 since launch, set up as i like it and never touched a setting. was working as i wanted with regards to sleep, wake and bios etc.

just randomly started to power on, which i didnt think was possible but after a quick google i disabled fast boot in windows, which has always been on default setting and never done that before.

after testing yesterday i wasnt able to make it shut off. usually i set the pc/screen to sleep after 15mins if no activity. if im watching videos/streams it wont sleep.
i normally have streams running while i am on console on my other screen and its always been fine until the other day.

psu seems ok in terms of powering on as i am using it now and fans power on etc. but if it fails after a certain time how could i test it.
i thought maybe the cooler was playing up and causing the system to cut off? but checked and all seems ok too. always clean out regularly aswell to avoid dust build up.
as you can see its not a heavy use pc.

maybe a fresh windows reinstall would solve any settings issues that may have corrupted somehow do to an update.
 
thanks @freddie64 i have done that and will see if it makes a difference.
i cleaned out the whole pc, thankfully it doesnt pick up too much dust as i do it fairly regularly.

it hasnt shut off for past 2 days even during heavy load test.

i will keep monitoring.
 
just an update, i disabled hybrid sleep, and gave the whole pc a clean as i mentioned and its been fine with same usage as normal.

not sure if it was just the hybrid setting? but i will probably do a fresh re install when i get a chance.
 
so since my last post over 2 weeks ago i have been using the computer every day over long periods of time and all was fine up until last night.

was working fine all day then at night, on youtube, loaded up a video and changed qulaity from 720p to 2k... and everything just cut off.

no blue screen, just lights out, nothing on screen.

powering back on just lights up power led, HDD activity light doesnt come on and nothing posts.
had to switch off power supply for a few minutes before it comes back on.
 
use tool by manufacturer to remove gpu driver and try reinstalling with latest drivers. If not try memtest86 with the ram to check if thats good. Try reseating the gpu. Check cpu temps which I expect you have already. Check cpu leads are all in place securely. Increase size of page file as a why not sort of thing to try. Use a linux portable boot and try youtube on there and see what happens overtime. If you can try another gpu, or if you have onboard take it out and see what happens.
 
hi guys thanks for your input.

i can try another psu and also use onboard graphics but that could mean leaving it for another 2/3 weeks before it cuts out again, if it does.
i reinstalled gpu drivers earlier today so will see if that helps, i will try memtest to eliminate ram issues.
i havent tried re seating gpu or ram. i will do that tomorrow.

temps were all fine and stable as expected so nothing adverse there.

think psu is still under warranty if i need to rma.
 
so had another cut off last night again while watching a stream, was fine all day, went to get a drink came back and it shut off.

i went into bios, and reset everything to default, nothing was changed except for ram in xmp and voltage, no overclocks on cpu/gpu.
saved and exit.

i remembered then that changes to ram usually mean the pc will power on for a second, power off then restart as normal.
it powered on for a second and cut off, but then didnt turn back on.
then i had to wait before i could turn it back on again as it was doing the same thing, power light on but no HDD led so no post.

managed to get it to reboot, rechecked bios and default settings had saved fine and its been ok as i type this.

made me question the ram, so i ran memtest for a couple of passes but no errors.

going to stress test gpu to see if i can recreate it, if it cuts off, i will try on board gpu and stress test to see if its the gpu or psu.
 
ran a quick stress test on gpu, ran fine now cut off, decided to just shut down and restart the pc after it was done and it powered on for a second cut off then rebooted without HDD led again so no post.
had to leave it off again to get it to work again.
 
I would say the motherboard has developed a fault thats slowly going to get more persistent. Have you been overclocking for years? Which power saving features did you have on or did you have a constant voltage.

You could try the paperclip power on test with the psu and connect a single fan to check it.

Check motherboard standoffs arn't shorting. Flash bios as a last resort after all else fails possibly.
 
i didnt run an overclock, i did initially when new to see how far i could oc but reverted back to stock as i dont need the extra processing power. so been stable at default for years.
the only thing i did was to run the vcore at constant 1.2 rather than auto which would run higher at 1.3+ so undervolting to keep temps low. everything else was already auto aside from the ram settings which were just the xmp profile.

psu is working, checked all fans and power monitoring was fine across the board, and im using the pc now as normal.
i could reflash bios as everything is default already. seems intermittent now as i was running all day yesterday, even left it with video running and was fine with warm temps indoors.
 
so its been cutting out on me again, but i kind of expected the problem to be made worse with the heat.
so i have taken out the gpu and now running off the on board graphics.

i took everything out and reseated mem and gpu but still cut out on me.

if this fails, then i will swap psu with my other pc and test. with the psu in the other pc, i can see if that cuts out then i know if its psu or not.
if that fails, then looks like the MB.
 
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