Occasional whole shut downs and restarts

bazzabear · 27 Mar 2019 at 12:29

This is an odd one. Very occasionally, my computer will restart itself with no warning. It doesn't shut down correctly, it just goes straight to black screen and then the BIOS loading screen.

It's usually when a game is being played or being started up, so I wonder if it's related to load.

I'm pretty certain it isn't an overheating issue though. It sometimes happens when the computer has only just been started up for a start. And when it happens, it instantly restarts, and then has no issues at all.

Are there any other general issues which could cause this behaviour? It's actually been happening for months, but I've never got around to doing anything because it is so infrequent.

bazzabear · 27 Mar 2019 at 20:41

Thanks. Sorry for the lack of system detail, but I really didn't know which bits were likely to cause this, so didn't know what detail to go into.

I didn't know about the reliability monitor. It looks like it might have caught at least one of the failures. But I'm not 100% sure of the times and dates, so I'll wait for the next one and then check it.

If it is PSU, can I just pull that out and replace with a new one with reasonable ease?

bazzabear · 27 Mar 2019 at 20:43

PSU is a Corsair 550W VS series. I have a 1080Ti, is that a bit tight for power supply?

bazzabear · 27 Mar 2019 at 22:25

CPU is i7-8700k.

It's a pre-built system, and while I wasn't aware of it at the time I have read on here since that builders do sometimes cheap out on the PSU as it's not where the buyers focus.

(Certainly I thought that 550W seemed a bit low, but decided the manufacturer must know what they were about).

I've replaced various components before, but never a PSU. Is it likely to be something I can replace with reasonable ease? I do quite fancy going modular to tidy up the cabling a little.

I see the ones you've picked out are all 650W. Worth going higher again to be absolutely safe? I don't mind paying a bit extra to get the right thing.

bazzabear · 28 Mar 2019 at 09:32

Thank you.

I don't think I can name and shame, as it's a competitor. Overall I'm very happy with the package they sold me. I got a system with a 1080Ti for only a little more than others were offering 1070 systems for. Obviously this is showing up a corner which was cut to allow that. And the case was a fairly cheap one too, but it seems fine. I was in a rush and had to go with a pre-built for next day delivery, otherwise I'd have specified better components myself.

bazzabear · 28 Mar 2019 at 11:12

Thanks for the tips. CPU cooler is an AIO water cooler, so I think the CPU should be easy enough to get at.

The slightly annoying bit (entirely self inflicted because of the timing of asking this question) is that I've just moved from the computer being on the floor to being within a desk cupboard. So to open it up I'll have to remove all the cables from the back to pull it out in order to get the side off. Still, that means I can do it properly laid on it's side on a table rather than crouching under my desk trying to shortcut the work.

bazzabear · 29 Mar 2019 at 13:27

Fitted it (the recommended Seasonic) in my lunch hour, and it all went pretty smoothly. The instruction manual was laughable (basically - turn it off, plug everything in, turn it on), but it was all pretty straightforward. Thanks for the tip to use two separate power lines to the graphics card though - I would totally have just used the split cables at the end of one otherwise without knowing any better.

I even managed to keep the cabling fairly tidy. The one complication was the CPU power. This is off to the edge of the motherboard, presumably to avoid issues with the cooler getting in the way. Except it means it's right up against the rad for the AIO water cooler instead. I had to remove that rad from the case temporarily to be even able to press the latches to remove the old power cables.

Anyone any idea what the 'hybrid' button on the back does? The manual doesn't mention it at all.

bazzabear · 29 Mar 2019 at 14:59

freddie64 said:
A tip for the next time you take the rad out. Get a 8 pin extension for the CPU power and feed it through the back of the mobo tray. Makes life a lot easier if you have to unplug it in the future.

Good thought. Hopefully it won't come up very often though.

bazzabear · 10 May 2019 at 20:06

OK, does anyone have any theories other than PSU? Had no issues since fitting the new one, until yesterday when the same symptom occurred, and it's just done it again today.

If it does sound very like a power issue, I wonder if it's possibly the power strip the computer is plugged into?

bazzabear · 11 May 2019 at 09:16

Windows updates are current.

Memtest as in memtest86? Just as simple as downloading from their website and following the instructions?

bazzabear · 11 May 2019 at 16:04

Cheers. Will give that a go.

bazzabear · 15 May 2019 at 14:22

This is an odd one. I had a look at my power strip to remind myself how many sockets it had, just in case I decided to replace it with something else. What I found was that the wireless charger pad I had plugged into it a few days before was only plugged in about half way.

It seemed unlikely to be the cause, but I located the plug correctly - and no issues since for 5 days. This is after 4 shut downs in 3 days starting from the day after I bought the charging pad.

So, I am tentatively thinking that was the issue. Something to do with a poor contact there causing power spikes and troughs maybe? :confused:

bazzabear · 17 May 2019 at 15:58

Well that theory was shot down in flames the night before last, as I got 3 shut downs in one night. The repeated shut downs would make me consider an overheating problem if it weren't for the fact that it's never presented like that before. Previously after shut-downs it has started up again very happily after and run fine. (And even on this occasion, we're talking 20 mins or more between them.)

I have replaced the extension cord with others I had to hand, as a quick and easy experiment.

I am not ignoring the advice to do a memtest - just got to find the time to get around to doing it.

I'll keep reporting back, in case the results of this thread turn out to be of any use to another.