Computer shuts down randomly

Cracks666 · March 10, 2019

Haven’t touched this computer in a while but it was my main rig for a long time. Even after the flood in my basement. The psu got flooded. Dried it out and worked fine for another 10 months. Thermaltake case so psu was the only thing that got flooded. This computer was never meant to be a gaming powerhouse. It was mainly built as mass storage for all my kids Disney movies and series so they could watch as they pleased. Well now my daughter want to play games with me. She’s mostly into roblox and similar games. Maybe a little fortnite? I know this computer can do it cause I’ve done it. It’s budget to the extreme cause wife, mortgage, 3 kids and life get expensive so please, no stupid comments.

I guess I’ll start with what’s inside.

ASRock 960GMIU3S3

fx4100 black box edition (never overclocked)

16 gb ddr3 1600 (2x 8gb sticks)

cooler master cpu heat sink and fan.

240gb ssd for boot

WD blue 7200 1TB hdd

gt 480 passive video card (only for the single hdmi output to the living room tv)

like I said before the computer ran fine for 10 months after the basement flood. Finally I turned it off one day and it wouldn’t restart. Got a Corsair tx650 psu from my cousin and put it in. Runs fine. Was able to load up WoW and play with a FPS of about 40. After psu replacement now after about 5 mins of playing, the display starts to shut down, like the graphics card is going bad. If I push it another minute or 2 the whole computer shuts down and reboots. Due to a real limited budget and the fact that it’s kind of hard to find cheap last gen replacement parts I don’t want to start swapping stuff out. I could pull a small 300 watt psu for a crappy old dell laying around once I find some time. Figured maybe posting up here would offer some sort of ideas. Supposedly the psu was known to be good and working.

Thanks in advance for the help

NunoLava1998 · March 10, 2019

I'd probably get a new PSU. I wouldn't use a PSU that was in a flood.

CX450 is a good cheap one that should last

kelvinhall05 · March 10, 2019

Could be a PSU problem, but I highly doubt it. Check your temps, reseat everything (coolers, fans, RAM, etc.) and replace thermal paste (as well as obviously cleaning it out).

Cracks666 · March 10, 2019

30 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Could be a PSU problem, but I highly doubt it. Check your temps, reseat everything (coolers, fans, RAM, etc.) and replace thermal paste (as well as obviously cleaning it out).

Sorry had intentionally wanted to put this info in but forgot I didn’t replace paste. Using MSI afterburner as well as open hardware monitor on the second screen (both running as a check to make sure one wasn’t off) the cpu never went above 56 c. The gpu wasn’t crazy either from what I remember. It’s been a few months since I have messed with it. It’s probably something so simple as paste too. I’m an overthinker so I’m probably beating myself up over this. I remember the old psu was a diablotek 450 watt that was like $12 at microcenter. For running for almost 8 years and then another 10 months after it got flooded out, I think it that’s impressive.

kelvinhall05 · March 10, 2019

4 minutes ago, Cracks666 said:

Sorry had intentionally wanted to put this info in but forgot I didn’t replace paste. Using MSI afterburner as well as open hardware monitor on the second screen (both running as a check to make sure one wasn’t off) the cpu never went above 56 c. The gpu wasn’t crazy either from what I remember. It’s been a few months since I have messed with it. It’s probably something so simple as paste too. I’m an overthinker so I’m probably beating myself up over this. I remember the old psu was a diablotek 450 watt that was like $12 at microcenter. For running for almost 8 years and then another 10 months after it got flooded out, I think it that’s impressive.

If you haven't already, update your GPU drivers. If that doesn't fix it, I'd try reinstalling Windows. If that still doesn't fix it, it's a hardware issue.