PC randomly powering off

[Calmcw]

Hi guys,

I'm about to lose it over this, it's really getting on my nerves. From time to time, my PC randomly completely and instantly powers off. All lights, fans, hard drives etc... off instantaneously. I recently upgraded my PC to include a 5600x and a Gigabyte B550M aurous Pro motherboard. However after a few weeks it started randomly powering off. Happened a few times - sometimes multiple a day - so I thought about it and it didn't make sense to be a software issue, a CPU or RAM issue right, because they would result in blue screens or no POSTing I'd presume? So I figured it was likely the PSU, it was getting quite old, wasn't EVGAs most expensive unit I guess, but the 5600x had the same TDP as my old i5-6500 (and AMD come in lower with the way they calculate it iirc?) but hey-ho I replaced it with a 650W unit from Corsair the other day. I thought it had fixed the problem, but now it has powered off again. It seemingly happens at random, I can't cause it to trigger. If I run CPU, memory disk and GPU stress tests, or intensive games for hours and hours nothing happens, then I'll be opening a new tab, or scrolling through my files, or sometimes on my phone doing nothing and it just goes. The PC then boots like nothing even happened.

What the hell is causing all this? My only remaining guess is the motherboard surge protector (I'd presume it has one?) being either A: very broken or B: tripping successfully and something is horribly wrong with my mains? But I'd rather leave taking the motherboard out and replacing it as a last resort because that's a lot of effort and will likely mean I'll be PC-less for a short while.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

Callum

[Aaron_T]

This may or may not be what's causing your problem, but I have had a case power/reset button assembly go bad on me and start shorting to the case. This caused a similar behavior to what you just described.

 

Try disconnecting your power and reset buttons from the motherboard and run the system for a while to see if it fixes it. Note, you can turn the PC on by connecting the two power button pins together with the head of a screw driver, or similar.

[seban]

18 minutes ago, Calmcw said:

Hi guys,

I'm about to lose it over this, it's really getting on my nerves. From time to time, my PC randomly completely and instantly powers off. All lights, fans, hard drives etc... off instantaneously. I recently upgraded my PC to include a 5600x and a Gigabyte B550M aurous Pro motherboard. However after a few weeks it started randomly powering off. Happened a few times - sometimes multiple a day - so I thought about it and it didn't make sense to be a software issue, a CPU or RAM issue right, because they would result in blue screens or no POSTing I'd presume? So I figured it was likely the PSU, it was getting quite old, wasn't EVGAs most expensive unit I guess, but the 5600x had the same TDP as my old i5-6500 (and AMD come in lower with the way they calculate it iirc?) but hey-ho I replaced it with a 650W unit from Corsair the other day. I thought it had fixed the problem, but now it has powered off again. It seemingly happens at random, I can't cause it to trigger. If I run CPU, memory disk and GPU stress tests, or intensive games for hours and hours nothing happens, then I'll be opening a new tab, or scrolling through my files, or sometimes on my phone doing nothing and it just goes. The PC then boots like nothing even happened.

What the hell is causing all this? My only remaining guess is the motherboard surge protector (I'd presume it has one?) being either A: very broken or B: tripping successfully and something is horribly wrong with my mains? But I'd rather leave taking the motherboard out and replacing it as a last resort because that's a lot of effort and will likely mean I'll be PC-less for a short while.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

Callum

This could be a poorly connected front Power or Reset button into the motherboard.

 

Did you check if the front panel connectors are firmly connected into the motherboard?

[Calmcw]

8 minutes ago, AaronThomas said:

This may or may not be what's causing your problem, but I have had a case power/reset button assembly go bad on me and start shorting to the case. This caused a similar behavior to what you just described.

 

Try disconnecting your power and reset buttons from the motherboard and run the system for a while to see if it fixes it. Note, you can turn the PC on by connecting the two power button pins together with the head of a screw driver, or similar.

Ahh makes sense I see what you mean, well I hope its not that because moving everything into a new case is going to be even more of a job!

[Aaron_T]

@CalmcwIf your buttons are bad, you can always just get a new switch and keep the case. For example:

 

https://www.amazon.com/SoundOriginal-Desktop-Computer-Motherboard-Supply/dp/B074891DJP/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=PC+power+button&qid=1612039497&sr=8-5

[Calmcw]

7 minutes ago, 1ppOverheat said:

This could be a poorly connected front Power or Reset button into the motherboard.

 

Did you check if the front panel connectors are firmly connected into the motherboard?

Yeah okay I'll check all that now, may have dislodged one putting the GPU in I guess.

Just an extra question, there's no way that either the power button or reset button would function if the + and - connectors were the wrong way around right?

[PwnyTheTiger]

3 minutes ago, Calmcw said:

Yeah okay I'll check all that now, may have dislodged one putting the GPU in I guess.

Just an extra question, there's no way that either the power button or reset button would function if the + and - connectors were the wrong way around right?

It could work if it was reversed technically, but some of those switches do require a proper polarization. Typically a power switch with an LED requires proper polarization.

Even if you accidentally reverse the polarity of those headers it shouldn't result in any sort of damage, the LED just simply wouldn't work as all the button does is short the connection on the header.

[Calmcw]

27 minutes ago, 1ppOverheat said:

This could be a poorly connected front Power or Reset button into the motherboard.

 

Did you check if the front panel connectors are firmly connected into the motherboard?

Okay one maybe felt a bit loose so I pushed it back in place. I will give it a day or 2, then try Aaron's suggestion, thanks guys!

[seban]

3 minutes ago, Calmcw said:

Okay one maybe felt a bit loose so I pushed it back in place. I will give it a day or 2, then try Aaron's suggestion, thanks guys!

Great, no problem.

 

Good luck hope it works out for you