PC help needed

Cipriantheking14 · October 29, 2021

Hi! So a problem that I have since I have my pc is no matter what I do (play a game, talk on discord, watch netflix/youtube etc.) my pc shutdown's (it doesn't bsod or show anything it just shutdown's like there is no electricity even though there clearly is) and I don't know what to do. Now yes, it is a very cheap prebuilt(i5-2400 and gt 710 2gb and it was around 290 to 300 canadian dollars ) that my dad bought me for school because I needed a pc, but still, it shouldn't do this, so please, someone help me!

Rauten · October 29, 2021

Such sudden shutdowns usually mean that either your cpu is overheating and is shutting itself down to prevent its own fiery death, or your power supply just can't do its job properly any longer (PSUs lose efficiency with age, and cheap prebuilts tend to have cheap PSUs).

I suggest you install a temperature monitoring tool - CoreTemp is a simple enough tool. If the temperatures being to creep past the 85-90ºC mark, you don't have a computer - you have an oven. And serious cooling issues.

mariushm · October 29, 2021

Open the PC and check the CPU cooler ... make sure it's not clogged with dust, and make sure it's still locked to the cpu.

Sometimes due to heat/cold cycles. the plastic of the clips or those mounting screws can crack or break and then the cooler no longer makes good contact with the cpu and there's no pressure on the cpu anymore (cooler has to make good contact)

Yes, power supplies degrade over time, but it's not about total output power decreasing but some components degrading to the point where the output voltages sent to components start to fluctuate, and if the motherboard thinks they fluctuate too much, it will shut down the computer to protect it.

If your power supply is very old, it could be the power supply no longer being capable of powering the computer in which case you may or may not be able to replace it - some computers made by companies like Dell , HP, Lenovo etc have custom power supplies with custom connectors, for which you would have a hard time finding upgrades (almost always not worth to upgrade, but best to replace with standard atx power supply with an adapter cable for your motherboard, where possible)