Random computer restarts

[Toxicturn]

Alright. I recently built a small new computer in the Hadron Air (By the way, I don't think I'd ever chose this case again because there's sharp edges everywhere, the power supply is basically proprietary, and its hard to build in something so small - though the last one is just preference).

After getting everything installed and trying to play some games I noticed that my computer would randomly shut off (seemingly power loss - immediately with no error or blue screen, "Windows is shutting down..." simply a little audible "tick" then down for a second then restart).

 

First here's my part list:

MB: Asus z97i-plus

CPU: Intel 4690k (not overclocked)

GPU: EVGA GTX 960 4GB

RAM: 2x4gb Corsair LP

SSD: Samsung 850 Evo 500gb

CASE: EVGA Hadron Air

PSU: EVGA Hadron Air included 500w gold rated power supply

Heatsink: A Noctua 120mm + 92mm LP - Forgot the name

 

The first thing I thought that it was a temperature issue but after monitoring my temperatures while gaming my GPU never went above 70 degrees or so and my CPU never went above 50 - which is fine for a computer with no intakes and little space.

 

I figured it must be a graphics card issue at this point because it seemed like it only happened under load. Then it started happening randomly even while simply dicking around in chrome or even while doing a scan in the command prompt. Sometimes even while idling.

(Note: It's not a wattage error as far as I can tell because the GTX 960 recommends a 400w power supply and the hadron air comes with a 500w.)

 

Looking at the event logs (there's no blue screens so there's nothing to see there) it seemed that there was a "Kernal Power Error 41" which suggests a cut in power. Everything pointed towards the powersupply.

 

So I RMA'd my power supply (which was a pleasant experience with EVGA, very pleasant). Figured when it came in that the problem would be solved. After installing it the lazy way of "Cram all the shit in there without removing anything", after loosing one of my sata ports from cable stress, and after bending my CPU heatsink's heatpipes it turned off again a couple minutes after turning on and idling for a few minutes.

 

So, it's not a power supply issue - unless this one's also broken which seems unlikely. I read around a bit more at this point and found that a good way to test if the power supply is the problem is by running my bios for a while and seeing if it restarts. 24 hours later it still hasn't restarted.

 

So here I am proposing my question to you: Wat fak?

[LiamApex]

 could be the GPU or the motherboard causing the issue. unlikely that it was your power supply

[Toxicturn]

 could be the GPU or the motherboard causing the issue. unlikely that it was your power supply

 

I don't think it's the GPU, because this also happened when I plugged in one of my 970s. How can I figure out for sure if its my motherboard? Wouldn't a motherboard error blue screen or cause the shutoff during the bios screen?

[LiamApex]

I don't think it's the GPU, because this also happened when I plugged in one of my 970s. How can I figure out for sure if its my motherboard? Wouldn't a motherboard error blue screen or cause the shutoff during the bios screen?

yes possibly

[guimauve522]

I've had this Kernal error 41 for a while too until I decided to remove my GPU and now it stopped So you should try removing your gpu and using your computer with the onboard gpu for a while and see if it crashes if it does then it's something else inside. Could be RAM or something else i'm not a pro in computer so don't trust me on this

[Albie]

Go through the different things, run without GPU, only one stick of ram, try ram in different slots, make sure everything is seated properly, it might be the mobo but it a would have try it with a different CPU etc to sure which could be a Hassle.

[Toxicturn]

Little bit of an update:
I ran the computer for two nights in the bios without restarts, I ran the computer without a GPU and still got restarts, I reinstalled windows and continue to have restarts. Is it possible that the second power supply I got from EVGA is also broken or something? What could be the problem?