PC Random Shut Off and Restart

The_Father

Hello there,

For the past few months, I have been experiencing random shutdowns. There is zero warning to when this happens, and the PC instantly loses power. I didn't think much of it until the past couple of weeks. My machine has become unbearable and impossible to use. It will shut down every few minutes for reasons I do not understand. After that, it will instantly power cycle and start up again, only to shut down halfway through booting up.

I have tried to do the following:

* Replaced the PSU

* Reseated the CPU

* Unplugged things such as fan controller hubs, PCI cards, etc.

* Using different outlets

* Disconnecting the power button and using a screwdriver to start my PC

* Making sure no misc. connectors are touching parts of the case

All of these things have netted me nothing. My PC specs are as follows:

* Ryzen 5 3600 CPU

* 16 GB (2x8GB) Crucial Ballistix 3200 RAM

* EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 SC Gaming AXC 3.0 GPU

* ASRock B450 Pro4 MOBO

* 1TB Seagate HDD, 500 GB 860 Evo SSD, 500 GB WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD

If anyone has any idea as to what I can do to fix this problem, it would be greatly appreciated.

TSTonyV

When you say it instantly loses power, I assume you mean it doesn't present any kind of error message when this happens and just completely goes dark.  

Have you tried creating a clean install of Windows on one of those other drives you have? Given that you replaced your PSU already, my first thought would be to try and rule out the drive as a possible culprit. Have you checked event viewer to see if there's a common error that occurs at the time of shutdown?

The_Father

I've tried checking the event viewer, and I do see some errors, but I don't have enough time in order to fully read any of them.

I have tried reinstalling Windows 10, but every time I try to do it, the PC restarts before it can ever finish.

TSTonyV

Sounds like it's not Windows related and is probably a hardware issue then. 

The first thing I'd probably try is reseating your memory and clearing the CMOS on your motherboard. After that, if it still does the random shutdown, try running only one stick of memory at a time and see if you can narrow it down to one of the RAM modules. 

The_Father

I just cleared the CMOS. I tried booting it again, and the same thing is happening. I also tried using 1 stick of RAM, but neither of them seemed to do anything different when they were alone.

TSTonyV

That would indicate it's not a RAM or a BIOS related issue. Given that you've replaced the PSU already, I'd say the most likely culprit is the motherboard or the CPU, but it's hard to say for sure. Possibly the GPU, but we can't really test the system without a GPU because the Ryzen 5 3600 doesn't have integrated graphics. Do you have another GPU you could test the system with?

The_Father

Yes, I will try that now.

The_Father

No luck on the GPU.

TSTonyV

Okay. I'd say the most likely cause is the CPU or motherboard then, but we can't really know for sure without testing them individually. IF you bring the system to the service desk at your local Micro Center store, we can run diagnostics to isolate the issue and figure out what needs to be done to fix it.