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I have my current set-up for over a year. Recently it started acting up, I played Skyrim and my computer just shut off as if the power was plugged. I could simply press the button to get it back on. Just resumed playing and it happened again within minutes. Uninstalled the heavy duty mod I installed just before, and it was fixed. Until it happened again, without any heavy duty mod.

It only happened in Skyrim so any other game had no trouble, until it started happening in No Man's Sky. Afterwards it also begun happening during FurMark stress test. I immediately thought my PSU is starting to fail. But I just wanted to test some things before returning that, don't really want to sit without a PC if that wasn't the issue.

Things I've tried:

  • Cleaned out all dust.
  • Checking temperatures, all below <67C during FurMark's stress test.(11520x2160, 8xMSAA) Even physically checked it in case of sensory failure. It was warm, not hot.
  • Updating all drivers. Updated BIOS.
  • Took out one of two RAM sticks. This worked, haven't had a single shutdown with only one RAM stick in. Doesn't matter which of the two sticks, as long as it is just one.
  • Using different RAM slots on the Motherboard(slots 1 and 3 instead of 0 and 2), no change.
  • Ran Memtest86 for 6 passes. No errors. (Will try again overnight for more passes)
  • Checked for visual damage on motherboard, graphics card, etc. None.

For clarification, all of the above tests were done with both sticks installed. So I am thinking it has something to do with the RAM. I just don't understand why it doesn't matter which stick and why memtest is fine.

So, I am pretty sure it is the RAM, although I do not understand at all why it's only with two sticks. So my question is actually an explanation, and if there are any other tests I could perform to pinpoint the culprit. I don't have any spare parts laying around to test if it's just this RAM or if it's any RAM above 4GB. So before I RMA my RAM or get new ones (16GB) I wanted a little more insight.

My PC specifications:

  • MSI 970 Gaming motherboard
  • AMD FX-8350 4Ghz CPU
  • MSI Nvidia GTX 970 4GB
  • Corsair CX750M, 750Watt PSU
  • Corsair Vengeance DDR3 2x4GB 1866Mhz RAM (Although CPU-Z says it's 1333Mhz)
  • Windows 10 Pro 64bit
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    Does Windows show anything in the report logs?
    – Eric F
    Aug 24, 2016 at 16:28
  • In the Event Viewer? When the shutdown happens I get a Critical error, Source: Kernel-Power, Event ID 41, Task Category (63) followed by an EventLog that the previous system shutdown was unexpected, event ID 6008.
    – Quwin
    Aug 24, 2016 at 16:51
  • Check the seating of the power connector to the CPU (the 8-pin connector). If your power supply is modular, check both ends.
    – David Schwartz
    Aug 24, 2016 at 17:04
  • So I did what @DavidSchwartz told me, and that connector was perhaps a little too loose. Maybe I am hoping too soon, but haven't had the issue since I made sure it was seated correctly. - I will update later to confirm
    – Quwin
    Aug 25, 2016 at 0:37

2 Answers 2

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After following David Schwartz' suggestion to check the seating of the power connector to the CPU, I haven't had the issue.

I am feeling quite silly, but if anyone else is having power issues. Check the cables first, it could just be that they've gone loose in time and need to be properly seated again.

Thank you, David.

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If with shut down you mean power loss and automatic reboot then I had exactly the same thing happen to me 3 weeks ago. It turns out my motherboard was failing after only 5 years. I tested the PSU, CPU and RAM on other boards, and they were perfectly fine. So my assumption is that your mobo, CPU or PSU is dead. The only way of testing this is trying your hardware on other boards.

First of all extract all parts out of your computer, and only connect the necessary parts and put them on let's say your mobo box so that a short-circuit is definitely not causing this. Then start swapping out parts one by one.

Also, your RAM is capable of 1866 Mhz, your motherboard probably defaults it to 1333, you can change this in your BIOS.

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  • Thank you for the suggestions. But luckily that isn't so in my case. Followed David Schwartz suggestion and haven't had it since. I feel rather silly. - Also thanks for the RAM information. Will increase that speed ;)
    – Quwin
    Aug 25, 2016 at 20:12
  • Haha, lucky you :D
    – JustDenDimi
    Aug 25, 2016 at 20:16

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