System Instantly Powering Off - Potentially Not Random

Ok, this has been going on for 3 or 4 days but I've just now had the time to actually sit down and work on this. With that in mind, I may be posting here prematurely, but a 'keen' user always has that sense... like... "uh oh.." and that's where I am now. I'm sure I'll eventually determine the issue... or at least be able to form an educated hypothesis/theory as to what the problem may be, and my first thought, with what little information I know already, I'm leaning towards an issue with the power supply. So here I am... like... "uh oh."

I'll stop rambling and post some actual useful information. In addition to an 'msinfo' file I'll try to attach to this post, these are some basic specs of the machine I'm running:

MSI - iBuyPower
Windows 10 Home Edition
AMD 4300 Quad-Core Processor, 3800 Mhz, 2 Cores (NOT overclocked at all, in any way)
8 GB DDR3 RAM
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050ti (4GB)
~ 1 TB Hard Drive (not SSD)​

I've determined so far... from what my wife has relayed to me, and from the 45 minutes or so Ive been checking into the issue... that it is not an overheating issue. I've had such an issue before, and it was easy to spot... due to the obviously loud fans kicking into overdrive right below me... at my feet. The lil lady also told me it seemed fine all day up until she tried to play her game on it, and knowing that particular game is somewhat GPU intensive, I more or less came to the conclusion that it must be the power supply.

I realize the information I'm basing that on isn't definitive, but here's the piece to the puzzle you all don't have yet: The weather has plummeted to the point of freezing me to death, so naturally we've begun running the heaters throughout the house. Therein lies the problem... this house is old, the wiring is bad, and with the heaters along with two computers plugged in on the same circuit, it has blown the fuse numerous times. The frequency is bold because I would say it represents at least 10 different occasions.. the power has immediately cut off, computers running, many times while gaming.

I cringed every time it's happened while I've been here to witness it... because I know it can't be good for any system, especially while peaking towards 75% load on all resources. I suppose a $40 hit for a power supply won't be the worst news in the world, but I want to make a definite determination before I commit to ordering one.

Any thoughts, suggestions, or expertise on the matter would be appreciated. At the moment, I've downloaded and installed the latest NVidia graphics drivers, so I'm going to give that a test by playing some GPU intensive games and see if the system shuts down again. The initial test confirmed my suspicions... not even 10 minutes into playing GTA 5, the system cut off... instantly. Like the electricity had gone out... again.

As a post script, one other noteworthy piece of information is that I have the computer plugged into a power strip that has surge protection (to a substantial degree, I'd like to think... $100,000 'insurance' guarantee). So there it is... what do you all think?

 

Oh... sorry. I forgot to mention... the Event Viewer shows the errors as if it were a total surprise to the system. You know... "the last shutdown was unexpected" blah blah. No information there...

 

Issue resolved. Please disregard this entire thread as I've discovered the issue and have ... so far... corrected it.

Just for the record, and for anyone that may find themselves experiencing similar issues, take note of the lesson I learned while troubleshooting. Regardless of your technical expertise or experience with computers, do not rule out any potential causes. As sure and confident as I was that it wasn't an issue with overheating, that's exactly what it turned out to be. The thought never crossed my mind... I replaced the CPU about 6 months ago, cleaned the heat sink, and confirmed the cores were running nice and cool. The new CPU I'd ordered came with a new heat sink which was pre-coated with what looked like a perfect layer of thermal paste, and from that point on, the system fans were much quieter.

Basing my assumption on the CPU fan alone was a rookie mistake, I admit, but the overheating problems I'd had with this same computer in the past left me with a habit of listening to the fan speeds. At the point of overheating, the fan is so loud that it substantially drowns out any audio from the speakers. It would be hard to miss...

Yet here I am... senselessly rambling on to conclude my own issue. I first used CPUID HWMonitor to discover the CPU temperature jumping from 50° C to 60° to 70, then 80° C! I was dumbfounded... but what disturbs me the most is that this issue has been going on for at least 3-4 days. Luckily, when it started acting up, my darling wife left it turned off and just used her computer instead. Convinced that the issue still must be stemming from the power supply, or possibly a frayed wire rendering the CPU fan inoperable... but no... no, people. All I did was use a can of compressed air to clean inside the case and Q-Tips to pull out huge wads of dust and dirt wedged in the heat sink.

Remaining skeptical, I hooked everything back up, powered the system on, checked to make sure the CPU fan was working, and I've monitored the CPU temperature for the past half hour... never reaching higher than 52° C. I can't believe neglecting to clean my system could have caused this... I still think it's possible that I didn't notice the CPU fan when I first approached this problem. The number of cats in this house, and the hypothetical thought that they either pulled the wire loose, or something else caused the link from the CPU fan to the connector pins on the motherboard... leaving it with no power.

Either way, I'm more than happy that I won't be having to purchase a power supply, but I'm worried about any damage the overheating may have caused over the course of 3-4 days. I'll be continuing to monitor the temperature for at least the rest of today, and hope for the best. Sorry for the excessive rambling, its become an obsession bordering the neurotic... but if I'm going to give something to the internet, I want to make sure the 'footprint' is very well .. uhh... outlined.

 

While this has nothing to do with your current issue, you should invest in a UPS with all your power issues. I have this: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102225

 

Thanks, Dave... I actually don't even wait 3 months to clean the inside of the tower out, though... so again, I'm really surprised at the problem that arose... I'm still convinced that maybe the CPU fan wire came loose from the plug in on the motherboard.

@Just Playin - That's a pretty damn good idea... I hadn't even considered something like that, but I may hold off, because we've been discussing maybe moving within the next year... I will definitely keep the UPS as an alternative option though. Thanks.

 

I wouldn't hold off. It's good insurance, even with good wiring. PC aren't cheap and and the stuff you've saved might be hard to replace.