PC keeps shutting off abruptly- ITX

[cyphilis]

I've had this little home built "Steam Box" for about a year now. Here recently it keeps shutting off and repowering back up for no reason and doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason. It will do this while I am gaming,. AND while its sitting idle on the desktop as well. Sometimes there is nothing running in the background, sitting on the desktop and will shut down. For the life of me I can't figure out why,.. and not sure what to do besides start throwing parts at it. Any help and ideas are appreciated,. here are the specs.

Intel I5 3350p 3.1GHZ
Thermalright AXP-100 cpu cooler
ASRock H77M-ITX Mobo
Kingston Hyper X 8GB
ASUS 750Ti OC GPU
Seatgate 1TB Hybrid
Silverstone Strider Gold 450w PSU
Windows 8.1

 

[Raizinman]

Weak or bad power supply.

 

[denis280]

Weak or bad power supply.

+1

 

[AnonymouseUser]

My first thought was the PSU as well, but JonnyGuru gave this PSU a rave review, so I'm not so sure. Some of the reviews on Newegg complain of the cables not fitting their cases properly causing some disconnects, but that Silverstone does also sell the solution for that (another $30 set of cables). So I would check that the connections are secure.

I would monitor the temps, preferably logging the voltages and temps to file and review them when it shuts down unexpectedly. Review the Windows event logs to see if there are any programs or drivers causing the shutdown.

 

[Ketchup]

If it's not the PSU it's a short somewhere. But the PSU is the most likely cause, even though, for the most part, these are good units.

 

[Raizinman]

I put together a rig a few years ago and it started to shut off. I knew it could not be the power supply as it had great reviews and cost quite a bit and was almost double the wattage than what I required. Long story short, I finally replaced it with a cheap 250 watt for just testing purposes and it solved the problem.

 

[Steltek]

You might also start the system and then disconnect the case power switch to see if it is going bad.

 

[cyphilis]

Thanks all who replied. My inital thought was the power supply, but as others have said its supposed to be a good quality unit. I will check all connections inside and if that fails to solve it get another power supply coming.

It used to be once an evening it would do it,.. now its getting to where every 20-30 minutes it may do it. Which sucks if my character in game is out in the middle of nowhere vulnerable to lions and tigers and bears

 

[cyphilis]

Checked everything and it was fine,... then it did really good for a few hours. I left to run to the post office and came back to the log in screen so it restarted while I was gone. Have a Silverstone 600w PSU on order,.. hopefully that will solve the problem

 

[i7Baby]

This can happen if your CPU gets too hot. Check and report CPU temps.

Clean out the CPU cooler.

 

[cyphilis]

This can happen if your CPU gets too hot. Check and report CPU temps.

Clean out the CPU cooler.

Its running cool as a cucumber,.. I always monitor my temps and that was my first thought.

 

[cyphilis]

Thanks for your help everyone.. got the new PSU in today and it hasnt restarted yet. Looks like problem solved.

 

[Ketchup]

Good! Hate you lost a PS, but seems like it was a pretty quick fix.