Computer powers off on game start

Hello guys,
I have the following PSU:
be quiet! STRAIGHT POWER 11 750W black 80PLUS Platinum BN307
Windows 11 Version 23H2 (OS Build 22631.2861)

From time to time, maybe 1-2 times a month, the computer completely shuts down as if the power switch was triggered. There is no bluescreen or further information in the eventlog going on. As far as I can tell, this mostly happens when loading into a game. Not starting the .exe itself, but rather when the matchmaking has happened and you are put into the game and assumably all the assets are being loaded.

When this happens, the computer does not automatically start up on its own again and also pressing the power button does nothing until I manually unplug the power cable from the PSU and replug it. Only then the computer starts again.

The following was already tested by me:
- Temperatures of both CPU and GPU are very low, not exceeding 80° even during Prime95, Furmark, Timespy. Those benchmarks were running over 45 minutes without any issue
- A different power strip and power outlet was used to power the PSU, which did not change the problem
- All cards and cables in the computer were checked and reseated properly

750W PSU should also be enough for the components I'm using?
- AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
- AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
- Samsung 980 M.2 NVMe SSD, WDC WD2003FZEX, Samsung HD103SI

Any suggestions on how to proceed from here? Are there load tests specifically for the PSU to check for hardware faults? Or a way to get more insights/logs? As the problem happens so rarely, I would rather not spend some cash on a USP only to find out a month later that the problem did not change.

I calculated your PSU requirement and the bare minimum you need is 556 Watts, so the 750 Watt PSU should do fine.

My concern is that the PSU you are currently using is faulty in some way. PCs don't usually just shut down unless there is some sort of problem, either temperature related, or a power supply/motherboard fault.

If you have access to another PSU, it might be a good idea to swap it out for the one you are using and see if the problem continues. If that isn't it, I think you might have to look at your motherboard.

If you do have to buy a new PSU, get a good one. A decent Seasonic 750 - 850 Watt supply isn't that expensive comparatively, and Seasonic makes good stuff. Remember, the PSU is the heart of your rig. Never go cheap on it.

Good luck, and please post back your results.

Thinking about just getting a new PSU with higher Watt yeah...

I was wondering if power draw at peak times is reduced by undervolting the GPU (via the preset in AMD Adrenalin), so if the peaks are the issue then we could rule it out this way maybe?

Dakta said:

Thinking about just getting a new PSU with higher Watt yeah...

I was wondering if power draw at peak times is reduced by undervolting the GPU (via the preset in AMD Adrenalin), so if the peaks are the issue then we could rule it out this way maybe?

I dunno if undervolting would help. You aren't exceeding your max power limit, not even close. However, power supplies do degrade over time and lose their ability to provide the full rated output power depending on the age of the supply. Your supply is rated at 750 Watts and your system conservatively uses 556 Watts. I tried another PSU calculator and it recommended a supply of 650 Watts, so you still have some headroom. I didn't factor in USB devices in my calculations.

The being said, with use a power supply can lose as much as 10% efficiency per year due to capacitor aging. Heavy use will make it age faster. It's nothing to have a PSU degrade by as much as 30% in three to four years. This would make a 750 Watt supply only able to push about 525 Watts after three-ish years. The better supplies use better capacitors and don't age as badly, but they still will age, and that has to be taken into account.

I didn't ask how old your PSU is, unfortunately.

I still think the best course of action is not to buy a supply right now, but see if you can borrow one from a friend or something and try it out to see if the problem still persists. Either that, or visit your local PC shop and buy a good one, making sure that you can take it back if need be. Most shops will offer a 30 day return policy.

From the sound of things, it sounds like your PSU is not functioning properly, but we have to rule that out. Using a damaged or broken supply can wreck components and even be a fire hazard. I have had more than one cheap supply catch fire in my life. Now I only buy the good stuff.

The be quiet PSU was bought half a year ago like all the components from this new computer. Nothing besides the two HDDs is old in this setup. These crashes happened early on already but I'm trying to fix it for good.

Today I used the official be quiet calculator and landed at 739 Watts actually which surprised me a lot. Factoring in USB, the three disks and four fans (three come with the case I think + PSU fan). USB alone raised the Watt by 100 which made me go like whaaaat.

But then again this is the potential maximum and what kind of USB device would draw so much? It's just keyboard and mouse and usb mic that is connected. Everything else has its own power outlet (usb dac, monitor).

If it's the only option I will test another PSU, if it's just that I will buy a new one it's not worth the effort since I have to connect all new cables anyway, just get a higher Watt one then.

Just wondering if there is anything else we can test before that like a dedicated stress test for PSU I guess.

Problem has not happened again so far, I think it is a very rare condition in which the PSU is a few watts short.
Not worth for me to buy a new PSU. Thanks for all of you guys help

Some additional information to people who might have the same problem. I am able to limit the problem by doing two things.

- In the AMD Adrenalin Software I use the Undervolt GPU preset. After every update of the AMD Adrenalin Software, this resets to Default. So after every update, make sure to select Undervolt again

- Limit the FPS in games. In one particular, not very demanding game, I experienced crashes way more often than in other games. Checking with the AMD Adrenalin Software I saw that the GPU was generating over 500 FPS which is nonsense. The Watt drawn by the GPU therefore was over 300 Watt. I limited the game to 200 FPS and saw a big decrease in power consumption by the GPU

Power is a serious matter, and also one quite deterministic, or at least it was so years ago. Even cheapo PSUs in that age had things like cables or power rails limitations that wouldn't let you use the say 650W promised (you could always use adaptors splitters etc but seriously... 500W+ in parts and cheapo PSU with tricks?). Those PSUs could if at all have a place for modest builds that don't surpass say 200W.

As for brand and price, your PSU should be trustable (triple price from a Cooler Master MWE White V2 700W that I'm using here for an ancient build with an FX8350 and 750Ti that shouldn't surpass 300W, although I'm quite retired of gaming). My closer reference here is an ancient Phenom II 125W plus HD4890 rated at 190W although I'd say that my sample did like 140W (comparing it to an even more ancient and more exact in consumption build with a 65W Athlon and 70W X1950pro that couldn't surpass 190W from the wall), consuming 330W from the wall (quality multimeter). You have the same processor TDP and between 110 and 160 W more in GPU "total board power" (300W) according to an AMD pic what leads to about 500W total consumption from the wall (if I'm right saying that my HD4890 consumed 140W actually) in the worst case.

In this link in Spanish Radeon RX 7900 XT analizada por segunda vez, ¿ha mejorado su valor? , among other info, they say that "the build with the Radeon RX 7900 XT has 455W consumption".

The symptoms look like some PSU protection has kicked in, that would be why it needs to be unplugged before starting again. PSU protections are among the features that difference good fom less good PSUs. But imo it's a serious issue, it should not happen at all.

For instance in my current rig (with Win10) with the above said 700W PSU (that I consider to have a priori very high price to performance ratio, because of one or two detailed enough reviews that I caught) I could be having slight hw instability with WinRAR doing a small percentage of bad compressed files and Windows Media Player crashing every hour or so when playing music from an HDD, I've already used 3 module pairs in dual channel (all 2x8GB: 1st, 2nd+1st, 2nd+3rd) with the same symptoms and it could be the PSU lacking quality, but I don't way expect a power PSU problem. On the contrary, you have power PSU problems of some nature.

PS (scratch the above lol) be quiet! Straight Power 11 750W 80 Plus Platinum Modular Power Supply | OcUK :

Output

12V rails (multi-rail operation) - 4
+3.3V (A) - 25
+5V (A) - 25
+12V1 (A) - 20
+12V2 (A) - 20
+12V3 (A) - 24
+12V4 (A) - 24
-12V (A) - 0.3
+5Vsb (A) - 3
Max. combined power 12V (W) - 762.5
Max. combined power 3.3V + 5V (W) - 130
Hold-up time (ms @ 100%) - 19,2
Power good signal - 100-150ms

Each 20A rail has 240W maximum, and each 24A one has 288W maximum. My bet is that you're feeding the card with a 288W rail, and with 300W "total [max] board power"... Before pressing the trigger: I don't have too much experience myself with several rails, but I BELIEVE THEY CANNOT BE COMBINED TO FEED ONE PART, RISK OF TOTAL FAILURE. Please seek expert help, possibly emailing BeQuiet plus some experienced enough user.