PC suddenly shutting down. Not turning on. Red CPU light on mobo

Question

I've had this problem with my PC for some time now in which I am able to use it for at most 8 hrs., but eventually it won't turn on after letting it rest after 12 hrs. or so. I also noticed the red CPU light in the mobo turning on. I have all the fans spinning, but not getting any display or having the mouse or keyboard functioning. There are also times when it suddenly shuts down and gets the CPU error after turning it on again.

So far, I have tried: removing the CMOS battery and putting it back again, placing RAM sticks on to other slots, buying a voltage regulator for the power supply, plugging out the 3-pin CPU fan connector and plugging it back in.

To sum it up, I am able to use my PC normally, but if overused it tends to 'rest' and only turns on again after some time. During that resting phase is the turning on of the CPU light in the mobo. There are also times when it suddenly shuts down and goes to the 'resting' phase again.

My specs include:

• PSU: Strider Plus 600W 80plusBronzePSU: Strider Plus 600W 80 Plus Bronze (SST- ST60F-PB)
• PSU: Strider Essential Series 500W 80 Plus Bronze (SST-ST5OF-ESB)
• mobo: MSI Z170A-G43 PLUS
• GPU: MSI GEFORCE GTX 1060
• CPU: Intel Core i5
• RAM: Vengeance LPX DDR4 16GB
• SSD: V-NAND 850 EVO

Solution

Had similar CPU red light issue.

It turned out to be the power supply died of old age. No longer capable of putting out the original number of watts.

If it were just overheating, it would probably at least start with an hour or so.

You can proactively clean the fans and heatsinks if you like.

Also you can use speedfan or your motherboards utility to monitor the CPU temperatures to make sure it isn't over heating.

If it is overheating, you need a better heatsink/fan combo for CPU.

Comments

[LPChip]

Do the fans have excessive dust in them?

[computercarguy]

Along with checking for blown capacitors, check out this link to suppliment your good start on troubleshooting: superuser.com/questions/224515/…

[Jerms]

Hey! Thanks for the reply. My fans are good and I've tried monitoring the CPU's temp. So far it hasn't been in the overheat temp. Now it's doing the shutdown issue again even though I let the pc rest after using it for at least 5 hours. I'm now suspecting this as a power supply problem but my question is, does it really have to rest for hours before functioning well again?

[cybernard]

The power supply is dying eventually it will just give up and 24 hours won't be enough. So as long as you keep using the PSU with one foot in the grave you will continue to have to wait. Once you replace your PSU it should just work and the issue should not re-occur. You list 2 PSU, I don't know what other components you have, but 500w might not be enough.

[Jerms]

I agree. My initial PSU specs were not from the list and was only suggested by the store's computer guy saying that it was too much and that 600w and 500w will have to suffice. Then again I'll have this checked. Thank you for taking time to answer sir. Greatly appreciated.