PC Master Race

The biggest question to ask here is when does it happen. I would try running something like Fur Mark (a free gpu stress test) which will help narrow down the possibilities somewhat.

If it does crash consistently when running furmark it's definitely a load dependent issue, and could point either to GPU or PSU. Another diagnostic tool to use during this test is CPU Z which will tell you temps and usages of everything in the system. Take note of temps in the 80°s - 90°s c, and watch if something is spiking to that temperature quickly and staying there (slowly building up to that point during a stress test is not unheard of).

If you're having trouble replicating the problem (and this is a good idea anyway) then do some sanity checks. Make absolutely sure there aren't any plugs hanging part of the way out, and that none of your fans are stopped or blocked. Another problem that can sometimes be difficult to diagnose (and that causes random shutdowns) can be a cable that is pinched tightly behind the motherboard. The metal points of solder behind your motherboard can puncture the insulation of cables that are incorrectly routed behind it and cause shorts which can cause any number of issues.

Another issue that can be difficult to diagnose, but that can also cause spontaneous shutdowns is CPU mounting pressure. Depending on the motherboard and cpu combo (some are more sensitive to this kind of issue than others, early gen ryzen in particular) the motherboard itself can actually flex and cause unexpected behaviour or damage if the cpu mounting screws are too tight. Try backing them off slightly and see if the issue persists.

Lastly try the computer on other power outlets / power strips. Many random shutdown issues aren't even the fault of the computer itself, but rather the result of a wiring issue or bad surge protector. Double check by using known good cables and outlets in other parts of the house.

It's a little bit of a long to do list, but all of these options stop short of buying parts. It is absolutely possible that you need a new power supply, and I've had to replace a few over the years myself. But I've also spent money that I later found out I didn't need to. Hopefully this saves you a few dollars and some frustration.

My bet is on either thermals or power supply.

Not likely to be RAM, since issues there are more likely to either prevent the machine starting in the first place, or lock up if it fails while the machine is in operation.

Not likely to be CMOS battery since that generally wouldn't cause the machine to shut off, it just preserves firmware settings between power cycles.

In theory, there could be an intermitted short happening somewhere and the PSU's OCP is kicking in, but I've never come across something like that. Similarly, there could be a problem with an internal power cable connection doing the same, but it sounds like you've already checked that.

I would test with a different PSU if you can. Thermals should be easy to check for too with the many pieces of available software to keep track of such things.

I had pretty much this same issue recently. Didn't matter if I was playing a game or it was sitting idle. Eventually it stopped turning on. I was able to confirm the PSU as the issue by testing it alone (still wouldn't power on just jumping the power on pins). Coincidentally mine was also seasonic. It was under warranty so they sent me a replacement and I haven't had an issue since.

It's important to know what's going on when the computer cuts power. I had this start happening to me when I was playing VR games. I had been using the same hardware to do so for a year beforehand, but it turns out I was just riding the limit of what the PSU could supply. When I actually took a look at how many watts the UPS was reporting it was happily under the PSU's rating, however Nvidia GPUs are known to power spike at times and draw way more power than they're supposed to. That's what was causing my issues. An upgraded PSU indeed fixed everything.

Few things to check:

• make sure all wires are secure and snuggly attached to everything. Including the rest/power button switches.

• double check temps before crash to see if theres any issues while idle or under load there.

• check and possibly post your windows logs and event viewer logs to look for possible issues leading up to right before the power fail events.

• do you have any overclocks applied? (Including xmp/amp) if so set your motherboard back to defaults and test again.

• make sure BIOS firmware is up to date (might as well make sure all your other drivers are up to date as well).

• try each ram dimm one at a time in both primary slots, this may help determine a dimm issue.

Borrow or using another power supply would be the best way to full confirm or deny the issue being a power supply failure. When a computer just instantly powers off like that its usually either a power failure or some kind of critical harware failure hitting a failsafe and shutting down.

What are your temps?

I had this happen recently as well. Could be the CMOS battery on your motherboard. It should be trivial to check if replacing it fixes the problem before you commit to buying a new PSU.

I had an old pc behaving like this. It would just shut down whenever, randomly: 5 seconds after the first beep when the pc turns on, while windows was loading, after the login, while playing, while doing nothing, literally it could happen whenever. Tried everything i could, software wise but without any avail. I had some spare parts so I changed ram, psu, removed gpu, put new hard disk: nothing worked. Moral of the story? It was the motherboard. Changed only the motherboard and the pc works just fine… 🤷🏼‍♂️ so it could also be a problem with the motherboard. If you can, be more specific in saying when those shuts down happen or if you can reproduce them, it could help you a lot. Ps it could be the RAM as well, try using one stick at once (if you have more than one stick) and check if it still happens(try another stick if it still happens until it does not anymore)

Check your logs. IMO it sounds like a thermal issue.

Once upon a time.. my second machine ever over a decade ago I forgot to use standoffs, this caused the system to short out but turn on for about 10 - 15 minutes before turning off, would have to turn it back on after resetting power supply. Real bone head move on my part.

AMD?

Did you upgrade anything recently or same hardware as before but with shutdowns?

If its a new GPU for example it could be drawing too much power on load