The reason for my question is that I've had the same type of problem that I'm having now before. I built a new PC in July 2016. It ran fine for several weeks, then I had repeated shutdown issues. (Details below.) The problem stopped when I replaced the motherboard. Now the problem has started to recur, leading me to suspect that it might be the motherboard again.
However, it seems somewhat unlikely that I'd have two motherboards go bad on me. I've never had a motherboard go bad on me before, so it seems like that should be pretty rare. Having two go bad on me makes me wonder if the fault is not in the motherboard, but its user. Could it be something I'm doing?
The Problem
Entire PC shuts off as if it were unplugged from the wall and then reboots a few seconds later as if plugged back in. Only seems to happen while gaming.
I had this same issue before in September 2016. After personally building the system, it worked fine for about 6 weeks. The problem first occurred after installing a Windows update, but multiple attempts to find a driver or OS issue proved useless. Replacing the power supply did nothing. Unable to think of another possibility, I tore the system down and replaced the motherboard. The problem ceased thereafter.
Now half a year later, the same problem has started to occur. As before, it first began after I completed a Windows 10 update. I'd been gaming the past few hours without incident, but after I rebooted for the Windows update and loaded up the game again, the system shutoff after several minutes. Rebooted, loaded up the game, and within a few minutes another shutdown.
The following two evenings have the same pattern: game for a few hours without incident, then shutdown. Load up again and another shutdown within minutes.
The Hardware
CPU: Intel Skylake 6700
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VIII Hero (previous) / Asus Maximus VIII Hero Alpha (current)
RAM: G-Skill 3600 DDR4 (16 MB; 2 sticks)
GPU: Nvidia 1080 x2 in SLI
PSU: Corsair RMi 1000 watts
HD 1: Samsung 950 Pro M.2
HD 2: Samsung 850 EVO SSD
Monitor 1: Acer Predator x34 (running at 90 Hz)
Monitor 2: Dell U2515H (running at 60 Hz)
Keyboard: Roccat Ryos MK FX
Mouse: Steelseries MMO mouse
Cooling: custom watercooling loop; both GPUs and CPU are water-cooled
UPS: Cyberpower 1500VA (900 watts)
OS: Windows 10 Pro
Case: Fractal Design Define R5
I have added no new hardware during the past few months. I did drain and refill the watercooling loop in March.
September details
When the problem with shutdowns first started to occur, I thought it might be a Windows problem or a driver problem. I ended up reinstalling Windows at least 3 times, which seemed to help for brief periods; however, the shutdown problem would eventually recur.
I've had PCs shutdown to avoid overheating before, but those always warned me on reboot that it had been shutdown for that reason. Moreover, I've kept an eye on CPU and GPU temps. They'd typically run about 48-52 Celsius during gaming sessions.
Eventually I switched to assuming it was hardware. I started with replacing the power supply, but I had the same shutdown problem with both. I tried running the PC plugged into surge protector instead of the UPS; same shutdown problem. I tried using different RAM; same shutdown problem.
Finally I tried replacing the motherboard entirely. Since the layout of the watercooling was a headache to set up, I went with the same brand: Asus Rampage VIII Hero, but got the Alpha version. I had to disassemble everything to do that, but once I had the new motherboard in there, no problems.
Current situation
The GPU and CPU temps are still where they've always been. I have not yet tried a different power supply on my current situation, but I will since that's a fairly easy thing to do. But given that I tried that in September, I suspect that won't be the problem.
Question
So again, is this something I'm causing? I figure getting one bad motherboard was certainly possible, but getting two seems unlikely. Particularly since the problem took month to manifest. So is there something I'm doing to cause this problem?
Alternatively, is there an explanation other than the motherboard? For all I know, the original motherboard was just fine and it was something else that I unknowingly fixed during the disassembly/reassembly that cause the PC to work for 6 months without problem. But if it's not the motherboard, what could it be?
However, it seems somewhat unlikely that I'd have two motherboards go bad on me. I've never had a motherboard go bad on me before, so it seems like that should be pretty rare. Having two go bad on me makes me wonder if the fault is not in the motherboard, but its user. Could it be something I'm doing?
The Problem
Entire PC shuts off as if it were unplugged from the wall and then reboots a few seconds later as if plugged back in. Only seems to happen while gaming.
I had this same issue before in September 2016. After personally building the system, it worked fine for about 6 weeks. The problem first occurred after installing a Windows update, but multiple attempts to find a driver or OS issue proved useless. Replacing the power supply did nothing. Unable to think of another possibility, I tore the system down and replaced the motherboard. The problem ceased thereafter.
Now half a year later, the same problem has started to occur. As before, it first began after I completed a Windows 10 update. I'd been gaming the past few hours without incident, but after I rebooted for the Windows update and loaded up the game again, the system shutoff after several minutes. Rebooted, loaded up the game, and within a few minutes another shutdown.
The following two evenings have the same pattern: game for a few hours without incident, then shutdown. Load up again and another shutdown within minutes.
The Hardware
CPU: Intel Skylake 6700
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VIII Hero (previous) / Asus Maximus VIII Hero Alpha (current)
RAM: G-Skill 3600 DDR4 (16 MB; 2 sticks)
GPU: Nvidia 1080 x2 in SLI
PSU: Corsair RMi 1000 watts
HD 1: Samsung 950 Pro M.2
HD 2: Samsung 850 EVO SSD
Monitor 1: Acer Predator x34 (running at 90 Hz)
Monitor 2: Dell U2515H (running at 60 Hz)
Keyboard: Roccat Ryos MK FX
Mouse: Steelseries MMO mouse
Cooling: custom watercooling loop; both GPUs and CPU are water-cooled
UPS: Cyberpower 1500VA (900 watts)
OS: Windows 10 Pro
Case: Fractal Design Define R5
I have added no new hardware during the past few months. I did drain and refill the watercooling loop in March.
September details
When the problem with shutdowns first started to occur, I thought it might be a Windows problem or a driver problem. I ended up reinstalling Windows at least 3 times, which seemed to help for brief periods; however, the shutdown problem would eventually recur.
I've had PCs shutdown to avoid overheating before, but those always warned me on reboot that it had been shutdown for that reason. Moreover, I've kept an eye on CPU and GPU temps. They'd typically run about 48-52 Celsius during gaming sessions.
Eventually I switched to assuming it was hardware. I started with replacing the power supply, but I had the same shutdown problem with both. I tried running the PC plugged into surge protector instead of the UPS; same shutdown problem. I tried using different RAM; same shutdown problem.
Finally I tried replacing the motherboard entirely. Since the layout of the watercooling was a headache to set up, I went with the same brand: Asus Rampage VIII Hero, but got the Alpha version. I had to disassemble everything to do that, but once I had the new motherboard in there, no problems.
Current situation
The GPU and CPU temps are still where they've always been. I have not yet tried a different power supply on my current situation, but I will since that's a fairly easy thing to do. But given that I tried that in September, I suspect that won't be the problem.
Question
So again, is this something I'm causing? I figure getting one bad motherboard was certainly possible, but getting two seems unlikely. Particularly since the problem took month to manifest. So is there something I'm doing to cause this problem?
Alternatively, is there an explanation other than the motherboard? For all I know, the original motherboard was just fine and it was something else that I unknowingly fixed during the disassembly/reassembly that cause the PC to work for 6 months without problem. But if it's not the motherboard, what could it be?
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