PC dies mid-gaming, then comes back from the dead?

How old is that G550m PSU? That wasn't a great power supply when it was new, and the first of those units hit the market back in 2013, so that unit could be as much as five years old by now. That would certainly be my first suspect, plus, it's REALLY borderline as to whether that unit is even capable enough for an RX 580 that we'd much rather see a very good 650-750w unit with.

We've recently seen member of this forum, and of the moderation team for that matter, with a VERY good Seasonic Prime Ultra Titanium unit that could not power his RX 580 adequately without tripping the over current protections, and that's one of the best 550w units on the planet. We know it was the protections on the PSU causing the same symptoms you saw, because it happened multiple times on his system and replacing the less than a year old unit with a brand new Seasonic Prime Ultra 750w unit completely resolved his issues AND the other unit is working fine in a less demanding system now, I believe.

Certainly there could be other culprits, but that's what I'd be looking at first.

I would replace the power supply.

First, I'd test your unit to see if it is even still putting out what it should be. Run Prime95 version 26.6 or Heaven benchmark WHILE you have HWinfo open and take screenshots of the system voltage sensors. 3v, 5v and 12v. You will probably have to scroll down to find those sensor values.

In cases where it is relevant and you are seeking help, then in order to help you, it's often necessary to SEE what's going on, in the event one of us can pick something out that seems out of place, or other indicators that just can't be communicated via a text only post. In these cases, posting an image of the HWinfo sensors or something else can be extremely helpful. That may not be the case in YOUR thread, but if it is then the information at the following link will show you how to do that:

*How to post images in Tom's hardware forums



Run HWinfo and look at system voltages and other sensor readings.

Monitoring temperatures, core speeds, voltages, clock ratios and other reported sensor data can often help to pick out an issue right off the bat. HWinfo is a good way to get that data and in my experience tends to be more accurate than some of the other utilities available. CPU-Z, GPU-Z and Core Temp all have their uses but HWinfo tends to have it all laid out in a more convenient fashion so you can usually see what one sensor is reporting while looking at another instead of having to flip through various tabs that have specific groupings.

After installation, run the utility and when asked, choose "sensors only". The other window options have some use but in most cases everything you need will be located in the sensors window. If you're taking screenshots to post for troubleshooting, it will most likely require taking three screenshots and scrolling down the sensors window between screenshots in order to capture them all.

It is most helpful if you can take a series of HWinfo screenshots at idle, after a cold boot to the desktop. Open HWinfo and wait for all of the Windows startup processes to complete. Usually about four or five minutes should be plenty. Take screenshots of all the HWinfo sensors.

Next, run something demanding like Prime95 version 26.6 or Heaven benchmark. Take another set of screenshots while either of those is running so we can see what the hardware is doing while under a load.

*Download HWinfo


And, if you have access to a volt meter, or can pick up a cheap one, you can test manually as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac7YMUcMjbw

I just dealt with a customer who brought in a rig with very similar issues. He was running an older FX 8350, but other than that your systems are comparable. In his rig I couldn't find any voltage dips in windows while benchmarking or in bios. His system like yours would randomly crash sometimes with a black screen of death sometimes with a restart. It ended up being his power supply even though I couldn't find any dips in the the output. As stated your power supply wasn't a great one even when new and you have three years on it now. The wiring gets old and more "brittle" so as you change hardware you may end up with a wire that isn't making full correct contact with the harness anymore. If you had a better psu I would suggest replacing the wire harnesses, however you would be better off just getting a new quality psu. I've personally had a great luck with EVGA Supernova +Gold and +Platinum.

So, with only the iGPU in use the voltages look fine. That is, of course, not telling us much of anything other than that the PSU isn't able to be instantly considered rubbish. It doesn't tell us that it IS ok, or not ok, just that it isn't shot completely. Whether it can hold up under the load of your gaming card which adds another 225w (150w for the 8 pin, 75w for the slot) to the draw under load, is a different story. Even just another 75w with no load might be enough to make a borderline unit weird out.

I would try the GPU card in the other x16 slot and see if you have the same issues.

Update your motherboard bios to the latest version and try the RX 580 again.

No problem. Sorry it didn't work out. Hopefully the next one is good.