PC shuts down on it's own while I'm not in a game

[db.quinten]

I have got the weirdest of issues here, so I hope that someone can help.
From a point in time, that I sadly can't tell anymore, my PC suddenly started shutting down on it's own. I've had the issue before with my previous PC, for which it was caused by a bad PSU, but this is different I'm sure.
To put what I'm asking in a single phrase would be: Could someone tell me how to solve this or even do so much as identify what is causing this problem? I have not a single clue what causes this malfunction.

The actual problem:
My display freezes and the sound that was playing gets repeated for a second, and then my PC 'shuts down' but the power button stays lighted up. My keyboard however doesn't have any lights on anymore, which means it isn't connected I guess, and neither does my monitor.
Sometimes my PC restarts on it's own, but that doesn't happen a lot.
This problem doesn't occur as much when I'm simply playing a game, but when I'm not it happens quite quickly. When I'm using a web browser it happens extremely quickly as well. I always have Discord, a chatting system that works like a web browser I was told, open in the background, maybe that's useful info as well.
When I want to restart my PC with just the power button it doesn't work all the time. But when I turn the PSU off and on, and then quickly press the power button it works all the time.

What I remember testing:
-We've tested the temperature of every piece of hardware which was no problem.
-The GPU has been tested with a stress test and it had no problems.
-I've tried reattaching wires to the motherboard and to my SSD (which holds windows), haven't tried the HDD yet.

My hardware:
-Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
-Motherboard: RYZEN Gigabyte AB350M-DS3H AMD x370
-CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (14nm Technology)
-RAM: 2x4GB Ballistix
-GPU: SyncMaster 2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB (ZOTAC International)
-Storage: 11GB KINGSTON SA400S37120G (SATA-2) SSD
931GB Western Digital WDC WD10EARX-00N0YB0 (SATA )
-PSU: Corsair VS550 ATX 550Watt
Apologies if it's quite messy, I'm not sure what order all the info has to go in and I'm stating what is on the box for some of these.

This is all I can think of right now and I really hope one of you has any idea of what's going with my PC, I don't wanna have to keep restarting my PC as much as I have to.
If you need any more information I'll answer ASAP and I already thank you for your effort.
Please help

 

[Lone-Wolf]

Hey
try running a cpu and Gpu stress test together
you can use Fur Mark its free
and it sounds like a psu issue

 

[db.quinten]

Hey
try running a cpu and Gpu stress test together
you can use Fur Mark its free
and it sounds like a psu issue

I ran FurMark already and it showed no problems or hardships at all.

Edit: Is there any way to be certain it is the PSU?

Second edit: it wasn't the PSU, wasted 50 euros.

 

[suteck]

Sorry, looking for some clarification first please,
How full is your SSD? (and i'm pretty sure it's a SATA III and 120 GB) This can fill pretty quickly.
SSDs require a capacitor and power supplies, which are vulnerable to malfunctions — especially in the case of a power surge or a power failure. In fact, in the case of a power failure, SSDs have been known to corrupt existing data too, even if the drive itself hasn’t failed completely. Have you ever had a power surge? Is that what might have damaged your old computer? This statement "I've had the issue before with my previous PC, for which it was caused by a bad PSU" gives me great concern! If the old/other PSU went bad then there's a good possibility that it damaged some of your other hardware. So replacing the PSU won't make any difference at this point. I'm sorry that there is no way for me to even guess which component(s) it might have affected without changing them out 1 at a time. Costly and time consuming at best.
5 Things to look for if your SSD is starting to fail.
1) A file cannot be read or written to the hard drive.
2) Your PC/file system needs to be repaired.
3) Active applications often freeze up and crash.
4) Frequent errors while moving files.
5) Generally running slow, especially while accessing large files.
Try Crystal Disk Mark HERE (one of the top tools to maintain your SSD.

You say the "PC shuts down" but lights are still on? Usually, if it actually shuts down all lights will go out also. If you still have lights on then it's more likely that it's frozen or locked up. That's why you have to hold the power button down for about 5 seconds before it actually turns off. Or why this approach works for you "But when I turn the PSU off and on, and then quickly press the power button it works all the time". Do you ever get the BSOD? (Blue Screen of Death) If so sometimes the code it gives you can be helpful in finding out why it shuts down. The monitor only loses the green light, which turns to amber, and the screen goes black correct? This is another sign that the computer is frozen or locked up, same as well goes for the key board. It just means that the computer, or windows, is no longer sending a signal to them. This is another sign that the SSD or windows if failing you.

Not sure about Discord, but having Discord, "a chatting system that works like a web browser I was told, open in the background". If it's running like a browser then it's probably using the operating system disc's read and write fuction as it has a constant flow of connection between you and the world. That might also be adding to the instability. That might be why when doing something like just browsing it crashes faster or more often. It's like having 2 different browsers open and transferring data back and forth at the same time. Try it without discord and see if that changes anything? Not blaming Discord, just looking to see how much of your resources it might be using.

So, After working this out through this post I would recommend you concentrate on the SSD. Depending on how you would like to troubleshoot this. I would save all my files that I want to keep on your other drive and secure erase and reset on the SSD. Go to your manufacturer's website and download the tool for your brand. After this is done do a fresh install of windows. Or buy a cheap used one from someplace like ebay and see if that solves your problem. There is one HERE for less than $30 bucks and it's new. Or this used one HERE for less than $25. Might be the easiest thing to try.

 

[db.quinten]

Sorry, looking for some clarification first please,
How full is your SSD? (and i'm pretty sure it's a SATA III and 120 GB) This can fill pretty quickly.
SSDs require a capacitor and power supplies, which are vulnerable to malfunctions — especially in the case of a power surge or a power failure. In fact, in the case of a power failure, SSDs have been known to corrupt existing data too, even if the drive itself hasn’t failed completely. Have you ever had a power surge? Is that what might have damaged your old computer? This statement "I've had the issue before with my previous PC, for which it was caused by a bad PSU" gives me great concern! If the old/other PSU went bad then there's a good possibility that it damaged some of your other hardware. So replacing the PSU won't make any difference at this point. I'm sorry that there is no way for me to even guess which component(s) it might have affected without changing them out 1 at a time. Costly and time consuming at best.
5 Things to look for if your SSD is starting to fail.
1) A file cannot be read or written to the hard drive.
2) Your PC/file system needs to be repaired.
3) Active applications often freeze up and crash.
4) Frequent errors while moving files.
5) Generally running slow, especially while accessing large files.
Try Crystal Disk Mark HERE (one of the top tools to maintain your SSD.

You say the "PC shuts down" but lights are still on? Usually, if it actually shuts down all lights will go out also. If you still have lights on then it's more likely that it's frozen or locked up. That's why you have to hold the power button down for about 5 seconds before it actually turns off. Or why this approach works for you "But when I turn the PSU off and on, and then quickly press the power button it works all the time". Do you ever get the BSOD? (Blue Screen of Death) If so sometimes the code it gives you can be helpful in finding out why it shuts down. The monitor only loses the green light, which turns to amber, and the screen goes black correct? This is another sign that the computer is frozen or locked up, same as well goes for the key board. It just means that the computer, or windows, is no longer sending a signal to them. This is another sign that the SSD or windows if failing you.

Not sure about Discord, but having Discord, "a chatting system that works like a web browser I was told, open in the background". If it's running like a browser then it's probably using the operating system disc's read and write fuction as it has a constant flow of connection between you and the world. That might also be adding to the instability. That might be why when doing something like just browsing it crashes faster or more often. It's like having 2 different browsers open and transferring data back and forth at the same time. Try it without discord and see if that changes anything? Not blaming Discord, just looking to see how much of your resources it might be using.

So, After working this out through this post I would recommend you concentrate on the SSD. Depending on how you would like to troubleshoot this. I would save all my files that I want to keep on your other drive and secure erase and reset on the SSD. Go to your manufacturer's website and download the tool for your brand. After this is done do a fresh install of windows. Or buy a cheap used one from someplace like ebay and see if that solves your problem. There is one HERE for less than $30 bucks and it's new. Or this used one HERE for less than $25. Might be the easiest thing to try.

Okay, already my apologies for taking way too much time with this, also apologies in case this counts as necro-ing this post.
By now i've replaced the motherboard and CPU without any success to starting my pc. I've tried starting it without the graphics card, with a single memory stick in every single slot, for both sticks, and i've tried starting the pc with both the SSD and HDD disconnected. Nothing succeeded in getting anything out of the computer, except for it just showing that the pc has power.

In response to "If the old/other PSU went bad then there's a good possibility that it damaged some of your other hardware." i can say that the old psu was another computer in general, so it has never even touched this one.

I'll repeat to make sure there aren't any misunderstandings:
The motherboard has the lights turned on, the CPU's fan runs along with the other fan in my PC and i can hear my HDD running. Still the monitor only shows a black screen (yes it's turned on) and my keyboard (of which the lights turned on when i started pc back when it was still working) doesn't have it's lights turned on.
I've replaced the PSU once already and i still had the same problem i have now, i retoured the new PSU since it didn't affect anything that happened.
I haven't replaced the ram sticks yet, even for testing, since it's getting a little expensive now.
I've already tried replacing the power cable to no avail.
I never got a BSOD
I no longer have any clue of what i could do, so i'm asking for your professional help again.

Sincerest thanks in advance and apologies again for waiting this long for a response.

 

[suteck]

Before you replace anything else lets try running memtest. That should give you a good indication whether or not the memory could be the culprit.
Secondly, I'm a little confused about the GPU? Do you have 2 video cards? I get the GTX 1060 with 6 GB or 6138MB, but is the SyncMaster 2047MB a different card? And does it only have 2GB of memory? And if so what is the memory speed and the core and/or boost clock? I apologize in advance for my ignorance but I can't find that card anywhere. If it is a second card I would try removing it from the equation and literally from the machine. If they are too different in speeds that would cause the screen to go dark and all the other problems you are having. Based on your explanations your computer is not shutting down, windows just quits sending a signal to the components. This is usually caused by a driver or power option.
You said you tried starting it without any graphics card? When you try starting it that way it doesn't start? Can you get into bios? If so, check your power settings. It sounds like a conflict is graphics priorities. When you are gaming you computer knows to use the graphics card, full power. all it can give you. When doing something simple it probably tries to go to power saving mode and use the onboard graphics. That might be where the conflict comes in. Can you disable the onboard graphics? Or change the power settings to 100% so I doesn't go into that mode? Something else to try is when that happens, plug the monitor into the onboard graphics plug directly on the motherboard. Let me know if any of that helps.