PC shuts off unexpectedly while downloading anything

[michii]

If I try to download or install anything from steam to my PC, it'll shut down. Every time. Without fail. I thought it was an issue with a bad SSD, but I got a replacement and it still continued. I thought the SSD brand was just bad so I used a hard drive that I knew was good and it still happened. The longer the download takes, the more times it'll crash/shut down my PC.
Ex:
>Start installing R6 to SSD.
>Downloads for anywhere from a minute to ten minutes.
>PC shuts off without warning.
>Restart PC.
>Steam starts up.
>Download resumes.
>Repeat until download is complete.

20 minute estimates last hours. Files are missing so I always have to verify integrity which starts another download and we reenter this loop.

Specs:
GTX 760
i7 870
Crucial MX500
WD Blue 1TB

[The Giving One]

Could be a problem with the PSU. A faulty or failing PSU can cause a PC to shut down like that. (Power Supply Unit).

[Zekiran]

You've already narrowed down to "not the drive" - so yeah, that's the rest of your hardware needing to be checked. Steam doesn't do this, games don't do this, but hardware failure DOES.

[michii]

Originally posted by Zekiran:

You've already narrowed down to "not the drive" - so yeah, that's the rest of your hardware needing to be checked. Steam doesn't do this, games don't do this, but hardware failure DOES.

I understand but Steam is the ONLY thing that causes this on my PC. Downloading on any other program doesn't have this issue. Origin, Epic, Uplay, Blizzard, Rockstar, downloads from Chrome and Firefox, nothing else has any issues. It's only ever been Steam. My PSU and MOBO are both fine, used the PSU in a different rig to confirm it was working as intended and tried different hard drives in this one and Steam consistently has this issue.

[The Giving One]

Originally posted by DescaSatou:

My PSU and MOBO are both fine, used the PSU in a different rig to confirm it was working as intended and tried different hard drives in this one and Steam consistently has this issue.

If the other rig was not drawing nearly as much power, that could explain that.

It is not proper troubleshooting to say "this happens after this happens, so that is the cause of it".

Best to use proper troubleshooting methods.

[michii]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

Originally posted by DescaSatou:

My PSU and MOBO are both fine, used the PSU in a different rig to confirm it was working as intended and tried different hard drives in this one and Steam consistently has this issue.

If the other rig was not drawing nearly as much power, that could explain that.

It is not proper troubleshooting to say "this happens after this happens, so that is the cause of it".

Best to use proper troubleshooting methods.

Yeah I've been trying to figure this out for months and this is the last thing I could think of

[The Giving One]

I can't know for sure, and testing the PSU in another rig WAS good troubleshooting, to correct what I was saying actually, but it's just a piece of the puzzle, as the other rig might not have been drawing enough power to cause it.

From my experience, when they go, it is because they can't provide enough power anymore to the PC, and the PC just shuts down. Now they can fail in other ways, but this is just what I have seen in my PC building experience, although some around here are much more experienced at that than I am.

I am only guessing, but I am still thinking it is maybe a PSU. Have you tested this in safe mode with networking ?

Reboot the PC into safe mode with networking enabled in the boot options. Log into your Steam account and start downloading something. See if the issue happens again.

EDIT................

Just to be clear, please but :

You don't see any Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD error) or anything at all. The PC just totally and suddenly shuts off, without any warning or any other messages, right ?

If so, that really does sound like a PSU problem to me.

[michii]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

I can't know for sure, and testing the PSU in another rig WAS good troubleshooting, to correct what I was saying actually, but it's just a piece of the puzzle, as the other rig might not have been drawing enough power to cause it.

From my experience, when they go, it is because they can't provide enough power anymore to the PC, and the PC just shuts down. Now they can fail in other ways, but this is just what I have seen in my PC building experience, although some around here are much more experienced at that than I am.

I am only guessing, but I am still thinking it is maybe a PSU. Have you tested this in safe mode with networking ?

Reboot the PC into safe mode with networking enabled in the boot options. Log into your Steam account and start downloading something. See if the issue happens again.

EDIT................

Just to be clear, please but :

You don't see any Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD error) or anything at all. The PC just totally and suddenly shuts off, without any warning or any other messages, right ?

If so, that really does sound like a PSU problem to me.

I will try that and I'll see if I can get my hands on another PSU with a higher rating or voltage. Thanks for the suggestion.

[The Giving One]

You are welcome. If you don't see it happen in safe mode with networking, my thinking is that the PC will draw less power there in that boot, and therefore, if you do not see the issue present itself again while using that suggestion, that is more evidence that it might be the PSU.

You might have to test it for a while in that boot, though, as you said it happens a bit randomly. Feel free to reply to the thread if you need other advice or find out what it was. Thanks.

[arcelicopter]

My computer does this too. And I found a way to fix it for me.

I noticed that, when downloading something from Steam, and I did the thing on your Desktop screen where you create boxes for highlighting multiple icons/apps/files by holding left or right click and dragging. I did this but in circular motions, and I noticed that, after a prolonged period of time after downloading, it lagged a lot and stopped being smooth. Then my laptop would turn itself off. I also had the screen up showing the progress of my Steam Downloads. I noticed that when my "circling" lagged, my "CURRENT" Network Usage was over 10 MB/s for a prolonged period of time. Repeating this multiple times confirmed this.

So I found a way to limit downloading speed by going on "Settings > Downloads - Limit Bandwidth to:", I tested out 8MB but it still lagged, so I set it to 5MB and it doesn't lag anymore, or shut itself off.

This could fix your problem but sacrifice some download speed.

EDIT: It may stop computer crashes, but obviously something is broken/needs to be fixed/replaced.

[Dr.Diabeto]

I am having the exact same issue, and here is what I can add.
It is most definitely not a PSU issue for me, if it was then when I benchmark my PC I would see similar results.
It doesn't involve thermal overloads or other apps open on my PC, it is exclusively Steam Downloading. I even changed my boot settings to not allow anything except windows applications to auto start on launch, opened steam, started a download and 45 seconds later give or take, it restarts without warning. No windows errors, no blue screen, nothing.
Idk if it matters but I am on Win11, and this issue randomly occurred about a month ago and has plagued me ever since.
I have even went through and changed my OC settings to make sure it wasn't a random instability and it has not changed anything.

[John]

This thread was quite old before the recent post, so we're locking it to prevent confusion