Troubleshooting a Mysterious PC Shutdown: A Gamer’s Dilemma

Every gamer knows the anxiety of encountering technical issues, especially mid-game. Recently, I faced a frustrating situation when my gaming PC suddenly shut down during a heated raid in World of Warcraft Classic. With no signs of life upon attempting to reboot, I found myself in a conundrum, unsure whether it was my power supply unit (PSU) or graphics card (GPU) that had failed. Here’s a detailed account of my troubleshooting process and the steps I took to diagnose the issue, along with a call for community insights.

System Specifications

Before diving into the diagnosis, here are my current specs:
– CPU: Ryzen 7 3700X (recently upgraded, used)
– GPU: RTX 2070 (Inno3D TwinX2, 1.5 years old)
– Motherboard: MSI B450 Pro Max (2 years old)
– RAM: 32GB DDR4
– Old PSU: 600W
– New PSU: 750W

The Incident

During an intense boss fight with 40 participants, my screen went black without warning. Initially, I checked to ensure the power socket was functional by testing other devices. Finding those operational led me to suspect my PSU might have finally given out after over six years of service. To remedy this, I purchased a new 750W PSU and connected just the CPU and motherboard to see if anything would respond.

Fortunately, the fans began spinning, so I proceeded to install the PSU fully. However, when I attempted to boot the system with all components connected, there was absolutely no response—no sounds, no lights, nothing at all. In an effort to troubleshoot further, I disconnected the GPU and powered the system again. After a complete disconnection and reconnection of the PSU from the wall, the fans started up once more.

A Temporary Solution

To further investigate the issue, I installed an older graphics card, the GT 9800, that I had on hand. Astonishingly, my PC booted up without any issues. This led me to conclude that the RTX 2070 was likely at fault. What puzzled me was the abruptness of its failure—one moment it was functioning normally, and the next, it seemingly caused the entire system to shut down.

For peace of mind, I considered whether the