How bad was the sag? Good news is that games crash a lot and it isn't because of hardware so there's a chance it isn't the sag causing this.

I also figure that if the sag really did cause damage you'd notice a lot more of these crashes all over the place and not just when you run a couple games (not sure yet how many games this happens to and if this happens to other stuff like web browsing).

Try re-installing drivers and mentioning your hardware might be helpful.

thats most likely the psu

psu, brand/model/age?

pcbs are quire flexible, more than you would think
the only things that cant be bent much are bga joints and support brackets
heatsink mounts and other components can flex a bit but they are small and add up over the length of the board/gpu

If your PC completely shuts off midgame without any crash logs, BSOD, or error message,its almost certainly a hardware issue. Software or drivers generally don’t cause a total shutdown,they might crash the game, freeze it or trigger a BSOD, but not instant power off.
Dust alone rarely causes an immediate shutdown unless the airflow is completely blocked and temperatures spike extremely fast but even then, if would most likely just thermal throttle and not shutdown.

GPU sag can in extreme cases, damage the PCIe slot or the GPU contacts but minor sag usually isn’t catastrophic. Still,taking a close look at the PCIe contacts on both the GPU and motherboard is smart any bent pins or scorched marks are a red flag. A screenshot or clear photo of the PCIe connection can help others give advice.
Power supply is a very common cause of sudden shutdowns. If the PSU can’t provide enough power under load, the system will turn off instantly.

RAM and motherboard issues can also cause hard shutdowns. Faulty RAM or failing motherboard VRMs can cut power without warning. Running a memory test (like MemTest86) and visually inspecting motherboard components for bulging capacitors can help rule this out. Sometimes a poorly mounted GPU bracket, loose screws, or an unseated component can cause a short that powers off the system instantly.

So yeah, your instinct is right. This is almost certainly hardware related. Start by inspecting the GPU and PCIe slot, check PSU stability, and monitor temps. Compressed air cleaning is useful, but its unlikely to fix a sudden shutdown problem unless dust is physically blocking fans or causing a short.

temps alone will not force shutdown anymore
cpu/gpu will throttle and park cores way before turning off

before ryzen or intel i series 6th gen, they would force shutdown since they could not throttle low enough to not make any heat

yeah like others mentioned, it's clearly hardware issue, something short your PC, thus your mobo turn off your system, lets try the easiest easy solution, clean your RAM slot, PCIE slot, blow dust your PSU

all above are right ,just want to add a quirky potential cause - a failing power-on button

if you have a spare GPU might test with it .or only on iGPU

I do have a spare GPU but I'm not sure if its condition. I'll try it later.

I've pondered the possibility of it being a failing PSU because out of every part of my PC, the only ones that stayed consistent are the case and its fans, the PSU, and both my SSDs, one of which is an M.2 NVMe. I built this PC in February of 2022 so it's not even that old.

I think the most straightforward possible solution that I could do right away is clean the PSU. So I'll do that tonight and if it doesn't work then I'll come back and update. To be clear, it's a 750W PSU.

Edit: Actually I'm wrong, I forgot I upgraded my PSU in October last year. I'll try it anyway but it's weird how I don't even remember doing that. It's a Corsair RM850e.
Edit 2: Ignore the above edit, I just remembered that was a gift to my sister lol. Mine is Corsair CX750F.

I had to run errands so I'm late af but I'll be back here in a little bit

Use two separate power cables for the gpu if your only using one. Might work?

Check heat. It's probably that if it's not powersupply

I cleaned out the PCIe and RAM slots (will do PSU soon) and ran Manor Lords as a test. It's not crashing anymore, or at least for now, but it should be running at 144FPS. It isn't though.

Originally posted by Numlock587:

Check heat. It's probably that if it's not powersupply

I checked this just now and my GPU is, when idle, at around 71-75 degrees celsius. So uh yeah, not good.

Your hardware may be becoming unstable through wear and tear. A red flag would be if it has hard rebooted and you have pre applied overclocks. It can happen when windows is really screwed too but nearly always hardware dying.


An easy test is underclock and try to produce the same crash again. If you can play stable bingo its the hardware.

Originally posted by Rod:

Your hardware may be becoming unstable through wear and tear. A red flag would be if it has hard rebooted and you have pre applied overclocks. It can happen when windows is really screwed too but nearly always hardware dying.


An easy test is underclock and try to produce the same crash again. If you can play stable bingo its the hardware.

I don't usually mess with that stuff because I'm not experienced enough to understand it. So I haven't overclocked my PC. Wear and tear though to a degree makes sense because of the sag that I found, the only problem is I got this GPU in August 2023. Only had it for 2+ years so that's definitely concerning.

Edit: Just to add, it's not crashing at the moment as I've tested both of the games I mentioned and didn't experience a power-off. That being said, that doesn't mean the problem is fixed as, again, the temps are elevated to an uncomfortable level.