Luis had a powerful gaming computer that had developed a frustrating problem: it would suddenly shut off completely, without warning and without restarting.

With an AMD Ryzen 7 processor, Radeon graphics card, and 32 GB of memory, this was not an old computer struggling to keep up. Something was interrupting its power.

I checked both the software and hardware. Windows had some corrupted system files, which were repaired, and the solid-state drive passed its diagnostic test. The processor temperature was also within a reasonable range.

But the most revealing clue came when the computer shut itself off while sitting in the BIOS setup screen. Windows wasn’t even running, which meant the shutdowns were happening independently of the operating system.

The BIOS also recorded a warning about a system power fault and a detected power surge.

Taken together, the symptoms strongly suggested a failing power supply, although a motherboard power-delivery problem could not be completely ruled out.

Rather than immediately purchase replacement parts, Luis decided to pursue warranty coverage through the company where he bought the computer.

Sometimes the most useful computer repair is identifying the likely problem before spending money on parts that may already be covered under warranty.

In Luis’s case, the diagnostic work narrowed the problem to the computer’s power system and gave him a clearer direction for getting it repaired.