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Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 27, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I vote power supply. I had a similar issue in terms of crashing and refusing to start up until some time passed, though I didn't have to do as much troubleshooting to determine the source. I'm pretty sure power supplies have some sort of safety thing to shut off if they overheat, but apparently it's not perfect because during some of the crashing and overheating some of the components in my power supply melted which made it rattle even during normal use (and I think made it less efficient and even more prone to overheating), which made it come to my attention as the most likely candidate. When I replaced it all the problems went away. (Also I discovered a massive clog of hair and dust trapped inside the old power supply which I think is what caused it to start overheating in the first place. Oops. Clean the inside of your computers.

Looking at your symptoms and comparing them to mine, that seems like the most likely culprit.

Well at the very least it's the cheapest option to rule out, I'll take a crack at it, thanks!