Chosen Solution
Was using my ASUS ROG G20 to play some Dark Souls (a fairly common occurence, and not an intense segment of the game, so I’m certain the pc could handle it) and listening spotify when my pc fully powered off without warning, as if the plug had been pulled. I’ve checked the outlet and the power strip I was using, both work. I have no real way of testing the external power supply (it’s a prebuilt, it runs off 2 power bricks that plug into the back), and there are no signs of overheating/ no frazzled electronics smell. What should I buy to troubleshoot this thing, or is it already a lost cause?
First thing I would do is get a multimeter to test the power supplies. It looks like these use a typical barrel type connector and are fairly easy to test. Check to see what voltage is supposed to be present coming out of the power supply. On the actual power brick it will generally indicate input power specs as well as output ones. Most laptops will output ~19 volts. But being that this isn’t a laptop, it could be different. Check what’s actually coming out of the power adapter by setting the multimeter to DC voltage, inserting the red lead on the multimeter into the barrel connector. You’ll want it to touch the pin if there is one. Place the black probe on the exterior part of connector. You should get a voltage reading in the multimeter. Compare it to what the specs on the power brick indicate it’s supposed to be. If the voltage is reading a negative value, likely your probes are in the reverse orientation. Which is fine, I just assume the negative reading is due to reversal, remove the negative and it should match the specs on the power brick.
