In early 2017, I purchased a CTO tower system for running Windows 10.
This was my primary computer system until last year when I purchased another CTO tower system to run Windows 11. These systems were purchased from different local computer businesses.
In the case of the Windows 10 system, the business that built the system for me used some inferior components and put things inside the tower to cause the system to eventually have troubles. An example is the gluing of a large cardboard skull face to the back brace of the motherboard mount. They also glued it to the back of the motherboard itself -- directly on top of the back of the CPU socket (!!!). This skull face was not visible because it was inside the system and the back cover is not transparent. I had not asked for such a thing, and I couldn't figure out why they had put it in there. I discovered this immediately after taking the tower home after purchasing it because I opened both sides to make sure I had received what I paid for. Had I not, it almost certainly would have caused problems. This is definitely not the actions of what I used to think was a reputable business.
As if this wasn't enough, the power supply was unstable. While the system was powered on, if the power cord that plugs into the power supply was moved ever so slightly, it would cause the power supply to immediately shut down. If the power cord was unplugged and not plugged forcibly into the power supply, it would randomly shut down while powered on. This behavior began from the first days I bought it and continued throughout the years. I tolerated this up until a few days ago when the power supply randomly shut down on me 6 times, only running for a few minutes between each unexpected shutdown.
I had a 550W Corsair power supply in my surplus storage still sealed new in its box that had sat unused for years. Although I was trading down in wattage from 750W to 550W, I was trading up exponentially in quality. As far as power is concerned in my Windows 10 system, besides the motherboard, the only things I have to power are the hard drive (still a 3½" magnetic drive, not a SSD) and an internal DVD burner drive. I don't have a power-hungry graphics card because I use the CPU's built-in graphics, which is more than adequate for my needs.
I opened up my Windows 10 tower, removed the old 750W power supply from the system, cleaned the inside of the tower, then installed the 550W power supply. After checking all the connections, I powered it on and the system booted and ran normally. After several lengthy powered on sessions (I power off all my systems when not in use), I have not experienced any more unexpected random shutdowns.
Oh, and that business that sold me the Windows 10 CTO system? They went out of business some years ago. Gee, I wonder why? 🤨
