Any of my external HDD drives or my internal HDD RAID drive causing system to crash

Something odd is happening...I have several external HDD RAID drives and single external drives plugged into my computer, and well as an internal HDD RAID.

Now whenever any of them are plugged in, my main C drive (which is SSD, and I know those don't have spinning heads) starts making a huge amount of noise - maybe it's the fans? - like it's spinning super fast, and my computer shuts down. No error message.

When I reboot with all external HDD drives and the internal HDD RAID unplugged, the system works fine.

I have no idea what is happening here, can anyone assist? I have tried w/ just one external drive plugged in at a time, and it always happens. This just began today.

you may have a power issue.

OK, is there a way to test that without specialized equipment?
This is a computer I've had for several years wtih the same setup hardware wise.

Typically the way one tests this without special equipment is by doing exactly what you were doing... booting with fewer devices attached.

Being that it's several years old, and that aging affects both PSU output and PSU stability, if the various PSU calculators online think your PSU is only borderline suitable for the job, it may be time to buy a new power supply rated for 50W more than your old one (or a comfortable 5-10% more than a majority of PSU calculators think you need).

The bad news is that SSDs typically don't have fans so I don't know what you could be hearing aside from possibly some bit of circuitry having painfully audible death throes. Find the source of this noise! If you don't have a stethoscope handy (they're not just for playing Doctor anymore) the cardboard core from a roll of paper towels will work in a pinch. Hold one end against your ear and try not to shove the other end directly into any fans.

Sudden shutdowns are typically a hardware fault (motherboard or power supply). As you are also hearing a sound, I'd suspect a PSU fan.

As the system is apparently several years old already, unlessf you have a Tier 1 power supply, it's likely time to replace it anyway.

Problem solved. Was a loose SLI cable causing a short. Righted that and all is good. Thanks for the replies.