System shutdown repeatedly on Asus Sabertooth X58 and Corsair TX950W PSU

I wanted to build a Home computer by myself. Finally I built one using the following configuration :

• Asus Sabertooth X58 motherboard.
• Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition processor
• 16GB DDR3 RAM from Crucial
• Nvidia GeForece GTX 560 1GB
• Seagate 500GB HDD
• 60GB Corsair SSD
• Corsair TX950W PSU

I put all these peripherals together on a custom made CPU case. Double check all the connections and powered up the computer. It starts up normally but then started shutting down irregularly. During 3 hours usage, the system shut down 4 times. It looks like someone took the power directly from the computer. I don’t see anything else strange happening there. I don’t have to re-configure and re-install everything from the scratch since I have already struggled too much to bring up this computer. It looks like there is a problem with the power flow but I could not able to figure out that. How to find it?

I can think of only 2 factors here and that is either the PSU or RAM. There won’t be any other things that can cause immediate shutdown of computer. Sometime a poorly configured motherboard could cause issue with BIOS settings or CMOS setups. Due to some malfunction, every setting could be lost. Is it possible to check the PSU power output using volt meter or some other electronic devices?

It is a better way to check the PSU. Otherwise you can test the system with other PSU. Go through the connectors and see if you connected wrong connectors to wrong peripherals. Refer any guide for inner connections. The Corsair TX950W PSU comes with different cables for each one purpose and each cable may contain more than one connectors for additional units or later upgrade. Finally make sure that the Total RAM is detected properly both on windows and BIOS. If possible reseat the DIMMs. Check the system with different power outlet or different UPS.

I have seen the same ASUS SaberTooth X58 motherboard and I think that it is a usually problem with these boards. Actually in my case I am not experiencing this issue every time but It happens occasionally due to unnecessary reason. I think that the entire problem is due to a unique feature available on this board and that is MemOK. With this feature, you can sometime use a incompatible or problematic memory and motherboard will allow it. When MemOK function runs, it will reset CMOS Setting or BIOS to default. Whenever you remove AC power from computer and re-apply it, it will run a diagnostic on key components. If it finds problem with RAM, it will run MemOK which will set some of the BIOS setting itself. So think that the Corsair TX950W PSU is not involved in this issue.

Did you try any basic troubleshooting technique to rectify the problem?

There are different things which you need to try, before going into deep fix. Some of them are as follows:

• First of all try to reset the cMOS on the motherboard
• Re-flash the BIOS with same version or different version.
• Try to configure all the BIOS settings from the scratch.
• Re-install all motherboard drivers
• Remove the PCI cards or graphics cards from the motherboard and check
• Try by only one DIMM module installed at a time
• Boot the system only with basic components which require the system to boot into Windows.
• Make sure that RAM modules are listed on compatible list.

Yours is not a overclocked computer and that is quite sure. What makes you think that the Corsair TX950W PSU culprit for the Asus Sabertooth X58 motherboard? It could be anything like improperly seated processor, RAM, Graphics card, CPU cooler etc. It could be a incompatible connectors or wrong connection from peripherals to the motherboard. Also it could be corrupted drivers or missing drivers. I would re-seat the processor and cooler once again in this situation since it is one of the major part of the PC.

Did you try the Windows update? Checked CPU temps? Re-try same configuration outside the CPU case? Did you try the voltage produced by the PSU? Is there any kind of variation in voltage values? Do you think that PC is getting sufficient amount of power supply from PSU?

I had the same Corsair PSU and experienced the same symptoms. It looks like the corsair is shipping faulty PSUs to the market. If they will provide a replacement I will surely replace it with a new one. I ran every diagnostic check and all of them reverted back with positive results. None of them showed error or failure. I ran the memtest, prime 95 etc. All of them completed without a slight glitch. So it is definitely the PSU and it needs to be repaired. I don’t want to open it and repair it by myself since it will void the warranty. I will RMA it.