# Have I killed my NVMe?



## AliT (Nov 13, 2020)

Hi, I'm really desperate for some help. Please take the time to read this!
Yesterday, I downsized my ATX build into a Mini-ITX build. The only parts that I kept from my previous build were my CPU, RAM, GPU and NVme drive, all the other parts were brand new. (Just to note, I have checked all the QVL for my motherboard and all the parts were listed as compatible)

I asked around if I needed to wipe/format my NVme drive prior to uninstalling it from my old build and installing it into my new build, and I was told that was a thing of the past and with the newer NVmes, you could just unplug from one PC and into another.
So I did just that, however I couldn't get windows to start, and I couldn't troubleshoot with start up repair etc. So I decided to wipe the NVme through the BIOS and reinstall windows from a USB, I had no problems installing windows, chipset drivers, motherboard drivers and GPU drivers etc once I had wiped the NVme.

So I started installing all my games, browsers, programmes etc that I needed. It was getting quite late and I thought I will do a stability test and run some games tomorrow.

So I woke up this morning, an ran Fortnite, as it was installed and it crashed and I saw the blue screen of death for a split second and my PC turned off, and booted back up and went straight into BIOS, I noticed that my NVme wasn't appearing as my bootable drive in the BIOS, I turned off the pc and turned it back on a it booted back up. I did the same thing and booted up the game and the same thing happened, the mouse cursor also moves very slowly and glitchy when this happens. I couldn't see the code on the blue screen as it was literally there for 0.1 second. I then decided not to run any games and started installing other programmes such as hwmonitor etc, however I decided to start recording my screen with my phone camera to try and catch the blue screen. I have provided an image below of both the screen and my BIOS not displaying my NVme.



http://imgur.com/a/4obhJAx

All help appreciated!
PC SPEC:
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
ASUS X570-I MINI ITX motherboard
RTX 3070 Founder's edition GPU
Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 32GB 3600Mhz C18 Ram
Samsung Evo Plus 1TB NVme drive
NZXT kraken X53 AIO


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## ne6togadno (Nov 13, 2020)

rma the ssd.


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## AliT (Nov 13, 2020)

ne6togadno said:


> rma the ssd.


Do you think it’s definitely that? It was working fine before I did all this on my previous build?


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## Caring1 (Nov 13, 2020)

Have you looked up the Critical Process code?


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## AliT (Nov 13, 2020)

Caring1 said:


> Have you looked up the Critical Process code?


The stop code just says “Critical process died”


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## ne6togadno (Nov 13, 2020)

it is dead.
you have done nothing wrong.
i have 2 of those ssds (their seral numbers was consequent) one is working fine the other died 2 months ago out of nowhere. sent it back to samsung. got replacement 1 week later.


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## AliT (Nov 13, 2020)

ne6togadno said:


> it is dead.
> you have done nothing wrong.
> i have 2 of those ssds (their seral numbers was consequent) one is working fine the other died 2 months ago out of nowhere. sent it back to samsung. got replacement 1 week later.


If I get a new one through RMA, just wondering because this is only my second build ever. Would I need to do anything to the previous on or can I just plug this one out and plug in new? Is it that simple?



ne6togadno said:


> it is dead.
> you have done nothing wrong.
> i have 2 of those ssds (their seral numbers was consequent) one is working fine the other died 2 months ago out of nowhere. sent it back to samsung. got replacement 1 week later.


And if it is dead, why after it goes into bios after blue screen and I restart it does it start working again?


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## ne6togadno (Nov 13, 2020)

AliT said:


> If I get a new one through RMA, just wondering because this is only my second build ever. Would I need to do anything to the previous on or can I just plug this one out and plug in new? Is it that simple?


in my case samsung rep requested to send it back to them. they've organized courier to pick it up from me. when it arrived they've contacted me for delivery address. few days later i got the replacement.
then it is standard procedure. install it in MB. install windows, drivers, dl games etc.


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## AliT (Nov 13, 2020)

ne6togadno said:


> in my case samsung rep requested to send it back to them. they've organized courier to pick it up from me. when it arrived they've contacted me for delivery address. few days later i got the replacement.
> then it is standard procedure. install it in MB. install windows, drivers, dl games etc.


If it is dead, then I don’t understand why after it crashes with blue screen and goes into bios, once I restart it, it starts working properly, boots up and shows under boot on bios until it crashes again, which goes back to it not being displayed in bios under boot. Sorry I’m not very experienced and might be asking a noob question


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## ne6togadno (Nov 13, 2020)

AliT said:


> And if it is dead, why after it goes into bios after blue screen and I restart it does it start working again?


hm didnt saw it booted after second restart. usually if ssd doesnt show up in bios it is dead. but in your case the problem is different
do you have samsung magician installed https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/product/consumer/magician/
try run ssd diagnostic with it.
also try if the problem occurs with other games or it is only with fortnite


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## AliT (Nov 13, 2020)

ne6togadno said:


> hm didnt saw it booted after second restart. usually if ssd doesnt show up in bios it is dead. but in your case the problem is different
> do you have samsung magician installed https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/product/consumer/magician/
> try run ssd diagnostic with it.
> also try if the problem occurs with other games or it is only with fortnite


Okay here is where I’m at, I just updated the BIOS to the latest update. I used my computer for browsing etc and no crashes. I load up fortnite which is the only major game I have installed and after around 3-4 mins of playing blue screen with code “critical process died” then black screen and onto ASUS logo screen but this time doesn’t go into bios. Hard reboot pc from power button and turn it back on and pc starts as normal, however when I sign in mouse cursor lags and can’t open anything and turns back off. I am so confused



ne6togadno said:


> hm didnt saw it booted after second restart. usually if ssd doesnt show up in bios it is dead. but in your case the problem is different
> do you have samsung magician installed https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/product/consumer/magician/
> try run ssd diagnostic with it.
> also try if the problem occurs with other games or it is only with fortnite


 do you know what EDC CPU means on Ryzen master and could it be the problem?


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## ne6togadno (Nov 13, 2020)

edc is the current cpu pulls atm
check windows power plan and set it to balanced.
also try run gpuz 3d test (press question mark next to bus interface)




what is your psu.
add your system specs here https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/account/specs


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## AliT (Nov 13, 2020)

ne6togadno said:


> edc is the current cpu pulls atm
> check windows power plan and set it to balanced.
> also try run gpuz 3d test (press question mark next to bus interface)
> 
> ...


I will try that when I’m home, probably update you tomorrow.

Corsair SF600, I did think maybe 600W was low, however I watched an optimum tech video on YouTube in which he paired an over clocked 10th gen i9 with a 3080 and said it was fine, so I bought that one as sf750 was out of stock. From what I’ve gathered it only crashes when I play games. Nothing else.


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## ne6togadno (Nov 13, 2020)

600w is fine for your setup however it is modular psu so you may check if all cables are properly plugged at both ends.
itx cases are quite tiny and it isnt easy to fit all cables


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## AliT (Nov 13, 2020)

ne6togadno said:


> 600w is fine for your setup however it is modular psu so you may check if all cables are properly plugged at both ends.
> itx cases are quite tiny and it isnt easy to fit all cables


I will definitely check this and report back to you tomorrow! Thank you.


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## Deleted member 193596 (Nov 13, 2020)

why does nobody say to you that you really should check the SMART values for that SSD?

btw.. do that. (Crystaldiskinfo for example)


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## AliT (Nov 13, 2020)

WarTherapy1195 said:


> why does nobody say to you that you really should check the SMART values for that SSD?
> 
> btw.. do that. (Crystaldiskinfo for example)


Could you please explain how I go about doing this and what it does? I’m not that technical. Do you think it’s the SSD? Even though it only happens during games?


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## milewski1015 (Nov 13, 2020)

AliT said:


> Could you please explain how I go about doing this and what it does? I’m not that technical. Do you think it’s the SSD? Even though it only happens during games?


SMART stands for *S*elf-*M*onitoring, *A*nalysis and *R*eporting *T*echnology. It's a tool that reports metrics that can be used to help determine the health of your HDD or SSD. You can view it through either Samsung's software, Samsung Magician, or CrystalDiskInfo.   https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/product/consumer/magician/





						CrystalDiskInfo
					

About CrystalDiskInfo A HDD/SSD utility software which supports a part of USB, Intel RAID and NVMe. Standard Edition Shizuku Edition Kurei Kei Edition Download System Requirements OS Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10/11Windows Server 2003/2008/2012/2016/2019/2022 Architecture x86/x64/ARM64 IE 8.0~...



					crystalmark.info


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## AliT (Nov 13, 2020)

milewski1015 said:


> SMART stands for *S*elf-*M*onitoring, *A*nalysis and *R*eporting *T*echnology. It's a tool that reports metrics that can be used to help determine the health of your HDD or SSD. You can view it through either Samsung's software, Samsung Magician, or CrystalDiskInfo.   https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/product/consumer/magician/
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Okay, I will try that when home and update you tomorrow


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## remedialjoe (Nov 13, 2020)

boot from windows repair usb. enter command prompt.
type: diskpart
rescan
list disk        (if ur drive is functioning it will be listed)
select disk (ur drive# 0,1,etc)
clean   (not clean all, as takes ages)
-- once complete type--  exit

if successful shutdown pc and then boot to bios("delete" before post). reset to default (f5 my asus mobo). go to boot menu in bios and enable csm(not required unless older device). also set sata to ahci if not. now save bios and continue with windows install. all should be fine if drive is functional. if same issues arise: rma. if out of warranty message customer service. they tend to want repeat customers.

good luck.


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## AliT (Nov 14, 2020)

ne6togadno said:


> edc is the current cpu pulls atm
> check windows power plan and set it to balanced.
> also try run gpuz 3d test (press question mark next to bus interface)
> 
> ...


Hi, I was doing that GPU test you recommended on full screen and it blue screened and restarted and went back into the BIOS, upon restart which yet again my Boot drive wasn’t displayed.



ne6togadno said:


> edc is the current cpu pulls atm
> check windows power plan and set it to balanced.
> also try run gpuz 3d test (press question mark next to bus interface)
> 
> ...





			http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/20/11/14/3zs.png
		



			http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/20/11/14/2v5.png


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## utilizedamplitude (Nov 14, 2020)

This is a new build.

Run Memtest for a few hours to make sure the memory is stable. Run prime95 (or whatever you prefer) to make sure the cpu is stable. If that checks out run a 3dmark stress test a few time and make sure it comes back with a valid score.

The SSDs I have had trouble with in the past have been fixed by leaving them powered on but idle, e.g. leave the computer sitting at the BIOS screen for a couple of hours doing nothing. Doing this even brought back and SSD that was not being reconized in the BIOS for me.

From the test you have done it sounds like the GPU or power to me. Can you drop the power slider on the GPU and run the test again?


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## Chrispy_ (Nov 14, 2020)

Even though it's ugly AF, grab an old SATA HDD/SSD and clone the failing NVME drive to it using Macrium or other cloning software of your choice. Sure, it'll have to hang out of the case by its cable, assuming you're still using the NCaseM1 but it's just temporary.

Firstly, that'll give you a backup of your current OS to save you some time later.
Secondly, you can try running your current PC off the other drive to see if it still bluescreens under load.

The PSU *should* be enough, but your random bluescreens suggest otherwise.


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## AliT (Nov 14, 2020)

Johnny05 said:


> This is a new build.
> 
> Run Memtest for a few hours to make sure the memory is stable. Run prime95 (or whatever you prefer) to make sure the cpu is stable. If that checks out run a 3dmark stress test a few time and make sure it comes back with a valid score.
> 
> ...


Hi,

Thank you for your message, however I have never run a memtest or a 3D mark test and I am unsure what a valid score would be.
I also am unsure how to drop the power slider on the GPU, I feel really crappy as I feel I am getting nowhere, as I am unsure what to do and the things people are suggesting I am having a hard time doing.  I'm new to this and only ever built one rig prior, is there any chance you could maybe help me over discord or something so I can share screen? or do you have any other suggestions as I feel I'm trying but not really getting anywhere?

Thank you!



Chrispy_ said:


> Even though it's ugly AF, grab an old SATA HDD/SSD and clone the failing NVME drive to it using Macrium or other cloning software of your choice. Sure, it'll have to hang out of the case by its cable, assuming you're still using the NCaseM1 but it's just temporary.
> 
> Firstly, that'll give you a backup of your current OS to save you some time later.
> Secondly, you can try running your current PC off the other drive to see if it still bluescreens under load.
> ...



I haven't got an old SSD/HDD, perhaps I could order the same Nvme as mine maybe and reinstall windows? 
And how could I find out if it is indeed the power supply?

Thank you!



Chrispy_ said:


> Even though it's ugly AF, grab an old SATA HDD/SSD and clone the failing NVME drive to it using Macrium or other cloning software of your choice. Sure, it'll have to hang out of the case by its cable, assuming you're still using the NCaseM1 but it's just temporary.
> 
> Firstly, that'll give you a backup of your current OS to save you some time later.
> Secondly, you can try running your current PC off the other drive to see if it still bluescreens under load.
> ...



My computer never crashes if I am browsing the web, watching videos etc. It only crashes when I run games a play for a few minutes (only tested Fortnite at the moment as that's all I have installed at the moment due to system resetting a few times). Would this suggest it is the PSU? I did however see a video of Optimum Tech use the SF600 with an overclocked 10th gen i9 and 3080 so how could that be?

Thank you


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## Chrispy_ (Nov 14, 2020)

AliT said:


> I haven't got an old SSD/HDD, perhaps I could order the same Nvme as mine maybe and reinstall windows?


Unfortunate :\
You shouldn't spend money until you've narrowed down the cause of the crashes. Eliminating the hard drive as a suspect was the goal but I guess you can't do that just yet.



AliT said:


> My computer never crashes if I am browsing the web, watching videos etc. It only crashes when I run games a play for a few minutes (only tested Fortnite at the moment as that's all I have installed at the moment due to system resetting a few times). Would this suggest it is the PSU? I did however see a video of Optimum Tech use the SF600 with an overclocked 10th gen i9 and 3080 so how could that be?
> 
> Thank you



There are likely different revisions of the SF600 - it's been around on the market for a long time so there's no guarantee that the SF600 you saw that worked will be the same as the one you own. PSUs also behave very differently when on 115V or 230V and if it's a multi-rail design, which cables and how many different cables you use can also have an effect.

When your GPU is idle or under low load, that's when it crashes, and the GPU is by far the most power-hungry part of your PC. You should install Furmark and see if that causes an instant crash. On the assumption it will, you can see if it's too much GPU power draw causing the problem by installing MSI afterburner and reducing your power limit as low as the slider will go. If that helps, then you know you have a power draw issue and the next step is to try and isolate where the problem is, as your 3070 is drawing power from both the PSU directly, and also the motherboard slot.


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## AliT (Nov 14, 2020)

Chrispy_ said:


> Unfortunate :\
> You shouldn't spend money until you've narrowed down the cause of the crashes. Eliminating the hard drive as a suspect was the goal but I guess you can't do that just yet.
> 
> 
> ...



Hi mate,
I have just downloaded Furmark and I am going to take the steps you have listed, could you let me know if these settings are okay for the GPU stress test or if I should change anything?

thank you.



Chrispy_ said:


> Unfortunate :\
> You shouldn't spend money until you've narrowed down the cause of the crashes. Eliminating the hard drive as a suspect was the goal but I guess you can't do that just yet.
> 
> 
> ...


And how long should I run it for if it doesn’t crash?



Chrispy_ said:


> Unfortunate :\
> You shouldn't spend money until you've narrowed down the cause of the crashes. Eliminating the hard drive as a suspect was the goal but I guess you can't do that just yet.
> 
> 
> ...


Currently been running the Furmark test with the settings I showed on the screenshot and it’s been 18 minutes and no crash or signs of crash whatsoever. My GPU min temp says 45C and max temp is 76C.



Chrispy_ said:


> Unfortunate :\
> You shouldn't spend money until you've narrowed down the cause of the crashes. Eliminating the hard drive as a suspect was the goal but I guess you can't do that just yet.
> 
> 
> ...


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## Chrispy_ (Nov 14, 2020)

So your PSU can handle the full GPU load. Now fire up the CPU burner with all cores at the same time. If it handles that, you can say with confidence that your SF600 PSU is good enough for your rig.

The next step will be to use Afterburner to reduce your GPU clocks. Early 3080 cards crashed to desktop and bluescreened because their firware boosted too aggressively. If you set a -300MHz offset on your 3070 to stop it boosting so aggressively and Fortnite still causes bluescreens, we know it's not your GPU boosting that's causing the issue, so you can put the core clock back to how it was. That, coupled with the Furmark stress test basically eliminates your GPU as the culprit.

As others have suggested, the next thing to do after that would be to run memtestx86 off a bootable USB stick and make sure your RAM isn't the problem. Since you can't rule out your NVMe drive as faulty, you have to instead verify all the other components are good, one by one, until the SSD is the only thing left that you haven't ruled out.


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## AliT (Nov 14, 2020)

Chrispy_ said:


> So your PSU can handle the full GPU load. Now fire up the CPU burner with all cores at the same time. If it handles that, you can say with confidence that your SF600 PSU is good enough for your rig.
> 
> The next step will be to use Afterburner to reduce your GPU clocks. Early 3080 cards crashed to desktop and bluescreened because their firware boosted too aggressively. If you set a -300MHz offset on your 3070 to stop it boosting so aggressively and Fortnite still causes bluescreens, we know it's not your GPU boosting that's causing the issue, so you can put the core clock back to how it was. That, coupled with the Furmark stress test basically eliminates your GPU as the culprit.
> 
> As others have suggested, the next thing to do after that would be to run memtestx86 off a bootable USB stick and make sure your RAM isn't the problem. Since you can't rule out your NVMe drive as faulty, you have to instead verify all the other components are good, one by one, until the SSD is the only thing left that you haven't ruled out.


Hi,
I have no words to explain how appreciate I am of your time and efforts. It’s really humbling. 

As you said the next step is to stress test the CPU, my CPU is the Ryzen 9 3900x which programme do you recommend I use to stress test it?


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## Chrispy_ (Nov 14, 2020)

AliT said:


> Hi,
> I have no words to explain how appreciate I am of your time and efforts. It’s really humbling.
> 
> As you said the next step is to stress test the CPU, my CPU is the Ryzen 9 3900x which programme do you recommend I use to stress test it?


The CPU burner built into Furmark is fine. There are other tools like AIDA64 or Prime95 but you already have Furmark installed. To rule out the PSU you should definitely run a combined CPU burner and Furmark GPU stress test at the same time. If it's good once your GPU temps stabilise then it's good enough to call done.

I'm heading out in a bit but I'll check in tomorrow.

You need to rule out:

CPU - Stress test with Furmark's CPU burner, Prime95, or AIDA64
GPU - Stress test with Furmark or OCCT but those synthetic power-virus tests won't push GPU boost clocks so verify boost clock stability isn't the issue by running 3DMark or Superposition
Power supply - Stress test by running a combined GPU and CPU stress test simultaneously
RAM - Memtest x86 from bootable USB (you'll need to follow their instructions to make one). If you get errors, first try disabling XMP, running at the default 2133MHz and testing with Memtestx86 again.


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## AliT (Nov 14, 2020)

Chrispy_ said:


> The CPU burner built into Furmark is fine. There are other tools like AIDA64 or Prime95 but you already have Furmark installed. To rule out the PSU you should definitely run a combined CPU burner and Furmark GPU stress test at the same time. If it's good once your GPU temps stabilise then it's good enough to call done.
> 
> I'm heading out in a bit but I'll check in tomorrow.
> 
> ...


Hi,

Thank you, and hope you have a good rest of your day. And will catch up tomorrow!

I have uploaded below my results (Also displayed my CPU temps with Ryzen Master):

CPU - Stress test with Furmark's CPU burner

GPU - Stress test with Furmark (I RAN FOR A TOTAL OF 20 MINS)

Power supply - Stress test by running a combined GPU and CPU stress test simultaneously 
(I RAN FOR A TOTAL OF 27 MINS)

I will be doing the memtest tomorrow and I will let you know the results! I have also provided images of my temps, please let me know if there are okay also!


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## Chrispy_ (Nov 14, 2020)

Looks solid so far. If the memory is stable then it probably is your SSD that needs replacing. It's just a shame you don't have any other drives you can swap into the machine to test with.

It wouldn't hurt to make sure you're on the latest motherboard BIOS and AMD chipset driver but I doubt older versions would result in bluescreens.


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## AliT (Nov 14, 2020)

Chrispy_ said:


> Looks solid so far. If the memory is stable then it probably is your SSD that needs replacing. It's just a shame you don't have any other drives you can swap into the machine to test with.
> 
> It wouldn't hurt to make sure you're on the latest motherboard BIOS and AMD chipset driver but I doubt older versions would result in bluescreens.


To be honest, I’ve been running Fortnite again and nothings happened, it’s almost like the blue screen disappeared, which is weird. I will run the memtest tomorrow and update results!



Chrispy_ said:


> Looks solid so far. If the memory is stable then it probably is your SSD that needs replacing. It's just a shame you don't have any other drives you can swap into the machine to test with.
> 
> It wouldn't hurt to make sure you're on the latest motherboard BIOS and AMD chipset driver but I doubt older versions would result in bluescreens.


And yes, I have the latest AMD chipset drivers.


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