Is your NVMe SSD getting unplugged all over the place when you play games or run stress tests?
Is your NVMe SSD getting unplugged all over the place when you play games or run stress tests?
Hey all, I need help diagnosing a persistent issue with my PC. The problem is that my NVMe SSD (low budget SSD called RX7 1TB) randomly disappears from the system during heavy load — usually when launching or a few minutes after playing demanding games stored on the D: drive, or when running FurMark + CrystalDiskMark together to imitate the worst gaming case scenario. When this happens, Windows either crashes with BSODs like "Kernel Inpage Error" or "Unexpected Store Exception" , or it just freeze. The drive reappears after powering off for a while. If I don't play any games on that D drive the system works flawlessly for example just browsing or very light game. System Specs: CPU: Ryzen 5 5600 GPU: MSI RX 6700 XT (12GB) Motherboard: Gigabyte AB350M Gaming 3 (latest BIOS, Version F53g) just updated the bios and the issue persists RAM: Adata XPG Gammix 32GB DDR4 3200MHz Boot Drive: SATA SSD 128 GB (Windows installed here) Game Drive: RX7 NVMe 1TB (D Drive PSU: Corsair TX750M Gold Case: Gamemax Spark M-ATX Evidence & Testing: Ran OCCT Combined test (CPU + RAM, GPU Adaptive, and VRAM) also trigger the same issue Problem only happens when GPU + NVMe are both under load . This doesn't happen if I run Furmark or CrystalDiskMark separately HWiNFO logs show +3.3V rail dips to 3.06–3.10V right before drive disappears. Under idle/load-light scenarios, 3.3V stays above 3.20V. Windows Event Viewer logs confirm repeated: stornvme Event ID 129 – Reset to device \Device\RaidPort1 disk Event ID 51 – Paging operation failure on D : ntfs Event ID 50/140 – Delayed write failures BIOS NVMe self-test passes; no SMART issues. Undervolting GPU (to 1110mV, power limit -6%) reduces total power but doesn't stop crash during stress. Pure CrystalDiskMark or real gaming (UE5 title) doesn’t trigger crash if GPU is lightly loaded. The weird thing is, the drive is stuck at 40 degree celsius temperature no matter how intensive the work is, suspecting something wrong with the sensor or controller What I suspect: +3.3V rail instability under full system load is causing NVMe controller to lose link. Could be PSU sag, or motherboard's 3.3V rail delivery to the M.2 slot is weak. Looking for advice on: Is there a way to make sure this is only the NVME drive problem Or is this a PSU problem or motherboard issue ? Is using a SATA SSD for games instead a safe long-term workaround? Any other BIOS tweaks I can try (C-states, spread spectrum, etc.)? Thanks — I can provide HWiNFO CSV and Event Viewer XML if needed. (Edit: Additional spec info)
(low cost SSD named RX7 with 1TB capacity) I think this might be your problem. Also, Adata never made an SSD called RX7 before. The drive comes back to life after being shut down for a bit. This suggests something wrong with temperature control. Maybe the heat from your graphics card on the SSD is making it slow down. What make and model of PC case do you have, and what are the temperatures of your SSD when this happens? Motherboard: Gigabyte AB350M Gaming 3 (with latest BIOS) For comparison, tell me the BIOS version of your motherboard. Power supply unit: Corsair TX750M Gold How old is your power supply?
Thanks for the quick reply! Yes, it is definitely not an Adata SSD. I have added more details below: The case is a Gamemax Spark M-ATX. The drive temperature never rises; it stays stuck at about 40 degrees Celsius (on HDSentinel, CrystalDisk, HWInfo, etc.). The BIOS version changed to F53g yesterday, and the problem remains. My heat assumption means I only ran FurMark without using any activity on the drive while the M.2 is right under the GPU; even when the GPU hit 86 degrees Celsius, the drive was still detected. Also, my power supply unit is old—maybe from around 2017 or so.
Most cheap hard drives can't handle the heat from the GPU or even their own fans and will break when you game. They are probably the worst thing to save money on after your power supply unit. There are so many terrible SSDs out there that they cost very little but crash if you try to use them, or fail after just a few months. You should back up everything you want to keep from this drive and buy a better one. A decent 1 TB NVMe from a trusted brand like Samsung, WD, or Crucial costs around $60-$70. There is no reason to go with the junk.