Updated PC setup with a powerful build, dark displays and active GPU cooling. Storage upgrade completed via M.2 drive.
Updated PC setup with a powerful build, dark displays and active GPU cooling. Storage upgrade completed via M.2 drive.
Just set up the new Crucial P3 M.2 as a storage device and started facing problems where my screen goes black and the GPU fans reach maximum speed. The machine remains in this state until I force power it on and let it rest for about five minutes. Before removing the drive, I tried deleting any files I might have overlooked, but it still wasn’t listed in the file browser. After uninstalling the drive, everything works properly. I’m wondering if I chose an incompatible M.2 type for my build—since I already have one 4TB and it’s functioning well, the new one isn’t marked as "flash NAND." I’m not very familiar with M.2 specifications yet, having used 2.5 and 3.5 formats before. The PC setup includes: ASUS ROG STRIX z790-e motherboard, Asus TUF Gaming CPU with RTX 4070 Ti, Intel Core i7-13700k, 1700 CPU cores, TeamGroup T-FORCE DELTA RGB, 32GB RAM (2x16GB), and a 5.5KW Corsair PSU. The M.2 in question is Crucial P3 Plus 4TB with 3D NAND Flash, PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe, and it’s labeled as "flash NAND."
The dark screen together with fully spinning GPU fans suggests a GPU problem. If the motherboard acts strangely with the new drive, that could be the cause. However, I’d focus on the GPU first—try uninstalling the newest component and see if the issue resolves.
I'm using the most recent version of the BIOS, probably a week or two ago. A bad drive or a faulty M.2 slot were my concerns, along with some friends'. I'm planning to try moving the M.2 card into another port this weekend and checking if the problem persists. If it does, it's likely the issue is with the drive itself rather than the board. Fortunately, thanks to the board, I have five M.2 slots available for testing. It could be a GPU problem, but removing the M.2 drive resolved the issue while keeping the same tasks running on my PC. Benchmarks and stress tests have shown no problems without the drive. As mentioned before, it seems there are several possibilities—possibly related to the BIOS settings.
You've eliminated the GPU, so it's either the motherboard or the drive. Do you have another drive available to check the motherboard connections? That would help confirm the issue isn't elsewhere.
I really don’t have another GPU to try, just the built-in graphics. I’m not in a tight spot financially and can’t easily visit a nearby tech shop, so buying one on the go isn’t an option. I don’t own another M.2 drive, but if the issue is with the port, I might have to return it for a fix. Hopefully, the micro center support has been inconsistent for me before.
Updating based on the situation I’ve resolved. TLDR – New M.2 installed, but already had one before. Had to set up the drive in the disk manager, then a few restarts later the system ran smoothly most of the time, just a slight delay at startup. Since this was my first build with M.2 drives, the first one booted Windows automatically and got configured without needing a format. Other SATA SSDs from an old PC didn’t require initialization either. Initially thought I could skip formatting because everything else worked fine. But after a few days to a week, the PC started showing black screens and fans spinning fast. When I power down and rebooted, it stayed on the BIOS screen then went black before loading the login screen after 5 or 10 minutes. The “A2” error appeared on the motherboard. I checked to initialize the drive but it wasn’t listed in my file explorer and wasn’t assigned a volume. After initializing once, I restarted and it took longer than usual. The next day it returned to normal BIOS timing.
Another update, the problem is back. Despite partitioning and resetting the disk multiple times, wiping it clean, and testing other slots on my motherboard, I haven’t seen improvement. I also tried disabling MCR in my BIOS, but that didn’t help either. So far, the only workaround I’ve found works is removing the storage device entirely from use. Any suggestions would be appreciated, as I’m worried about breaking the return policy if I wait too long trying to fix it. The crashes are unpredictable and can go days or even weeks without happening.