Crashing with NVME SSD

From11

I recently purchased an Inland 2tb Performance Plus NVME M.2 SSD from Micro Center. I installed Windows 11 on it and it kept crashing. The crash would be a sudden cut to black (no BSOD). After the cut to black, the PC wouldn’t turn back on until I cycle the power supply.

This happens repeatedly. I reinstalled Windows 11 4 more times using different installation medias and I get the same result.

I then called Micro Center tech support and the tech had me run diskchk. The problem still occurred. He then agreed with me that it seemed most likely to be a faulty drive and directed me to exchange it for a new one.

When installing the second new drive, the problem still occurred. I’ve installed Windows 11, Windows 10 and Arch Linux on this drive. All OS’s crash in the same way.

I then moved the SSD to the other M.2 slot on the mobo and the same crash happens.

On Windows, going into the event viewer, the only thing that is recorded is an “improper startup - probably caused by an improper shutdown” (wording might be slightly different, I’m working on memory for it). This tells me that it’s likely not a software issue. It seems like there is a hardware issue that is causing the crash (especially since it won’t boot after).

My next thought is to purchase a PCIe NVME adapter since U haven’t had any issues with my PCIe slots.

Any ideas on what might be happening or ways I could further diagnose the issue? I’m about at my limit with hardware knowledge.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@From11

Nothing obvious in the log. Hard to catch anything on a random crash unless you set up remote logging with Riva Tuner. You're tripping either a temperature or power warning randomly, which requires the discharge to clear. Need to isolate components, try a new PSU if convenient. Could be the VRM, it's going to be a hard issue to figure out without swapping parts.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@From11

Is that a black screen with power, or does the unit turn off completely?

From11

@PowerSpec_MikeW
The RGB on the motherboard stays on but it’s unresponsive to the power button. I need to turn off the PSU and wait until the RGB turns off. After the RGB turns off, I can turn the PSU back on and start the PC. If I don’t wait for the RGB (power draining from the mobo), it’s still unresponsive from the power button.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@From11

Are the fans still spinning or it just in a standby mode? If you hit Num or Caps lock, does the LED respond on the keyboard?

From11

@PowerSpec_MikeW

The fans stop spinning and the RGB on the fans turns off. I’m not sure about the keyboard LEDs but I’ll test it next time I get the chance. IIRC, the LEDs turned off on the keyboard. I never tried to press them again to see if the lights would change.

To clarify about the RGB on the mobo, it’s permanently on when the PSU is turned on, even before booting. That’s typical behavior for it.

All other RGB turns off after the crash.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@From11

List your specs on the system. What are your CPU temps looking like?

From11

@PowerSpec_MikeW

After the crash, the leds on the keyboard do not light up.

CPU temps stay around 25c. Sometimes up to 35c.
it’s going to be difficult to find the temp at crash because of how quick it happens.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@From11

Run a CPU stress test with OCCT and see if it shuts down.

It is turning off and you're tripping something. If it was power, it's weird that the board would still have standby power. Thermals makes more sense.

From11

@PowerSpec_MikeW

I was finally able to stress test the PC.

I ran OCCT on Windows 10 and Windows 11 on this drive. Both passed with no issues (for an hour each time)

I then ran Cinebench and it passed as well.

Everything was stable on every test.

I ran HWinfo 64 during those tests.

I then left the PC on while I went to work and it crashed while at work. I left HWinfo 64 running while at work. The csv file titled "Long" is the entire log while at work and the copy of "Long" is one that I trimmed a lot of the early hours off so it's easier to look at.

HWinfo.zip

From11

@PowerSpec_MikeW

I have some spare parts laying around as I'm slowly building a second PC and I used the PSU from that. After over 2 days of up time, I have not crashed once.

It looks like something was tripping in the power supply! Thank you so much for the help!

PowerSpec_MikeW

@From11

Makes sense. Most likely one of the auxiliary rails was getting tripped and shutting the system down.