Question Computer freezes when downloading anything large to my primary drive for a long time ?

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Sivyx

Commendable
Oct 27, 2021
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While downloading anything large (such as a game) to my C: drive for a sustained time, my computer completely freezes. Graphical functions seem to continue just fine.

To test this I started installing Control on Epic Games. My download speed is between 60-105 MB/s and my write speeds are 1.3 GB/s. With how my computer acts while the download is going, I think this is an issue with my C: drive and not my network. When the computer freezes, my write speeds slowly drop to 6 MB/s, and the entire computer freezes up. It will slowly stutter back to operating speeds and then continue this cycle until the download is paused.

I think it could be because I omitted the heatsink from my NVMe drive when putting my computer together because I could not find the mounting screw hole on the motherboard. I do not know the effects of an overheating SSD, and I do not think capacity is the issue because I have about 70 GB free on the drive.

Specs:
OS: Windows 11 Pro
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600x
RAM: 32.0 GB DDR4
Motherboard: MSI MPG X570 GAMING PLUS
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
Storage: C drive is a Crucial P2 M.2. 1000GB capacity, 2400 MB/s read, 1800 MB/s write.

Any help would be appreciated.

EDIT: changed "do" to "do not". I do not think capacity is the issue.
 
Last edited:
Sivyx said:
I think it could be because I omitted the heatsink from my NVMe drive when putting my computer together because I could not find the mounting screw hole on the motherboard. I do not know the effects of an overheating SSD, and I do think capacity is the issue because I have about 70 GB free on the drive.
Click to expand...
Check the temps of the drive though software like crystaldiskinfo and report back.
Does the case have decent airflow?
 
zinkles said:
Check the temps of the drive though software like crystaldiskinfo and report back.
Does the case have decent airflow?
Click to expand...
Hmm. Seems that there is no correlation between temps and the freezing. Did two tests, started freezing at 50 C on the first and then 40 C on the second. Resting temp is about 36 C.

The case is a Corsair 4000D Airflow. I only have one front-facing fan, however I believe the case is well-ventilated.
 
Look in Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer.

Either one or both tools may be capturing some error code, warning, or informational event just before or at the time the large downloads freeze.

Start with Reliability History: much more end user friendly and may show some pattern of events.

Event Viewer requires more time and effort to navigate and understand.

To help with Event Viewer:

How To - How to use Windows 10 Event Viewer | Tom's Hardware Forum (tomshardware.com)

= = = =

Regarding the M.2 drive and screw hole.

If the M.2 is indeed warming up and expanding during large file downloads the movement could be affecting connectivity. And the system freezes.

If possible take a couple of M.2 photographs and post the photographs here via imgur (www.imgur.com).
 
Sivyx said:
While downloading anything large (such as a game) to my C: drive for a sustained time, my computer completely freezes. Graphical functions seem to continue just fine.

To test this I started installing Control on Epic Games. My download speed is between 60-105 MB/s and my write speeds are 1.3 GB/s. With how my computer acts while the download is going, I think this is an issue with my C: drive and not my network. When the computer freezes, my write speeds slowly drop to 6 MB/s, and the entire computer freezes up. It will slowly stutter back to operating speeds and then continue this cycle until the download is paused.

I think it could be because I omitted the heatsink from my NVMe drive when putting my computer together because I could not find the mounting screw hole on the motherboard. I do not know the effects of an overheating SSD, and I do not think capacity is the issue because I have about 70 GB free on the drive.

Specs:
OS: Windows 11 Pro
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600x
RAM: 32.0 GB DDR4
Motherboard: MSI MPG X570 GAMING PLUS
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
Storage: C drive is a Crucial P2 M.2. 1000GB capacity, 2400 MB/s read, 1800 MB/s write.

Any help would be appreciated.

EDIT: changed "do" to "do not". I do not think capacity is the issue.
Click to expand...
See if you can get the free space up to about 150GB and try the download again.

How big is this download?
 
Ralston18 said:
Look in Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer.

Either one or both tools may be capturing some error code, warning, or informational event just before or at the time the large downloads freeze.

Start with Reliability History: much more end user friendly and may show some pattern of events.

Event Viewer requires more time and effort to navigate and understand.

To help with Event Viewer:

How To - How to use Windows 10 Event Viewer | Tom's Hardware Forum (tomshardware.com)

= = = =

Regarding the M.2 drive and screw hole.

If the M.2 is indeed warming up and expanding during large file downloads the movement could be affecting connectivity. And the system freezes.

If possible take a couple of M.2 photographs and post the photographs here via imgur (www.imgur.com).
Click to expand...
I really can't find much in either of those programs. I reran a download and waited for a freeze, but nothing came up before, during, or after. Epic Games Launcher has "stopped working" a few times over the past few days, but that could be from me scrambling to stop an ongoing update after it freezes everything.

I know it's not just EGS, because I've had the same issue when downloading a large file from the internet to my Downloads folder using a download manager.

Here are some pics:
https://imgur.com/ZFpRslH
View: https://imgur.com/ZFpRslH

https://imgur.com/yrW0tM2
View: https://imgur.com/yrW0tM2

https://imgur.com/4CD9Vg0
View: https://imgur.com/4CD9Vg0


That last one is of another M.2 slot on the motherboard. Maybe I have my drive in the wrong one?
 
Overheating may well be the issue.

This heatsink?

Crucial heatsink (Amazon)

According to the "instructions" the heatsink is attached/stuck to the SSD and the SSD is then secured to the motherboard.

The screw does not go through the heatsink.

Take a look at the link and then go to Crucial's website for more information and details.

Also wait a bit before doing anything: there may be other ideas and suggestions.
 
Ralston18 said:
Overheating may well be the issue.

This heatsink?

Crucial heatsink (Amazon)

According to the "instructions" the heatsink is attached/stuck to the SSD and the SSD is then secured to the motherboard.

The screw does not go through the heatsink.

Take a look at the link and then go to Crucial's website for more information and details.

Also wait a bit before doing anything: there may be other ideas and suggestions.
Click to expand...
Not that one. The heatsink came with the motherboard, and it secures to the motherboard via two mounting screws. It may hold its weight on there because it does have a thermal pad but I didn't want to put my faith in that and regret it later.

EDIT: Correction. The provided heatsink's thermal pad is not sticky and will not hold on to the m.2 drive without being mounted. The motherboard manual tells me to use a provided standoff within a screw on the board (the screw with the dots around it in the above images), however, the motherboard was mounted to the case through that hole. I may have to completely disassemble the computer to fix this.

https://imgur.com/a/3DOFUZ4
View: https://imgur.com/a/3DOFUZ4

https://imgur.com/a/P2MYo6k
View: https://imgur.com/a/P2MYo6k
 
That may well be the problem.

It appears that there is a stand-off in the hole (surrounded by solder dots) to the right.

My understanding:

The stand-off may need to be placed on the other end of the M.2 and the fastening screw inserted there.

Then just a holding screw on the right end of the heat sink relative to the image you provided.

Measure the distance between the solder dot screw hole and the screw hole on the opposite end of the M.2

Compare that distance to the distance between the screws on the heatsink. Are the distances equal?

= = = =

I would not immediately do anything. Take no risks.

If possible provide a link to the motherboard manual and the page regarding the heatsink installation.

Manuals and parts can be wrong....

Second opinions recommended.
 
Ralston18 said:
That may well be the problem.

It appears that there is a stand-off in the hole (surrounded by solder dots) to the right.

My understanding:

The stand-off may need to be placed on the other end of the M.2 and the fastening screw inserted there.

Then just a holding screw on the right end of the heat sink relative to the image you provided.

Measure the distance between the solder dot screw hole and the screw hole on the opposite end of the M.2

Compare that distance to the distance between the screws on the heatsink. Are the distances equal?

= = = =

I would not immediately do anything. Take no risks.

If possible provide a link to the motherboard manual and the page regarding the heatsink installation.

Manuals and parts can be wrong....

Second opinions recommended.
Click to expand...
After checking the case and doing some research, that "screw" that is sticking out of the solder dot hole an alignment guide. It has no threading on the inside and cannot be used to mount the heatsink. According to another post, it is removeable, though the manual does not specify how (nor does it mention the guide at all). It is too tightly fastened to be a thumb screw. The screws in the heatsink are fastened in there somehow, and I do not know how to remove them. The manual says that the solder dot hole should be filled by a female standoff to accept the screws already on the heatsink:

https://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/mb/MPGX570GAMINGPLUS.pdf (page 30 of the PDF)
 
M2_1 per Page 30 - correct?

Are you able to get a closer clearer photo graph view of that alignment guide.

It looked like a standoff to me in the previous images.

If so, then a properly sized nut driverwould be used to unscrew it. Then again, during manufacturing someone may have just driven in the nearest available screw.....

The hole is likely just an unthreaded opening through which the standoff threads would pass through into some threading below. If the hole is too small that also is part of the problem.

This thread is in Storage and applicably so. Post another couple of images and in the meantime I will ask for some other folks to take a look at the problem(s).
 
Ralston18 said:
M2_1 per Page 30 - correct?

Are you able to get a closer clearer photo graph view of that alignment guide.

It looked like a standoff to me in the previous images.

If so, then a properly sized nut driverwould be used to unscrew it. Then again, during manufacturing someone may have just driven in the nearest available screw.....

The hole is likely just an unthreaded opening through which the standoff threads would pass through into some threading below. If the hole is too small that also is part of the problem.

This thread is in Storage and applicably so. Post another couple of images and in the meantime I will ask for some other folks to take a look at the problem(s).
Click to expand...
M2_1 is correct.

I figured out how to get the alignment guide out-

https://imgur.com/a/tZmnpfM
View: https://imgur.com/a/tZmnpfM


It really is just a spike to hold the motherboard up while you screw it in. I replaced it with a motherboard standoff and screwed in the heatsink-

https://imgur.com/a/xy8HwBu
View: https://imgur.com/a/xy8HwBu


Did not help. Freezing still occurs the same as before.
 
Nicely done.

Just for the record how did you get the spike out? May prove helpful to someone else.

= = = =

What are the airflows across/over/through the heatsink location?

The heatsink makes the M2 look more enclosed and confined.

= = = =

In the meantime I asked for further assistance regarding the freezing issues.

Hopefully someone else will identify a potential culprit.

I am out of immediate ideas.
 
Ralston18 said:
Nicely done.

Just for the record how did you get the spike out? May prove helpful to someone else.

= = = =

What are the airflows across/over/through the heatsink location?

The heatsink makes the M2 look more enclosed and confined.

= = = =

In the meantime I asked for further assistance regarding the freezing issues.

Hopefully someone else will identify a potential culprit.

I am out of immediate ideas.
Click to expand...
I had to pop the motherboard out slightly to access the hex nut section of the bolt via the back of the case. It would be easiest to take it out before assembling the computer because the motherboard blocks access to the hex section.

The only airflow would be the case circulation from the back fan through to the front. The GPU and CPU fans are not blowing over the M2. It does look more confined but resting temps are about the same.
 
Thermal pad in place - correct?

Any sense of the elasped time between the start of a large download and the subsequent freezing of the computer?

Starting to wonder about the overall effectiveness of the heatsink and cooling in general.

Can you arrange for a fan to blow over the M.2?

No other immediate ideas.
 
Ralston18 said:
Thermal pad in place - correct?

Any sense of the elasped time between the start of a large download and the subsequent freezing of the computer?

Starting to wonder about the overall effectiveness of the heatsink and cooling in general.

Can you arrange for a fan to blow over the M.2?

No other immediate ideas.
Click to expand...
Seems to be happening faster all of a sudden. It's like after 20 seconds or so. It probably took about a minute yesterday. I haven't noticed any regularity in the timing.

At this point, I'm unsure temps are the issue either. crystaldiskinfo is showing a 2 C increase before the freezing. I have no other fans available... I thought about getting some more for the computer but I never did. Just one intake and one outtake, a very large CPU cooler, and a GPU are the only fans affecting case circulation.
 
Also, I'm fairly certain my RAM is rated for 3200MHz, but it's only reading 2133 in Task Manager... and 1054 per stick in Speccy. Not sure what's going on there, or how it may affect a running install.
 
My thoughts:

With the freezes occuring even sooner I would go back to Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and Process Explorer.

Boot up and do nothing else other than open one (just one at a time) of the tools. Observe - at some point the system should become stable with little or nothing changing. If there are changes then focus on the "what's and why's" of those changes.

Next set up a download while leaving the observation window open.

Then launch the download and observe. There should be some initial changes and then something else that changes just before or at the 20 second mark. Or, in any case, prior to a freeze up with no regard to elasped time.

Keep an eye on RAM.

One reason the freezes may be happening sooner is that some component has degraded more. Could be RAM or could be power to the RAM. Maybe something else.

My current logic being simply that the problem (degradation or otherwise) may now be more visible via the tools at hand.

And again, look in Reliability Monitor and Event Viewer - may be some new or additional errors being captured.

= = = =

Also, as for temperatures, chips can get quite hot quite suddenly. Then a problem occurs, things stop, crash etc. All before any temperature changes get noted. 2 C increase, then big spike, and crash.
 
Ralston18 said:
My thoughts:

With the freezes occuring even sooner I would go back to Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and Process Explorer.

Boot up and do nothing else other than open one (just one at a time) of the tools. Observe - at some point the system should become stable with little or nothing changing. If there are changes then focus on the "what's and why's" of those changes.

Next set up a download while leaving the observation window open.

Then launch the download and observe. There should be some initial changes and then something else that changes just before or at the 20 second mark. Or, in any case, prior to a freeze up with no regard to elasped time.

Keep an eye on RAM.

One reason the freezes may be happening sooner is that some component has degraded more. Could be RAM or could be power to the RAM. Maybe something else.

My current logic being simply that the problem (degradation or otherwise) may now be more visible via the tools at hand.

And again, look in Reliability Monitor and Event Viewer - may be some new or additional errors being captured.

= = = =

Also, as for temperatures, chips can get quite hot quite suddenly. Then a problem occurs, things stop, crash etc. All before any temperature changes get noted. 2 C increase, then big spike, and crash.
Click to expand...
Well, it looks like the issue could've been network after all. Resource Monitor shows a massive crash in data transfer over the network as soon as the freezing starts happening. It doesn't quite explain everything though- I've had the freezing happen while running two network activities (Discord, and a game) and while Discord stuttered wildly, Valorant kept running just fine. I just thought that because Valorant was on my D: drive, it wasn't affected by the issues on the C: drive.

To test I ran another download just on my D: drive, and it ran into the same network problems. I could've sworn it didn't, but I assume the downloads I've run on my D: drive were never big enough to cause the problem?

It also really does not explain why I've never run into the issue with Steam. I always thought that was because most of my Steam games are on my D: drive, but it could also be because my download rates on Steam are about half that of Epic Games and my internet download manager.

Either way, it seems as if this thread is in the wrong place.
 
What's the drive's health like? A screenshot from SMART page of CrystalDiskInfo or HDSentinel could help.

Is the M.2 drive running on the latest firmware version?

Also is the Windows Power Settings for the system set so the drive/s to go to sleep after X minutes? If so change that to never so the storage never 'sleeps'.

Setting everything SSD-related to Auto in BIOS might not be a bad idea, especially if any of them have been changed maybe?
 
Last edited:
Any crash related error codes in Reliability History/Monitor or Event Viewer?

Devices, time, processes, etc.?

Anything logged just before or at the time of the crashes?

Network:

Make and model: modem, router (or modem/router if combined)?

How many devices on the network?

Run "ipconfig /all" (without quotes) via the Command Prompt.

Copy and paste the results here.

Perhaps a duplicate IP address or some other network related misconfiguration.
 
Ralston18 said:
Any crash related error codes in Reliability History/Monitor or Event Viewer?

Devices, time, processes, etc.?

Anything logged just before or at the time of the crashes?

Network:

Make and model: modem, router (or modem/router if combined)?

How many devices on the network?

Run "ipconfig /all" (without quotes) via the Command Prompt.

Copy and paste the results here.

Perhaps a duplicate IP address or some other network related misconfiguration.
Click to expand...
Nothing showed up in Reliability History or Event Viewer.

My home network setup is a little odd. With have an Xfinity dual modem/router, and a NETGEAR Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR1000 setup in the living room.

My computer is in the office, where we have a NETGEAR r7000 set up as an access point that is hardwired via Ethernet into the Xfinity modem. We have disabled the WiFi radios on the r7000 and use it only for Ethernet (my computer is hooked up to it via Ethernet).

This setup used to cause a double NAT issue for my computer, until I recently switched the r7000 to AP mode so that wouldn't be an issue. There may still be a double NAT for the primary router, but my computer is not hooked up to it, so that should not be affected.

Many devices on the network. At least 15 and likely more. I live with 3 other people and we are all very technologically inclined. I do not know who is connected to what, but everything eventually runs through the modem so I do not think it matters.

Ill paste the ipconfig results when I get home.
 
ipconfig:

Windows IP Configuration Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : NATHANPC Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.wa.comcast.net Ethernet adapter Radmin VPN: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Famatech Radmin VPN Ethernet Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-50-B1-71-B1-4F DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : fdfd::1a04:2415(Preferred) Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::152b:3f8d:a1dc:ce18%18(Preferred) IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 26.4.36.21(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.0.0.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 26.0.0.1 DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 805458097 DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-2A-07-AF-3B-D8-BB-C1-DB-CC-25 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled Unknown adapter ProtonVPN TUN: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : ProtonVPN Tunnel Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Ethernet adapter Ethernet: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.wa.comcast.net Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : D8-BB-C1-DB-CC-25 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.140(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, March 7, 2024 12:52:13 AM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, March 9, 2024 4:50:03 PM Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 75.75.75.75 75.75.76.76 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled Ethernet adapter Ethernet 2: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 0A-00-27-00-00-0D DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.56.1(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled Unknown adapter Local Area Connection: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : TAP-ProtonVPN Windows Adapter V9 Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-FF-04-01-2A-DF DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network) Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1A-7D-DA-71-15 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Teredo Tunneling Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:d5b:9458:2023:d0f:b60f:a92a(Preferred) Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::2023:d0f:b60f:a92a%14(Preferred) Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 218103808 DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-2A-07-AF-3B-D8-BB-C1-DB-CC-25 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled Ethernet adapter vEthernet (WSLCore): Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Hyper-V Virtual Ethernet Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-15-5D-A6-FD-B6 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::53d6:1552:d636:7a57%23(Preferred) IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 172.28.32.1(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.240.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 385881437 DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-2A-07-AF-3B-D8-BB-C1-DB-CC-25 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
 
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