[SOLVED] Help! NVMe SSD problems in the first M.2 slot

v3rmouth

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Aug 7, 2018
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Hi guys,

I had purchased a Samsung 970 EVO 500 GB NVMe SSD about 3 months ago which I installed in the first M.2 slot of my ASUS ROG STRIX X470-F motherboard with a Ryzen 2700X processor, GTX 1650 SUPER graphic card, 16 GB of RAM and a Cooler Master 750W PSU. I already had a Samsung SATA SSD on which Windows is installed and I purchased the new NVMe SSD to install games.

Everything was working smoothly until a couple of days ago, when I saw the drive did not show up in Windows. I restarted the computer and the drive wasn't showing in the BIOS either. Then suddenly after another restart, it showed up again. I ran a Samsung Magician performance benchmark and strangely the speed had lowered considerably (around 900 MB/s read-write vs around 3000 MB/s which I was getting earlier). Also, the Samsung Magician information panel showed the interface as "PCIe Gen. 1 x 4" instead of what it was showing earlier as "PCIe Gen. 3 x 4". The problem of the drive not showing up on certain boots also continued.

I initially thought there was a problem with the SSD, but to double-check, I installed it into the second M.2 slot. Lo and behold! The problem of the drive disappearing on certain boots vanished and the Samsung Magician benchmark showed speeds of around 1600 MB/s (which is the maximum speed for the second M.2 slot since it is "PCIe Gen. 3 x 2").

I've tried everything to make the NVMe SSD work in the first M.2 slot - re-seating the drive, updating Windows, changing BIOS settings to default, updating the AMD chipset driver (the SSD firmware and motherboard BIOS are already up-to date) - but it still disappears sometimes when in that slot and shows PCIe Gen 1 speeds. I'm trying to rack my brains about what might have happened, since I haven't changed anything (hardware or settings-wise) in my system for a long time.

I'm all right with the SSD currently running properly in the second M.2 slot (albeit at half its maximum possible speed), just annoyed that I cannot use the first slot. Any tips or suggestions as to what might be the problem (can an M.2 slot go bad?) will be greatly appreciated! Thank you.
 
Solution
I had one broken CPU pin a year ago while trying to remove the Ryzen cooler after which the PC wasn't posting. I then somehow managed to insert the broken pin into the CPU socket and then install the CPU and it was working perfectly after that. Do you think this could start causing M.2 problems suddenly after a year?
If the broken pin is not making proper contact and than pin is related to the PCIe lanes, then it can cause the issue.
As you already know, a broken (important) CPU pin could prevent your system from booting.
What's the sound card model? Try removing the sound card, reset the BIOS and see if the speed returns to x4.

By the way, when you try to remove a cooler from a CPU, make sure the CPU and cooler are...

punkncat

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Have you changed the CPU, had it apart for reapplication of thermal paste, etc?

It could just be an issue with the mobo. It could be that you have a damaged pin/socket/CPU.

If you haven't had it out and had no issue during build or install and are still under warranty I would probably start with the mobo.
 
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v3rmouth

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Aug 7, 2018
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Check the BIOS PCIe bandwidth configuration, it case it has changed. It should be in the Advanced tab
Have you installed any device on the PCIe slots?

Everything is normal in the BIOS as before. I have a sound card installed in an additional PCIe slot, and I removed the card to test, and the problem still continued.
 

v3rmouth

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Aug 7, 2018
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4,510
Have you changed the CPU, had it apart for reapplication of thermal paste, etc?

It could just be an issue with the mobo. It could be that you have a damaged pin/socket/CPU.

If you haven't had it out and had no issue during build or install and are still under warranty I would probably start with the mobo.
I had one broken CPU pin a year ago while trying to remove the Ryzen cooler after which the PC wasn't posting. I then somehow managed to insert the broken pin into the CPU socket and then install the CPU and it was working perfectly after that. Do you think this could start causing M.2 problems suddenly after a year?
 
I had one broken CPU pin a year ago while trying to remove the Ryzen cooler after which the PC wasn't posting. I then somehow managed to insert the broken pin into the CPU socket and then install the CPU and it was working perfectly after that. Do you think this could start causing M.2 problems suddenly after a year?
If the broken pin is not making proper contact and than pin is related to the PCIe lanes, then it can cause the issue.
As you already know, a broken (important) CPU pin could prevent your system from booting.
What's the sound card model? Try removing the sound card, reset the BIOS and see if the speed returns to x4.

By the way, when you try to remove a cooler from a CPU, make sure the CPU and cooler are warm...the warmer the safer it will be to remove.
 
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Solution

v3rmouth

Reputable
Aug 7, 2018
4
0
4,510
What's the sound card model? Try removing the sound card, reset the BIOS and see if the speed returns to x4.

By the way, when you try to remove a cooler from a CPU, make sure the CPU and cooler are warm...the warmer the safer it will be to remove.
Yup, I already tried removing the sound card and resetting the BIOS and checking, but the problem persists. It's an old Sound Blaster card but I don't think it's an issue because the second M.2 slot is working fine with the card inserted.

I did learn the lesson of how to safely remove the Ryzen cooler with its glue-like thermal paste the hard way :(. Thankfully at least the PC is working even after that debacle, and if the first M.2 slot not working is its only problem, I can live with it. Thank you for your help.