Just Purchased Samsung 850 Evo... And Now Things Aren't Working!

ampreston85

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Jul 21, 2013
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Alright, so this issue will come with a fair amount of information. I have spend the last 48 hours trying to rectify, or even properly identify the issue, and am still have not come to any solid conclusion. First, my build is custom, and includes a Corsair TX750V2 Bronze PSU, Asus Maximus VI Hero Motherboard, Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 1600MHZ (Cas 10) RAM, Asus HD7770-2GD5, Corsair Neutron GTX 120GB SSD, and a couple other Seagate 320GB HDD's. I'm running Windows 7 Professional x64

So here it goes.
I recently purchased a Samsung Evo 850 250GB SSD. Received it a few days ago, and began the install process on Thursday evening. Removed the case panels, and realized first, that I needed to undo the order in which I have each HDD connected to the power strip (the extra sata power connector was at the beginning of the PSU wire, and I needed it at the end) So I unplugged all the HDD's, and replugged them so that the extra sata power connector was at the end where I would be installing my new Samsung SSD. I plugged in the power connector, and Sata cable securely, and booted up. Here is where the trouble began. I began getting the error "BOOTMGR MISSING PRESS CTRL-ALT-DEL TO RESTART" From here I searched and tried everything to fix this, including recovery, bootrec commands, removing the new Samsung SSD, and even reconnecting the sata power cables into their original positions, all to no avail. The Corsair SSD was now intermittently not even showing up in the boot menu.

Then I installed the new Samsung SSD again using the same process I used before, so I could access the Corsair SSD and copy the files I needed. Windows installed fine, but copying my files was hit/miss. The drive would show up, then disappear. I would unplug it and plug it back in several times, and randomly it would show up again. This continued while attempting to copy files. Eventually I was able to get it to stay populated long enough to copy the files I needed, but even this was a long process as the data xfer was no more than 4mb/s.

Once complete, I tried reseating the sata cables and even moving their orders. Nothing worked. So I continued installing drivers for the OS that was now on the Samsung SSD. Everything went fine, until I began playing Counter Strike GO. The game was choppy, freezing every 15-30 seconds causing the audio to repeat. Each freeze would last maybe 1-2 seconds, and then I began receiving bluescreens. I attempted to reinstall the video drivers, powered down and made sure cables and video card were seated securely, and nothing worked. I can upload the bluescreen if needed.

Subsequently I reinstalled Windows 2 more times and still had the same issue, and on the third try, I decided to reconnect my older Corsair SSD and BAM! It's showing up properly! I partitioned the new Samsung SSD, windows installed properly on the Corsair SSD, and I was on my way. Installed everything (drivers, software, windows updates, etc) and then formatted my new Samsung SSD. I installed my Steam Library on the new Samsung because that was it's original intention -- to store all my games on. I load up CS:GO again, and same freezing issue. Then I power down, and try connecting the new Samsung SSD to a different Sata cable and port, power on, and I'm back to square one -- "MISSING BOOTMGR PRESS CTRL-ALT-DEL TO RESTART"

Now I've completely unplugged all drives, reconnected them, REMOVED the new Samsung SSD completely, installed windows successfully on my original Corsair SSD, and am in the process of installing everything the way it was set up prior to purchasing the new Samsung SSD. I'm installing the remaining windows updates, and the game now, and will report back if the graphics performance continues with the freezing issue, but at this point, I don't even know what is causing the problem. I just completed a bios update, thinking maybe there is a compatibility issue or something. I will report back with my video performance once I've installed the game and tested it, but decided to post this now so I can get a head start. I don't know if it's a sata controller issue, cable issue, motherboard issue, or if the new Samsung SSD isn't playing nice with the other kids at the playground =( and if I get everything working properly again, I'm even afraid to test my bios theory by plugging the new Samsung SSD in, for fear of being set back to square one.

Your thoughts and help are greatly appreciated.
 
Solution

Mattios

Honorable
Sounds like a very interesting problem. Firstly, different power plugs will have nothing to do with the performance. It just won't - they provide the same power.

Could something be wrong with your installation media? See this article for re-downloading Windows 7 http://www.howtogeek.com/186775/how-to-download-windows-7-8-and-8.1-installation-media-legally/

Please let us know how new installation media goes.
 
i had some similiar problems installing a samsung xp941 SSD and finally narrowed it down to BIOS settings that had changed. I'm not computer literate enough to explain what was explained to me, but the bios will look for a bootable configuration - i've got an asus z97 board as well

just a suggestion, the obvious first clear CMOS and RTC, then selecting the option "set to defaults" in your BIOS, then go back in and make whatever adjustments you may have made, and see if that helps

the other part of my problem went away when i dis-abled "Intel Rapid Storage Technology" in Bios

just a suggestion - hope that helps
 

ampreston85

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Jul 21, 2013
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Of course I am aware that there are no power differences. Like I was saying, only reason I had to change the order of the plugs was because I needed the extra plug for the new SSD to be at the end, but it was at the beginning (because I didn't plan on installing any more drives when I put this rig together last year). I tried using a brand new Pro x64 DVD ISO, as well as a flash drive I have with the official iso from Microsoft. It's just so confusing because things went crazy as soon as I connected the new SSD, and then now that I have the new SSD removed, everything installed and is running back to normal. Now, since I got everything working again, I did update my bios to the most recent version, thinking that may be the issue, but I'll admit I'm so scared of going through this trouble all over again, that I am unsure if I even wanna try right now hahaha. I did order a replacement SSD which will arrive tomorrow, and I will try my luck with fingers crossed. I will also make sure to follow the steps that the other person posted as well.
 

saternal

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Sep 8, 2014
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i'm facing the same problem as u with the same 850 evo 256 gb. also on the same game cs go. it keeps hanging in the game and after i ctl alt del and check resource monitor under disk tab, it shows 0 processes and I cant even shut down my computer. my windows is still running and i can move my mouse around but i cant load any programs. how did ur replacement ssd fare? did u face new problems with ur replacement 850 evo?
 
Solution

ampreston85

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Jul 21, 2013
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So after going through every possible scenario, I ended up RMA'ing the drive. It was the drive. Amazon overnighted a replacement and it worked without a single issue. Weird =/ Hope this helps anyone that see's this or a similar problem!