Question M.2 SSD Crash - Couple Questions and LF Recommendations

[Frazeebd]

Good morning TH folks!

A bit bummed this morning. My Samsung Evo 990 Pro 2GB SSD crashed last night. Probably overheated (even though it has heat sink). Thankfully it was only my D: drive, so all I lost was my steam library which I can re-download.

It wasn't a huge surprise... the computer I bought back in June '24 and runs great, I put the SSD in it the day I got it, so that's the age. Purchased the SSD from Newegg, though that shouldn't matter. A few months in, it did have a crash (the SSD). I didn't think much of it, because it came back up when I rebooted. That happened maybe 2 more times over the course of the next few months. Then it happened last night (while playing Drova, of all things). This time though... it appears it won't come alive again.

I have a pre-built system, I just added in this SSD when I purchased it because it only came with 1TB SSD for main system, and I wanted to split off into something a bit bigger and separated for gaming. I don't have fully system specs on me, but it's essentially an HP Omen system that I bought off the shelf. Came with a 4080 SUPER, which is nice, but at the cost of some other stuff like only a 1TB SSD.

EDIT:
Omen by HP 45L Gaming Desktop GT22-2xxx
Core i7-14700K, 3.4 GHz
32Gb Kingston Fury Beast RAM
GPU is a GTX 4080 SUPER though not sure on brand

I don't actually know how to paste images of the case on forums (I know, I don't forum very much). If you google it, you'll see the correct case (3 front fans, 1 rear). GPU is rather large, probably interrupts airflow in the case, but the SSD slot is just above the GPU in an open area... still probably not ideal, but I would think its serviceable with an SSD that doesn't cook? I don't know though, I'm not pretending to be an expert. If I can figure out how to link photos, I will.

Anyway, couple questions and then looking for recommendations:
- I am now reading that Samsung SSD's in particular run hot, especially this series. I bought the one with the heat sink, but that wasn't enough it seems. I've kept my dust filters clean, the rest of the system runs great. Is this a common problem with Samsung or SSD's in general?

- I also read that you should limit how full you make the SSD. I had about 75-80% of the capacity taken up with games loaded on it. Was that too much? Seems odd to me to not be able to use it, but I read something about that so figured I would ask.

Looking for Recommendation:
I would like to replace it. I don't need a top end, super unit but I want something that is good for gaming, good temperature management, and has at least 2GB of storage. Something widely considered reliable. I'm willing to pony up for 4GB if that helps, but I don't know if that comes with any downsides. Any recommendations on MFR or unit? Open to reading up about anything anyone posts.
I don't play super top end games much, more Indie stuff these days. The most demanding game I think I have is Stalker 2. I do plan to try Avowed and stuff of that nature, so I want something at least decent for gaming. The rest are mostly survival games like Sunkenland and Raft or pixelcraft stuff, Drova, Cult of the Lamb, Hades, etc.

Thanks for taking the time to read. Appreciate any thoughts or recommendations.

 

[Lutfij]

it's essentially an HP Omen system that I bought off the shelf.
Which Omen from HP do yo have? Even though their cases were designed by Coolermaster, they were one of the worst prebuilt anyone could buy since the case had horrible airflow and subsequently thermals. If you didn't need to reach out for warranty, the case would make sure you cooked your innards to dial up warranty. If your Samsung drive was on the latest firmware and you made sure it was in an airflow path, it's probably that the lack of airflow in the case probably nuked it.

I tend to keep my SSD's half full so they're running as fast as possible. Then comes the point about actively cooling the SSD's if they're subjected to high read/write scenarios.

You might want to get back to us with the model/SKU to your HP Omen and then perhaps the BIOS version for your motherboard. Likely that your replacement drive might suffer the same demise if the airflow is indeed crippled.

My 2 cents.

 

[Frazeebd]

it's essentially an HP Omen system that I bought off the shelf.
Which Omen from HP do yo have? Even though their cases were designed by Coolermaster, they were one of the worst prebuilt anyone could buy since the case had horrible airflow and subsequently thermals. If you didn't need to reach out for warranty, the case would make sure you cooked your innards to dial up warranty. If your Samsung drive was on the latest firmware and you made sure it was in an airflow path, it's probably that the lack of airflow in the case probably nuked it.

I tend to keep my SSD's half full so they're running as fast as possible. Then comes the point about actively cooling the SSD's if they're subjected to high read/write scenarios.

You might want to get back to us with the model/SKU to your HP Omen and then perhaps the BIOS version for your motherboard. Likely that your replacement drive might suffer the same demise if the airflow is indeed crippled.

My 2 cents.

Thanks, I edited the original post with the HP system details. You may be right about the airflow, I guess I was hoping there were SSD's that might run cooler in general than the Evo 990 that might be able to live with it.

Trying to figure out how to do photos here, but not successfully.

 

[geofelt]

If a ssd gets too hot, it will slow down, not crash.
Heat gets generated under sustained sequential access. Think a virus scan.
Otherwise, the unit should not get dangerously hot.
Is there some airflow over the heat sink?
The main symptom of a too full ssd will be poor performance, but that is not usually apparent until 98% full.

First protect whatever you need to.
Run samsung magician to check out your ssd.
It may need nothing more than a firmware update.

 

[Bob.B]

Good morning TH folks!

A bit bummed this morning. My Samsung Evo 990 Pro 2GB SSD crashed last night. Probably overheated (even though it has heat sink). Thankfully it was only my D: drive, so all I lost was my steam library which I can re-download.

It wasn't a huge surprise... the computer I bought back in June '24 and runs great, I put the SSD in it the day I got it, so that's the age. Purchased the SSD from Newegg, though that shouldn't matter. A few months in, it did have a crash (the SSD). I didn't think much of it, because it came back up when I rebooted. That happened maybe 2 more times over the course of the next few months. Then it happened last night (while playing Drova, of all things). This time though... it appears it won't come alive again.

I have a pre-built system, I just added in this SSD when I purchased it because it only came with 1TB SSD for main system, and I wanted to split off into something a bit bigger and separated for gaming. I don't have fully system specs on me, but it's essentially an HP Omen system that I bought off the shelf. Came with a 4080 SUPER, which is nice, but at the cost of some other stuff like only a 1TB SSD.

EDIT:
Omen by HP 45L Gaming Desktop GT22-2xxx
Core i7-14700K, 3.4 GHz
32Gb Kingston Fury Beast RAM
GPU is a GTX 4080 SUPER though not sure on brand

I don't actually know how to paste images of the case on forums (I know, I don't forum very much). If you google it, you'll see the correct case (3 front fans, 1 rear). GPU is rather large, probably interrupts airflow in the case, but the SSD slot is just above the GPU in an open area... still probably not ideal, but I would think its serviceable with an SSD that doesn't cook? I don't know though, I'm not pretending to be an expert. If I can figure out how to link photos, I will.

Anyway, couple questions and then looking for recommendations:
- I am now reading that Samsung SSD's in particular run hot, especially this series. I bought the one with the heat sink, but that wasn't enough it seems. I've kept my dust filters clean, the rest of the system runs great. Is this a common problem with Samsung or SSD's in general?

- I also read that you should limit how full you make the SSD. I had about 75-80% of the capacity taken up with games loaded on it. Was that too much? Seems odd to me to not be able to use it, but I read something about that so figured I would ask.

Looking for Recommendation:
I would like to replace it. I don't need a top end, super unit but I want something that is good for gaming, good temperature management, and has at least 2GB of storage. Something widely considered reliable. I'm willing to pony up for 4GB if that helps, but I don't know if that comes with any downsides. Any recommendations on MFR or unit? Open to reading up about anything anyone posts.
I don't play super top end games much, more Indie stuff these days. The most demanding game I think I have is Stalker 2. I do plan to try Avowed and stuff of that nature, so I want something at least decent for gaming. The rest are mostly survival games like Sunkenland and Raft or pixelcraft stuff, Drova, Cult of the Lamb, Hades, etc.

Thanks for taking the time to read. Appreciate any thoughts or recommendations.

Reseat the m.2 in the slot....test.

Move the m.2 to a different slot.....test.

 

[Frazeebd]

Reseat the m.2 in the slot....test.

Move the m.2 to a different slot.....test.

I'm going to try this. I actually cannot access the second M.2 slot because it is covered by the obscenely large GPU. The slot I have it in is just above that. I wish I knew how to do photos.
It's in an area where airflow should be, although the amount and quality of airflow is, of course, debateable.

 

[Frazeebd]

If a ssd gets too hot, it will slow down, not crash.
Heat gets generated under sustained sequential access. Think a virus scan.
Otherwise, the unit should not get dangerously hot.
Is there some airflow over the heat sink?
The main symptom of a too full ssd will be poor performance, but that is not usually apparent until 98% full.

First protect whatever you need to.
Run samsung magician to check out your ssd.
It may need nothing more than a firmware update.

In each case, what would happen is the following:
I would be playing a game. In this case it was Drova (nothing super demanding, in other words). No software running in the background that I am aware of. I had been playing other games for the past several hours.

I get a hitch. Basically the game just stops... hitches up and freezes for about 8 seconds or so. Complete freeze. Then all of a sudden it would go live again. Then about 30 seconds later, another hitch. That one never stopped. When I closed the application, I could see the D: drive was no longer even registered as existing.

This is the same way it happened the previous times, but each of those times I was able to reboot and the drive came back. I left it shut down for a few mins to cool off, and that worked. This time though, nothing. It sat powered off over night and is still DOA.

Someone else recommended trying to re-seat it, which I just did and it worked! I'm not familiar with Samsung magician, but is that something that will work to check the firmware on the SSD? I never did an update on that, so maybe I need to?

 

[Frazeebd]

Reseat the m.2 in the slot....test.

Move the m.2 to a different slot.....test.

GENIUS!

This worked. I reseated it in the slot.

Is there something I am doing wrong here with how I put it in, or something? It worked for a good 7 months (admittedly with some failures). Is this a standard thing to have to do with the drive?

 

[Bob.B]

GENIUS!

This worked. I reseated it in the slot.

Is there something I am doing wrong here with how I put it in, or something? It worked for a good 7 months (admittedly with some failures). Is this a standard thing to have to do with the drive?

Sometimes connections get fussy.

 

[geofelt]

Samsung magician is a samsung utility that can do various things.
You can download it here:

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

semiconductor.samsung.com

For one, it will verify that your ssd is genuine. There have been fakes around.
It will assess the health of your drive and can test the performance.
In the event that you want to upgrade your C drive, it has a utility to do so.
It is worth checking out. both the app and the user manual.

 

[Moonstick2]

- I also read that you should limit how full you make the SSD. I had about 75-80% of the capacity taken up with games loaded on it. Was that too much? Seems odd to me to not be able to use it, but I read something about that so figured I would ask.

It does seem odd, but it's a consequence of how SSDs work. Reading is unaffected by the fill, but writing is what slows down.

An SSD can't just flip bits between 1 and 0 and back again: there's an intermediate state. The data has to be erased, and then new data written:

Old data -> erased -> new data.

The second part is very fast. The first part is closer to HDD speeds.

Worse, the SSD writes pages but can only erase blocks (that, I think, is one reason it's much slower than a write). Blocks usually hold 128 or 256 pages, sometimes more. So old pages in a block can't be erased and later written over if there are any other pages at all inside that block in use. The drive has to instead search around for previously erased pages in blocks, or blocks with no in-use pages that it can erase before writing.

Obviously this takes time and slows things down. So the drive does housekeeping in the background when idle: moving in-use pages out of partially filled blocks to fill up other blocks, then erasing the newly-emptied blocks so all their pages are ready for writing. (There's also write-levelling, where it tries to balance writes across all the blocks so some don't die early through excessive use.)

Now hopefully you see why a full SSD starts to slow down (in write speed, at least). Hunting down available pages and creating empty blocks that can be erased for writing gets harder and harder as they become fewer and fewer.

How empty should a drive be? Numbers get bandied around from 75 - 95%. Personally I think 75% is too low (that's 1/4 TB on many drives these days!). I'd probably only start getting concerned once a drive was approaching 90%, and even then I'd do a bit of benchmarking before replacing it with a larger one.

Also the fullness slows the drive down: it won't kill it, and wasn't the cause of your problem.