[SOLVED] Maximus IX Apex and two nvme storage device

[crankjob]

Hi Guys,

Please help. I have two nvme drive right now, a Samsung 960 evo 256GB and a Samsung 970 evo 1TB. I have both plugged in to the DIMM.2 module on my motherboard (Maximus IX Apex). I just recently bought the 970 evo about two weeks ago and after I installed it my games are suddenly stuttering and crashing too (I mainly play PUBG).

I did reformat both drives and do a fresh install of windows 10 pro. The OS is installed on the 960 which is in the DIMM.2_2 slot (PCIE mode). The 970 is in the other slot (DIMM.2_1) where my games are installed.

I have another SSD Samsung 850 Pro (512GB) connected to SATA6G_3 port

I have my GTX 1080 TI installed on PCIEx16 slot

I have my Soundblastex AE-5 connected to PCIEX1_2

My CPU is I7-7700K and has a 16 GB (G.Skill Trident Z RBG 3200)

The stuttering and crashing only occurred after I installed the 970 evo. Any suggestions?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Have you installed the Samsung NVME driver available on the Samsung website?

Do you have the most recent bios version for your Apex installed?

Have you checked to see if there are newer chipset, SATA storage controller, audio or network adapter drivers available on your motherboard product page?

Is your Windows 10 Pro a valid, activated copy?

Have you done a clean install of the Nvidia drivers lately, using the DDU?

 

[karenjoly]

Have you run samsung magician on the two new drives to ensure they are performing up to spec ?

 

[crankjob]

Hi Karen and DarkBreeze,

Thank you for responding. I do have the latest bios on my mobo. As you pointed out the drivers, i went ahead installed all the latest drivers for the Mobo. After I did that, the 970 evo went missing from the windows. Cant see it from "This PC" and Disk Management (I can see it from the BIOS). However, the weird thing is I was still able to launch PUBG which was installed on the 970. But as expected it crashed after a few minutes. Is it possible my mobo cant handle two Nvme?

This afternoon, I removed the 960 (older one) and just installed the 970 on M.2_1 slot (DIMM.2), installed a fresh copy of windows to that drive and now I everything is okay. The 970 is performing as expected as well. I did not have the problem as well when I only had the 960 installed before.


I am now thinking of returning the 970 and just buy another SATA SSD of the same size if my can't be remediated. Any further suggestions?

 

[karenjoly]

I agree, the M 2 vertical arrangement appears to fail. You could return the board, try another ?

 

[Darkbreeze]

You need to go to the Samsung website, download the Samsung SPECIFIC NVME driver, and install it.

http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/DR/201805/20180514160435960/Samsung_NVM_Express_Driver_3.0.exe

 

[crankjob]

I’ve installed the nvme driver from samsung. Anyway, i returned the nvme drive. Yesterday, i was back to my old setup, 1 nvme for OS, 1 SATA ssd for games and they were running fine. So i thought the nvme that i bought was really defective. Tonight i got a new SATA ssd and put it on the system. Now im back to getting tearing, stuttering in games. I am at lost here.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Was this Windows installation running on another platform/system prior to you building this one with the Apex?

 

[crankjob]

It was running on AMD system before, but that was almost 2 years ago. But after I upgraded to intel/nvidia based system (last year spring) I did not encounter any issues until just about 3 weeks ago when I installed the Samsung 970 evo nvme. Like I mentioned when I removed the 970 from my mobo my computer was again running smoothly with just 250 gb 960 evo nvme for OS and 500gb SATA ssd for games. When then added another 1GB SATA ssd, the issue came back again

 

[karenjoly]

Obviously the DIMM2 is defective like I suggested. Out of idle curiosity I wonder which slot has the problem or is it that the problem occurs when both slots are filled ? Does the problem arise when only one drive is installed in DIMM 2_2 ?

 

[crankjob]

Hi Krenjoly, here's what I have tested so far. Note that for each scenario I always clean install windows using a bootable USB. I used the windows 10 installation media tool (recently created). This is also the sequence of how I tested it in the span of 5-6 days

#1 - Original Setup - No issue - OS is on DIMM 2_2
DIMM 2_1 - (Empty)
DIMM 2_2 - Nvme Samsung 960 evo 250 GB (Auto mode. This slot can handle SATA and PCIE mode)
SATA 6g port 3 - 500 GB Samsung 850 pro
SATA 6g port 1 - 2 TB Seagate HDD

#2 - Issue occurs - Removed HDD, install new NvmE at DIMM 2_1, the OS is installed on the 960 evo (DIMM 2_2)
DIMM 2_1 - Nvme Samsung 970 evo 1TB (PCIE) --> New Nvme bought from Amazon
DIMM 2_2 - Nvme Samsung 960 evo 250 GB (SATA mode)
SATA 6g port 3 - 500 GB Samsung 850 pro

#3 - Issue occurs - Same as #2 but updated DIMM 2_2 from SATA to PCIE Mode
DIMM 2_1 - Nvme Samsung 970 evo 1TB (PCIE)
DIMM 2_2 - Nvme Samsung 960 evo 250 GB (PCIE mode)
SATA 6g port 3 - 500 GB Samsung 850 pro

#4 - Issue occurs - Unplugged 960 evo and place 970 to DIMM 2_2 slot on PCIE mode. Formatted 970 and installed the OS on the drive.
DIMM 2_1 - Empty
DIMM 2_2 - Nvme Samsung 970 evo 1TB (PCIE mode) (win 10 installed)
SATA 6g port 3 - 500 GB Samsung 850 pro

#5 - Issue did not occur for this setup and the only difference from my original setup is that I don't have the HDD installed. At this point, I thought the 970 is defective so I issued a return for 970 evo
DIMM 2_1 - Empty
DIMM 2_2 - Nvme Samsung 960 evo 250 GB (PCIE mode)
SATA 6g port 3 - 500 GB Samsung 850 pro

#6 - Issue occurs again after I installed a new 1TB SATA drive 🙁
DIMM 2_1 - Empty
DIMM 2_2 - Nvme Samsung 960 evo 250 GB (PCIE mode)
SATA 6g port 3 - 500 GB Samsung 850 pro
SATA 6g port 1 - 1TB Samsung 860 pro --> Newly bought SATA ssd (replacement for 970 evo)

 

[karenjoly]

ok