Samsung 970 EVO randomly turns off

[arduano.mail]

This started happening fairly recently, my computer was working fine for about two months before this happened.

At random times while using my computer, many programs would start freezing (not giving the "not responding" status, but simply not responding to any clicks or key presses). Not all programs do this, only some, but the more I attempt to use the ones that are working, the quicker they brake as well. This really feels like it's the C drive disconnecting itself to me.

Another hint I have that it's the C drive's fault is that the HDD light goes completely black, not flashing at all. And also I don't get any errors about it in the event logs (because the programs can't write any events as the C drive is gone).

This seemingly happens at random, even when my computer is sleeping (when it's sleeping, it ends up re-booting and stays up on the lock screen). This happened several times a week and a half ago, I thought it might be the drive's firmware, so I updated it. It stopped happening for a while, until two days ago when it started again.

Curiously enough, this also matches up with the time I've been playing GTA V (I got it two weeks ago, stopped around the time I updated the firmware, and started again a few days ago), but this is probably a coincidence. GTA's game files are saved on a separate SATA ssd.

Having programs open to check the system's stats (temperature, usage, etc) is very difficult in this case because I can't re-produce this event at will, and when it does happen, chances are I won't be able to check the stats because either the program is broken or I can't tab into it in the first place. But I can try of course.

This happens at most twice a day if I'm really unlucky, but I can go a day without it happening.

I have other hard drives installed in the system (A samsung SSD and two HDDs, all of them are SATA. Only the C drive is M.2)

Some specs:
boot drive: Samsung EVO 970
mobo: Asus x399-a
cpu: Threadripper 1900

Any clue as to why this might be happening?

 

[Ralston18]

Not intended as an answer per se.

However, what PSU do you have - make, model, wattage, age, condition?

 

[arduano.mail]

Not intended as an answer per se.

However, what PSU do you have - make, model, wattage, age, condition?

I have a Corsair AX760, It's 760W. That's way more than enough for my current system, I currently have only one graphics card. I'm not sure about the age (I got it for free, but the box was closed, can't remember if it was sealed, but it seemed to be new), but I've had it for about a year and a half.

EDIT: My system doesn't use more than 500W as far as I can tell

 

[Ralston18]

Fair enough.

Are you able to get into Reliability History and Event Viewer to look for error codes and warnings?

See what you can find look for patterns of any sort.

 

[arduano.mail]

Fair enough.

Are you able to get into Reliability History and Event Viewer to look for error codes and warnings?

See what you can find look for patterns of any sort.

No I could not. Last time it happened, there were no errors for a solid day beforehand. I check the event logs every time it happens and I could not find a pattern or any clues there. Because this also seems to happen while my computer is asleep, I don't think it's a software issue.

 

[panathas]

1) Have you updated your motherboard to it's latest BIOS/UEFI version;

2) Your board seems to have a 2nd M2 slot. Have your tried to use that and see what happens;

3) Have you checked your drive's smart status for errors or warnings? You can use Crystal Disk Info and/or Samsung Magician for that.

 

[arduano.mail]

1) Have you updated your motherboard to it's latest BIOS/UEFI version;

2) Your board seems to have a 2nd M2 slot. Have your tried to use that and see what happens;

3) Have you checked your drive's smart status for errors or warnings? You can use Crystal Disk Info and/or Samsung Magician for that.

1) Yes
2) No, I will do that next time it disappears
3) Yes (samsung magician), no warnings or errors. I had this drive for less than two months so I don't think it can brake that quickly. Though I did manage to already get over 5TB written.

In the mean time, any other ideas why this could potentially be happening?
Oh, next time this happens, is there any way I can check if the other drives are still on? (I can't check the HDDs by feeling their vibrations because they spin even when there's no SATA cable connected, only power. I don't think they have an indicator light either). I'll try using windows explorer or some other program to access the files, but chances are it will brake and become unresponsive before I get use it, like it did every other time I've tried.

 

[panathas]

When a drive suddenly disconnects from a system there are 3 causes. Bad motherboard, bad drive or a software issue/bug. In your case you can't be certain. On top of that the fact that you are losing the OS drive makes troubleshooting a lot harder.

Now there are some things you can do:

1)Try to use the 2nd M2 slot and try to re-seat the drive in the M2 slot you are currently using.
2)Check the UEFI/BIOS for various settings that directly affect the M2 drive and experiment with them.
3)Check the various Windows power management settings and test your drive with each option. Especially test with max performance and check if it changes anything. I have a feeling that the drive may be having issues coming out of sleep.
4)Try to update to the latest Samsung NVMe driver and to the latest chipset/motherboard drivers.
5)Monitor the drive's temp all the time and make sure that it isn't overheating. You can use CPUID Hardware monitor for that or any similar software.


Having said all that there are 2 final things you can do if all else fail, that may help you get more definitive answers.Try to re-install windows and try to use the M2 drive on another system. I know the latter is too difficult to do it but it will give you a lot of answers. If the drive works there without issues then you can be certain that it's fine. Good luck.