A little over 24 hours ago, Windows began completely locking up and displaying the INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE stop code. I suspected the Inland Performance SSD was failing, so I replaced it with a Samsung 9100 Pro. After reinstalling Windows and setting up the updates and drivers, the same problem happened again before I even launched a game. The system now reports that no bootable drive is available, even though both SSDs appear in the BIOS. The motherboard is an Asus ROG Strix B650E-F Gaming WiFi with the latest stable BIOS. Other specifications are a Ryzen 9 9950X3D, 32GB of Corsair DDR5-5600 memory, a Sapphire Pulse RX 7900 XTX, and a Seasonic Focus Gold 1000W PSU. Since the replacement SSD cost over $400 and may not have been necessary, could the motherboard or its M.2 slot be the more likely problem?
3 Answers
The full system specifications are important here, especially the motherboard, CPU, memory, and power supply. Since both SSDs are visible in the BIOS, the issue may involve the boot configuration, M.2 slot, or motherboard rather than the drive itself. You installed the Samsung in the same M.2 slot as the original Inland drive, so testing another supported slot would be a useful next step before buying more hardware.
With the Asus ROG Strix B650E-F, Ryzen 9 9950X3D, 32GB of DDR5-5600, RX 7900 XTX, and 1000W PSU, there’s enough information to start isolating the fault. Avoid purchasing another component just for testing if possible; try the other M.2 slot and compare whether either drive can boot reliably there.
Based on the repeated failure with two different SSDs, the motherboard or the specific M.2 slot seems more suspicious than the drives themselves. I’d test the second SSD slot and verify the boot mode and Windows Boot Manager entry before replacing the board. If the problem follows that slot, the motherboard becomes a much stronger suspect.
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