Could My NVMe Drive Be Failing or Is It Something Else?
Asked by
GamerDude99
I haven't powered on my rig for a few weeks and when I did, Windows 11 felt sluggish compared to how it was before. I noticed the disk usage was at 100%, web tabs were loading slowly, and games like Noita were hitching while loading new content. Initially, I thought it was just Windows updating in the background. After some time and a normal shutdown, I tried playing Cyberpunk, but it crashed when entering new areas. After updating Windows and my Nvidia drivers, Cyberpunk worked for a while, but then Windows crashed with a CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED error. Since then, I've struggled to log into Windows—getting various error messages like UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME and INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE.
I've tried multiple troubleshooting steps including running a memory diagnostic that showed no RAM errors, checking system files with sfc/scannow (only found a false positive), and even running a separate Windows installation from a USB which seemed stable during heavy workloads. I've tested my NVMe in different slots on the motherboard, but it performed similarly in both. When I used a USB M2 adapter on my laptop, the NVMe drive gave an unrecognizable device error, while another NVMe worked fine. I also ran through different BIOS/UEFI settings without success, and temperatures are normal for my CPU/GPU during use.
My setup includes:
- Asus TUF GAMING B650E - WIFI (BIOS ver.3263)
- 2x Corsair 16GB 6000MHz Vengeance
- Ryzen 7 9700X
- Asus RTX 5070 12GB Prime
- Kingston NV3 M.2 NVMe Gen 4 2TB
So I'm wondering:
- How likely is it that my Kingston NVMe drive is dead or dying, considering it has only been lightly used for about 10 months?
- Are there additional tests I should perform?
- Could the issues I'm facing be related to something other than a failing drive?
Answers
You mentioned running a stable installation from USB, which points to your main NVMe possibly being the issue rather than the hardware itself. That makes sense if your system works fine with a fresh install on a different device.
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From what you've described, it sounds like your Kingston NVMe might be on its way out, especially since it's showing issues on multiple slots and even through an adapter. A drive this young (only 10 months) failing is uncommon, but it does happen, particularly if there’s been any power surges or overheating.
DataDabbler: Yeah, drives can fail for a few reasons even with light use. If possible, I’d recommend checking the drive’s health through a utility like CrystalDiskInfo. It can provide you with more insight into SMART attributes and help you confirm if it’s dying.
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GamerDude99: Exactly! That’s why I'm so confused about the crashes. Just to double-check, could it be related to something like the power delivery to the NVMe, or maybe I should look into the motherboard itself?