I recently upgraded my PC to an AM5 platform with a Ryzen 9 9800X3D and a Radeon 7900 XTX, moving away from my older Ryzen 7 3700X and GTX 1080 Ti. Since the upgrade, I've been experiencing crashes in multiple games, which I initially thought were due to old drivers that I hadn't uninstalled. After some troubleshooting, including using DDU, I discovered that the issues only arose with games installed on my secondary NVMe drive. I tested this drive and found no immediate faults, but it appears to have instability. Despite tweaking my BIOS settings for better stability, the crashing persisted. I've learned that budget NVMe drives can lead to such issues, especially under heavy data loads like launching games. I'm curious if this kind of problem is typical and what guidelines exist for selecting NVMe drives to avoid future issues. I recently ordered a Samsung 990 Pro to replace the problematic drive, planning to use the KingSpec for regular data storage only.
5 Answers
Instability with a well-functioning SSD should be nonexistent. It sounds like your SSD could be defective, especially if it's a budget model. I’d recommend considering that if you're running into these problems.
Definitely test the read/write speeds under load. That might give you a hint about its stability.
I've had no problems with NVMe drives from brands like WD, Crucial, or Sabrent. They’ve been solid for me without any issues.
I've never faced issues with reputable brands. KingSpec isn't the best choice; investing a bit more in something like a WD SN5000 could save you headaches. The Samsung 990 Pro is a solid pick and may feel overkill but it's good to have speed.
Samsung designs their own components and supplies them to others, whereas WD feels more generic. Definitely worth considering quality.
The pro was on sale, so I think it was just $10 more than the WD. Didn't mind spending a bit extra for better quality!
It seems like you got a low-tier drive. For testing, try writing random data, around 10 to 30 GB, and check for consistency with a hash. Also, test your RAM, as that can cause storage issues too.
I did a RAM test but only 4 GB. I should probably run a more thorough one to see if that reproduces the issues.
Kingspec was more prominent in HDDs, but you're right, it’s more of a budget brand now. Sounds like a rough experience.
I've always used Samsung drives and have never had these kinds of problems, even with older models.
I didn't find any defects in testing, just this one drive causing issues. Any tips on testing it further for a warranty claim?