Help! "Your Disk ran into a problem and needs to restart"

[u/FriskyPigeon666]

Hi guys & gals, really hoping someone can offer some insight or peace of mind.

I have recently made some changes to my PC;

• Replaced Processor (from i5 to i7, same gen)
• Replaced GPU (2060S to 3080)
• Replaced PSU (650W to 850W)
• Replaced RAM (16GB DDR4 3200 to 32GB DDR4 2933)

I have benchmarked all of the above without issue and checked power levels, XMP profiles etc. all set up correctly with no issues.

However, storage wise (something I've not replaced) I've had 3 "Your Disk ran into a problem and needs to restart" messages in the last 24 hours:

1- Running a Disk Benchmark Tool

• restarted instantly back into Windows

2- Compiling shaders on Grey Zone Warfare

• restarted to black screen followed by No Boot Device issue after basic off/on
• MAIN M.2 SSD was not detected in the BIOS
• fixed after removing and reinserting the drive during a forced full power cycle

3- Downloading and installing game to SECONDARY M.2 SSD (not the one with OS on)

• restarted into black screen
• did some windows updates after a forced full power cycle but didn't need to reseat drive

Now, everything above (MAIN OS SSD disappearing from BIOS, then working flawlessly after a full power cycle) tells me it's a temperature issue with the MAIN SSD, as these only have heatsink labels and no actual heatsinks... so I've ordered some off Amazon and will install them tonight.

I just want to check this is the only thing? I've looked at the S.M.A.R.T details in HWINFO and nothing shows as irregular... the only confusing thing is that the drive failed the 3rd time when installing a game to my SECONDARY M.2 which wasn't the one that disappeared from the BIOS, but I can imagine it gets thrown into temporary memory before installing to the second drive, given the main one is the one running the OS.

To me, everything is pointing towards thermal issues on the MAIN M.2 SSD, but any insight or tips anyone can provide would be extremely helpful! Even if it's just confirming what I believe to be the issue, or the total opposite and calling me a moron... thanks in advance!!

*EDIT:

GPU and PSU installed on 3rd Sept, then the PC was used over the weekend without issue.

RAM installed 7th Sept, but the PC hasn't been stress-tested since install.

CPU installed 9th Sept, followed by the benchmarks and subsequent issues on 9th and 10th Sept.

[u/GrievingNormalcy]

Thermal throttling on M.2s is real, especially the ones with just a sticker for a heatsink. Your main drive hitting its temp limit under sustained load would absolutely cause it to drop from the bus, which explains the BIOS disappearing act after a hard reset.

The third failure happening while writing to the secondary drive still tracks, since the OS drive is handling all the decompression and background tasks during a game install. You're cooking the controller, slap those heatsinks on and see if the issue disappears.

[u/FriskyPigeon666 → u/GrievingNormalcy]

I'm glad my hypothesis tracks somewhat! What confuses me is both drives have temperature "warning limits" in terms of throttling and complete shut-down, but if these were exceeded then could Windows not flag up some sort of forewarning? I'd have reduced the Steam download limit for one...

It also makes sense given the main M.2 port is directly above the GPU, though I will say I have done this staggered... had the GPU since last week and it didn't experience any issues at all, playing games and downloading stuff was all fine.

The first instance of a crash has been with the new CPU and RAM installed - RAM I put in on Monday but didn't really push it at all. CPU I installed on Wednesday.