Author: ArcaneFeenixSubject: Z170 Extreme 7+/Samsung 950 PRO Freezing
Posted: 28 Oct 2016 at 12:33am
![Originally posted by parsec]( "Originally posted by parsec") parsec wrote:
![Originally posted by ArcaneFeenix]( "Originally posted by ArcaneFeenix") ArcaneFeenix wrote:
First, my setup:
Mobo: ASRock Z170 Extreme 7+ (BIOS Version 7.10)
Processor: Intel Core i5 6600K 3.5 GHz
HDDs: 1x Samsung 950 Pro M.2 256GB; 1x Intel 320 Series 80GB; 2x 1TB WD Black
Memory: 4x 4GB G.Skill DDR4 3000
I recently purchased the 950 Pro to replace the Intel SSD as my boot drive. Install onto the board went smoothly, booted up into EFI setup and everything looked good (CSM enabled, AHCI mode). Installed Windows 10 (RS1) without any issue. Started to install drivers in audit mode and started getting random freezing (hard freeze, screen frozen, cursor doesn't move). I have tried turning CSM off, changing the SATA mode to RAID, reinstalling RS1 and even installing latest insider build (secure erasing the ssd between each install). The problem is very re-producible (at the moment, trying to install NIC drivers and it freezes before I can click Next for the first time). The interesting thing is the system seems stable if I do any other tasks on it but if I install drivers, it seems to freeze almost every time. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.
Brandon |
We have many 950 Pro users with the Z70 Extreme7+ board, including myself. We haven't experienced the freezing you have.
The SATA mode and SATA drivers are not applicable to a 950 Pro, which is an NVMe SSD. NVMe SSDs do not use the board's SATA controller. The NVMe controller is part of the SSD itself, and you'll find separate entries in Device Manager for the NVMe and SATA controllers.
While Windows 10 has an inbox NVMe driver, you should be using the Samsung NMVe driver. No idea if you have installed that or not. Some 950 Pro users report poor write performance when using the inbox Windows NVMe driver.
If you are using the ASMedia SATA ports for your SATA drives, particularly the SSD, move them to the Intel SATA ports. The M.2 slots share resources with the Intel SATA ports, so depending upon which M.2 slot you are using, two of the Intel SATA ports will not be available. The specifications describe which Intel SATA ports are affected by the three M.2 slots.
Not sure if you are using a video card, but if you are and the 950 Pro is in an M.2 slot that is under the video card, you may be experiencing throttling on the 950 Pro due to over heating. That might be the case, since when you are installing drivers, writing to the 950 Pro causes its temperature to rise quickly. This can happen even if you don't have a video card.
The 950 Pro is known to have heat throttling issues, depending upon where it is mounted, and the amount of ventilation the PC case has. You can monitor the temperature of the 950 Pro with HWiNFO64, or AIDA64. Once it reaches 70C, it will begin to throttle its write speed, and at 75C it will almost shut down. Your description of the PC freezing after the Intel network driver installer extracted all the files seems to indicate that might be the case.
If we decide the 950 Pro is not having problems, then you might have a memory compatibility issue, but that is not clear. What is the full model number of your G.SKILL memory?
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Parsec,
Thank you for the clarification on the SATA mode setting in regards to NVME. I have tried with and without the Samsung NVME driver. The system freezes completely which, to me, seems hardware more than software. One thing to note is that the reset button doesn't always work when this happens. More times than not, I have to press and hold the power button to shut it off.
I am not using the ASMedia SATA ports for anything I care about (I have a case with an eSATA port and a xdrive bay - both of those are plugged into the ASMedia ports). I have the 950 Pro installed in the M2_1 port which shares the first two Intel SATA ports. I do not have anything plugged into them. I have tried, for giggles, using a different M.2 port to see if maybe it was a faulty port to no avail.
I go have a graphics card (GeForce GTX 650 Ti) which is in the first x16 slot covering the 2nd M.2 port (which I have not tested).
One thing to note is that I can make the system freeze instantly by opening Samsung Magician. When it pops up stating that it is scanning for devices, it will sit for about 10 seconds then hard freeze. Every. Single. Time. And when I am trying to install the NIC drivers, I haven't even gotten to the point of install - it freezes at the initial "... is preparing the install wizard..."
Per your suggestion, I ran HWiNFO64 and monitored the sensors. At idle, the 950 Pro sits at 46C. When running Samsung Magician, the value does not change and Samsung Magician causes the system to freeze.
Please also note that the system was stable, without any issues, when I was running off the Intel SSD. These problems were only introduced when I started to use the 950 Pro.
My G.Skill memory model number is F4-3000C15-4GRR (x4).
Thanks for the help so far.
parsec wrote: