M2 SSD Rage Quits For No Reason! Help!

[NathanPuma]

Just built a new rig after almost a decade! I love it! Looks great in my tiny space, does all the things I need it to do.

Only problem is sometimes the M2 drive I use as my main drive just doesn't show up on boot. I have to turn the PC off and on again.

At first I thought it wasn't seated properly, but I've triple checked that now.

Then I thought maybe it was overheating because the GPU is right up against the raised PCB the M2 drive is in. (Will attach picture).
I changed the fan curve to be more aggressive and generally the GPU doesn't go over 75 degrees now.

Would anyone have any suggestion on how to identify what the problem is, and correct it?

Main concerns:
- Drive could still be overheating. I'm using NVidia's app to control fan curve, and honestly I'm not sure it's working. Does anyone recommend the Zotac Firestorm app, or can I (should I) use MSI afterburner to control fan speeds and temps?
-Is my M2 SSD faulty?
-Is there something totes egregious about my build?

Computer specs:
AMD Ryzen 9 5900x 3.7Ghx 12core 24thread CPU
32GB Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4 3200MHz CL16 (2x 16GB)
Asus ROG Strix x570-I AM4 AMD ITX Motherboard
NZXT Kraken Z Series Z63 280mm AIO
Zotac Gaming GeForce TX 2070 Super Mini 8GB GDDR6 256Bit 14Gbps
2TB Samsun 860 EVO 2.5in SATA III SSD (550MBs/520MBs)
2TB Adata Gammx s50 Life PCI-E4 NVMe M2 SSD (3900MBs/3200MBs)
650W EVGA Supernova SFX Modular PSU
NZXT Internal USB Hub
Braided Sleeved Power Cable Extensions (MOBO, CPU, GPU)
Artic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
NZXT H210i Case

 

Thank you in advance!

[tishous]

Did you take off the plastic peel off the thermal pad before putting the heatsink on top of the m.2? If yes, it's not overheating.

 

It may be faulty. If you have another PC you could try it in that and see if it shows up. 

[Enderman]

SMART data can tell you the drive temperature, or use HWinfo, or crystaldiskinfo.

[NathanPuma]

1 hour ago, Enderman said:

SMART data can tell you the drive temperature, or use HWinfo, or crystaldiskinfo.

Thanks Enderman!

I tried HWinfo. Is the information displayed from when the drive was "born", or from when I started running HWinfo?
If it's from when it was "born", it says it's never even reached warning temperatures?

[NathanPuma]

2 hours ago, tishous said:

Did you take off the plastic peel off the thermal pad before putting the heatsink on top of the m.2? If yes, it's not overheating.

 

It may be faulty. If you have another PC you could try it in that and see if it shows up. 

The M2 drive came with a metal cover plate/heatsink. The MOBO heatsink had a thermal pad. The drive didn't fit with the thermal pad, so I took it off, and the drives heatsink is pressed into the MOBO heatsink quite tightly. The thermal pad would probably have been better, but I wasn't sure I wanted to try and remove the metal plate glued to the M2 drive.

After reading the other comments, the drive may be faulty.

Thanks for the advice.

[Enderman]

31 minutes ago, NathanPuma said:

Thanks Enderman!

I tried HWinfo. Is the information displayed from when the drive was "born", or from when I started running HWinfo?
If it's from when it was "born", it says it's never even reached warning temperatures?

From the beginning, the SSD stores all the data, except for temperature.

[NathanPuma]

4 hours ago, Enderman said:

From the beginning, the SSD stores all the data, except for temperature.

I'm not sure I fully understand your answer.
I understand that SSDs store data.

I'm wondering what period of time HWinfo refers to.
For example, If "Time Above Warning Temperature Threshold:" is "0 minutes", is that from when I started the program, the life of the drive, etc?