Whenever I connect my aftermarket SSD in my XPS 15 9570, it causes the system to BSOD with 'DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE', and also sporadic system-wide stuttering. When the stutter happens, it freezes the system for ~2seconds each time where audio stutters and all input devices lock up. The BSODs stop occurring once I disconnect the SSD.

Everything works fine with the oem SSD that the laptop was shipped with.

My particular aftermarket SSD model is: Samsung EVO 500GB, connected to the 2.5" SATA bay of the laptop.

I don't understand why my SSD is incompatible with my laptop. I know the Samsung SSD works fine when connected to my desktop, and it also has no problem with the XPS when connected via a SATA USB3.0 caddy. Shouldn't all these storage devices should be electrically compatible since they all follow the same specifications/standards/protocols!?

I was wondering if anyone else had this problem?

This thread describes the exact same problem as I have, this time with a 970 EVO NVMe: https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/9n88lb/dell_xps_9570_constant_bsod_driver_power_state/e926hjp/. Reportedly the BSODs kept happening even after reinstalling Windows, and trying all three AHCI-SATA-IDE.

I will call up tech support when I next have time to try sort out a motheboard replacement. Quite frankly I also don't want to risk ending up with a 'worse' motherboard (i.e. coil whine / cpu undervolting performance).

Other notes: I've upgraded from the stock 2x4GB RAM to a 2x8GB Kingston ValueRAM DDR4 2666MHz kit.

Anyways, reply if you can help. Thanks :)

I'll also update this thread after trying a motherboard replacement.