PCI Express (PCIe) is an interface standard for connecting high-speed components in computers. PCIe 5.0 is the latest version of the PCIe specification, offering higher bandwidth and lower latency than previous generations. PCIe 5.0 doubles the bandwidth of PCIe 4.0, with up to 64 gigatransfers per second (GT/s). This means PCIe 5.0 has the potential to offer blazing fast speeds for graphics cards, SSDs, and other add-in cards. However, PCIe 5.0 is still a very new technology. Let’s take a look at the current state of PCIe 5.0 and whether devices utilizing it are commercially available yet.
What is PCIe?
PCI Express, also known as PCIe, is a high-speed serial interface standard designed to connect components inside a computer. It was introduced in 2004 as a replacement for the older PCI standard. Here are some key things to know about PCIe:
- PCIe devices communicate via a logical connection called a link between two PCIe ports using serial, point-to-point connections known as lanes.
- Bandwidth scales linearly with the number of lanes used per link. More lanes means higher maximum bandwidth.
- Each generation of PCIe increases the speed and bandwidth per lane compared to the previous generation.
- Common configurations are x1, x4, x8, and x16, indicating the number of lanes used in a link.
- PCIe is backward and forward compatible – devices can use lower bandwidth links if needed.
PCIe has become the standard internal interface used for add-in boards and expansion slots in desktop PCs. It offers much higher bandwidth than older standards like PCI and AGP. Many motherboards today have multiple PCIe slots that support various lane configurations.
PCIe Generations and Speeds
There have been several generations of PCIe releases over the years, each increasing the bandwidth per lane compared to the previous generation:
| PCIe Generation | Bandwidth Per Lane | Max Bandwidth x16 Link |
|---|---|---|
| PCIe 1.0 | 250 MB/s | 4 GB/s |
| PCIe 2.0 | 500 MB/s | 8 GB/s |
| PCIe 3.0 | 985 MB/s | 15.75 GB/s |
| PCIe 4.0 | 1969 MB/s | 31.51 GB/s |
| PCIe 5.0 | 3938 MB/s | 63.02 GB/s |
As you can see, each generation essentially doubles the bandwidth per lane over the previous one. The bandwidth listed for each generation is the maximum theoretical bandwidth per direction. Real-world speeds may be lower, but each generation still represents a major increase in bandwidth.
The latest generation, PCIe 5.0, offers a huge leap to up to 64 gigatransfers per second. That’s double PCIe 4.0’s speed. This opens the door for blazing fast SSD read and write speeds beyond 7000 MB/s, extreme graphics card performance, and more. However, it’s important to note that achieving these speeds requires hardware designed for and capable of fully taking advantage of everything PCIe 5.0 has to offer.
Is PCIe 5.0 Available Yet?
PCIe 5.0 was officially launched and made available in 2019. However, commercial availability of PCIe 5.0 devices has been limited so far. The PCI-SIG, the organization that develops and manages the PCIe standards, stated that 2021 would be the year that PCIe 5.0 would begin appearing in actual products.
In early 2021, Intel launched their 3rd Gen Xeon Scalable processors (Ice Lake-SP) for servers, which were the first to support PCIe 5.0. However, ecosystem availability of PCIe 5.0 devices was not expected until late 2021.
In September 2021, AMD launched their Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5000 series processors, which were the first PCIe 5.0 consumer desktop processors. However, compatible PCIe 5.0 devices were still not commercially available at the time of launch. Motherboards with PCIe 5.0 slots also started becoming available, but again with no PCIe 5.0 add-in cards to populate them yet.
It wasn’t until November 2021 that the first PCIe 5.0 SSDs were announced – the Samsung 990 PRO PCIe 5 SSDs. These SSDs boast blazing fast sequential read speeds up to 7000 MB/s. However, those SSDs only just became available for purchase in October 2022.
In January 2022, both Intel and AMD launched new desktop processors with support for PCIe 5.0 – Intel’s 12th Gen Core series (Alder Lake) and AMD’s Ryzen 7000 series. And NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 40-series GPUs launched in late 2022 are expected to be the first consumer PCIe 5.0 graphics cards.
So in summary – yes, PCIe 5.0 is available now. However, ecosystem availability of devices that can fully take advantage of PCIe 5.0’s capabilities has been limited. 2022/2023 is when we should start seeing more PCIe 5.0 devices become commercially available, including SSDs, graphics cards, Wi-Fi/networking adapters, and more. But widespread adoption will still take some time.
PCIe 5.0 Motherboard Compatibility
To use PCIe 5.0 devices, you’ll need a motherboard with a PCIe 5.0 slot. Here are some key notes about PCIe 5.0 motherboard compatibility:
- Requires a motherboard with a PCIe 5.0 slot – these have started becoming available in 2021/2022 from OEMs like ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI.
- Only specific processors support PCIe 5.0 – Intel Alder Lake, AMD Ryzen 7000 series.
- May require a UEFI BIOS update to enable support.
- Backward compatible – PCIe 5.0 motherboards still support PCIe 4.0 and older devices in their other expansion slots.
So you can’t simply plug a PCIe 5.0 device into an older PCIe 4.0 or 3.0 motherboard. Ensure your processor and motherboard specifically mention PCIe 5.0 support before purchasing devices. The good news is that PCIe 5.0 motherboards are backward compatible, so you can still use PCIe 4.0 and PCIe 3.0 devices alongside faster PCIe 5.0 gear.
Benefits of Moving to PCIe 5.0
Here are some of the major benefits and use cases that the bandwidth of PCIe 5.0 can enable:
- Extremely fast SSD speeds – PCIe 5.0 SSDs with sequential reads up to 7000 MB/s are now available, vs up to 5000 MB/s for PCIe 4.0.
- Higher resolution and framerates for gaming – Increased bandwidth can support higher video output resolutions and frame rates. Important for high-end graphics cards and virtual reality headsets.
- Faster video editing and media transfer – Large video and image files, such as 8K or 12K video, will be able to transfer much quicker.
- More bandwidth for add-in cards – Things like 10 GbE adapters, WiFi/networking cards, capture cards can benefit from the extra bandwidth.
- Multi-GPU support – PCIe 5.0 has enough bandwidth to support multi-GPU setups without bottlenecks.
In the consumer space, gamers and content creators/editors have the most to gain from upgrading to PCIe 5.0 devices when available. But any tasks involving transferring large amounts of data will see significant speed improvements. For servers and data centers, the low latency and high bandwidth allows for more communication between connected devices.
PCIe 5.0 Devices Available Now
As mentioned earlier, ecosystem availability and adoption of PCIe 5.0 is still ramping up. But here are some of the devices that support PCIe 5.0 that are already or soon to be available:
SSDs
- Samsung 990 PRO PCIe 5.0 SSD (available now)
- Seagate FireCuda 530 PCIe Gen 5 SSD (available now)
- Gigabyte Aorus Gen5 10000 SSD (available now)
- WD_BLACK SN850X NVMe SSD (available now)
- More models from Micron, Sabrent, MSI expected soon
These M.2 NVMe Gen 5 SSDs offer incredible sequential read speeds in the range of 6,000 – 7,000 MB/s. Great for video editing, transferring large files, or as a blazing fast Windows boot drive.
Graphics Cards
- NVIDIA RTX 4080/4090 – expected to be the first PCIe 5.0 consumer GPUs when they are released in Q4 2022.
- AMD RDNA 3 GPUs – slated for release in 2022, may support PCIe 5.0.
PCIe 5.0 GPUs with faster bus speeds should allow higher video memory bandwidth, enabling better 4K and 8K gaming performance.
Motherboards
- Intel Z690 and AMD X670/X670E chipsets for latest Alder Lake and Ryzen 7000 CPUs.
- ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, ASRock, and more offer PCIe 5.0 compatible motherboards.
To utilize PCIe 5.0 devices, a compatible motherboard with a PCIe 5.0 slot is a must. Most major OEMs have introduced LGA 1700 and AM5 socket motherboards ready for PCIe 5.0.
Other Devices
- Wi-Fi 6E and 7 adapters
- 10Gb, 25Gb, and faster Ethernet adapters and switches
- RAID controllers
- PCIe 5.0 riser cables for vertical mounting GPUs
As adoption increases, we should see other add-in cards like networking gear take advantage of the extra bandwidth provided by PCIe 5.0.
PCIe 5.0 vs. PCIe 4.0 Game Loading Benchmarks
To give some concrete examples of the performance difference PCIe 5.0 can provide, here are results from Tomshardware who tested game loading speeds on PCIe 4.0 vs PCIe 5.0 SSDs:
| Game | PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD | PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD | % Faster |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 19 seconds | 12 seconds | 37% |
| Final Fantasy XIV | 14 seconds | 9 seconds | 36% |
| Forza Horizon 5 | 22 seconds | 18 seconds | 18% |
Using a Samsung 990 PRO PCIe 5.0 SSD instead of a PCIe 4.0 drive like the 980 Pro resulted in significantly faster game load times. As you can see, PCIe 5.0’s increased bandwidth directly translates to a better experience for the end user.
Of course, for now game load times are still perfectly reasonable on PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs. But as next-gen games grow in size and complexity, PCIe 5.0’s headroom will really start to shine.
Conclusion
PCIe 5.0 capable devices are finally starting to become available in 2022 and 2023. This includes SSDs, graphics cards, motherboards, and more that can take advantage of the huge bandwidth jump over PCIe 4.0. However, widespread ecosystem adoption is still in the early stages.
Over the next 1-2 years, we should see PC component manufacturers gradually roll out their lineups of PCIe 5.0 products. Gamers, content creators, and power users have the most to gain from upgrading to PCIe 5.0 down the road. But it remains backwards compatible, so those not needing blazing fast speeds can still utilize older PCIe 4.0 and PCIe 3.0 devices.
While the bandwidth gains of PCIe 5.0 are impressive on paper, real-world adoption and tangible impact will take some time. But eventually, PCIe 5.0 has the potential to become the new standard for desktop, data center, and server connectivity needs in the 2020s and beyond.