Does PCIe 5.0 Matter Really? | SaberPC Blog (2024)

Introduction to PCIe 5.0

PCIe 5.0 is the latest generation of PCIe, or peripheral component interconnect express, adopted by mainstream hardware. Developed in 2019, it has only recently shown up in motherboards in the M.2 slot and the x16 GPU slot.

While there have been no mainstream GPUs supporting the PCIe 5.0 standard as of now, a lot of storage devices and M.2 NVMe drives are on the market utilizing PCIe 5.0. Since the standard is backward compatible, so slotting in PCIe 4.0 or the older PCIe 3.0 devices in these slots is okay. So, what are the differences in PCIe 5.0? Does it warrant any consideration when configuring your next system?

What is PCIe 5.0

PCIe 5.0, the latest PCI Express standard, represents a doubling of speed over its predecessor PCIe 4.0, with giga transfers increasing from 16GT/s to 32GT/s per lane. The increased speed per lane doubles from approximately 2GB/s to 4 GB/s, an aggregate bandwidth of about 64 GB/s. PCIe 5.0 is the fastest PCIe standard on the market.

Lanes	PCIe 5.0 (32 GT/s)	PCIe 4.0 (16 GT/s)
x1	4 GB/s	2 GB/s
x2	8 GB/s	4 GB/s
x4	16 GB/s	8 GB/s
x8	32 GB/s	16 GB/s
x16	64 GB/s	32 GB/s

PCIe 5.0 rapidly moves data between CPUs, GPUs, storage devices, networking, and any other PCIe peripherals connected. These doubling in speeds hinge on the devices, the lane standard, and the application to go hand in hand in optimizing data transfer at the highest throughput.

CPUs that support PCIe 5.0 include

PCIe 5.0 GPUs

As of June 2024, there are no Gen 5 GPUs in the NVIDIA RTX line (up to the 40-series) or the AMD Radeon RX line (up to the 7000-series). However, it is expected that the next generation of GPUs will support PCIe 5.0, following the increased adoption of modern motherboards and CPUs supporting PCIe 5.0.

But that begs the question, will PCIe 5.0 make a huge difference in GPU performance?

PCIe 5.0 GPUs Impact on Gaming

Judging by past generational leaps, we can say that PCIe 5.0 will likely result in little to no performance increase attributable solely to GPUs. When the standard evolved from PCIe 3.0 to PCIe 4.0, GPU performance did not significantly improve; modern mid-tier GPUs (4060 to 4070 Ti) can still run on PCIe 3.0 with minimal performance loss (within a 5% deviation). Therefore, the speedups gained from gaming on next-gen PCIe 5.0 GPUs will probably not result from the increased bandwidth alone.

While PCIe 5.0 may not make a huge difference for mainstream gaming, it will become more impactful as peripherals and applications fully optimize and utilize the increased performance.

PCIe 5.0 GPUs Impact on Productivity

The increased bandwidth can benefit scenarios where GPUs need to transfer large amounts of data quickly. Productivity applications can push even the highest-tier GPUs to their limits, and PCIe 5.0 can significantly enhance workloads involving multiple GPUs. When multiple GPUs execute calculations in parallel, seamless and fast data transfer and communication are essential, necessitating high GPU bandwidth.

Workloads such as video editing, high-performance computing (HPC), AI training, and large-scale simulations benefit from fast access to storage devices. When file sizes exceed GPU memory capacity, quick access to storage is crucial to minimize wait times.

PCIe 5.0 Storage Devices

After PCIe 5.0 was introduced on motherboards, manufacturers quickly released their own PCIe 5.0-enabled SSDs. While PCIe 4.0 SSDs reach a limit of about 7000 MB/s, current PCIe 5.0 SSDs on the market can achieve speeds over 10,000 MB/s, with a theoretical limit of 14,000 MB/s.

The increased performance and speed are beneficial for tasks involving large file and data transfers, such as loading applications, reading and writing data directly off storage, and other data-intensive workloads.

PCIe 5.0 SSDs for Gaming

Data transfer speeds are simple and easy to understand – more lanes mean more speed. Gen 5 storage devices exemplify this. NVMe SSDs are now the gold standard in data storage due to their high speed, multitasking capability, energy efficiency, and reliability.

NVMe SSDs in the gumstick design M.2 form factor are popular for consumer use as primary storage. Fast storage allows mainstream users to access large files quicker, upload and download files to storage faster (if networking permits), and load games faster. Gaming titles featuring Direct Storage capabilities let the GPU access game files directly from the NVMe SSD without first transferring data to the CPU, reducing CPU overhead and thus speeding up load times.

PCIe 5.0 SSDs for Productivity

In enterprise settings, M.2 SSDs are often used as the operating system boot drive, while PCIe 5.0 is found on the 2.5” form factor U.2 hot-swappable drive. Data-intensive workloads constantly pull data, especially in real-time simulation or data analytics, where the speed at which data is written and read directly correlates to time to completion. Real-time data analytics just got even closer to real-time.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning, which constantly pull data to make predictions, can execute faster due to the increased bandwidth offered by PCIe 5.0. Modern enterprise CPUs house ample full-speed PCIe 5.0 lanes, and servers dedicate an entire backplane of PCIe-enabled NVMe slots directly connected to the CPU to minimize performance bottlenecks and allow for easy RAID configurations for peak performance.

Closing Thoughts

As PCIe 5.0 continues to mature, its promise of enhanced bandwidth and speed holds considerable potential for both gaming enthusiasts and professionals alike. While the immediate impact on gaming performance may be modest, the future readiness it brings to handle increasingly data-intensive applications will continue to become more and more optimized in using faster data transfer technology.

As PCIe 5.0-enabled hardware becomes more prevalent, its ability to handle large-scale data transfers swiftly and efficiently will become increasingly valuable. This technology promises to streamline workflows and reduce latency in demanding tasks, enhancing productivity and performance across various sectors. And sooner or later PCIe 6.0 (the newest standard that has already been developed and defined) will bring even more improvements.

In essence, while PCIe 5.0 may not revolutionize gaming overnight, its foundational role in enhancing data throughput and accessibility ensures that the technology remains a cornerstone of future-proof computing infrastructure.

If you're looking to configure the very best workstations to future proof your computing infrastructure and deployment, contact SabrePC today!