Kingston Explains: What Is a PCIe Gen5 SSD?

In our view, Kingston is one of the biggest names in memory. The company has been around for a long time, and we rate its products highly. We recently came across an article in which Kingston explains PCIe Gen5 SSDs. Rather than reproduce the entire article, we invite you to read the more detailed version here: https://www.kingston.com/unitedkingdom/en/blog/pc-performance/what-is-pcie-gen5-ssd

What Is PCIe Gen5?

PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) is an expansion standard that allows the CPU to communicate with other components, such as graphics cards and storage devices. Advances in this technology are released in generations, and PCIe Gen5 is the latest version of this standard. While Gen4 SSDs offered a maximum bandwidth of 16 GT/s, 5.0 can reach bandwidths of up to 32 GT/s. They can also potentially deliver 2.5 times faster read speeds and 5 times faster write speeds than Gen4 SSDs. Currently, PCIe Gen5 is the way to achieve the fastest SSD performance in a PC.

Who Can Use PCIe Gen5?

Intel and AMD have a substantial and growing range of CPUs compatible with PCIe Gen5 NVMe SSDs. AMD Ryzen 7000 series and later processors are compatible with PCIe 5.0. All 12th, 13th and 14th generation Intel Core processors (also known as ‘Alder Lake’ and ‘Raptor Lake’) support PCIe Gen5. These PCIe Gen5-compatible CPUs must be installed in a PCIe Gen5-compatible motherboard. Motherboards with the AMD X670E, X670, B650E or Intel Z890, Z790 and Z690 chipsets support PCIe Gen5. Check the motherboard specifications to make sure PCIe Gen5 compatibility is listed, as other chipsets also offer compatibility, but only on certain motherboards. The motherboard chipset alone does not determine PCIe Gen5 compatibility.

If you need help choosing the right storage for your system, you can use Kingston's configurator.

What Benefits Do PCIe Gen5 NVMe SSDs Offer?

DirectStorage, the Windows software innovation introduced in 2020, was hailed as a revolution in PC gaming. However, developers have yet to take full advantage of its capabilities. With the unprecedented speeds offered by PCIe Gen5 SSDs, gamers are likely to see DirectStorage become significantly more useful as the standard gains traction in the gaming community and developers place greater value on optimizing for it. Storage bottlenecks and long loading times will be significantly reduced, not just for gamers but for creative professionals too.

In addition, users who regularly work with large files (100 GB or more) will undoubtedly appreciate the higher data transfer speeds and lower latency. Of course, the future-proofing offered by a PCIe Gen5 NVMe SSD is another major benefit. This category of drive will remain relevant for years to come.

Source: https://www.kingston.com/unitedkingdom/en/blog/pc-performance/what-is-pcie-gen5-ssd