I will detail what PCIe 5.0 is, what hardware supports it, and whether you really need it.
If you've ever wondered what PCIe 5.0 means, we're here to clarify it.
When considering building a new machine or upgrading a gaming PC, you have likely come across the term PCIe 5.0, which relates to bandwidth, memory, and components. This standard, referring to the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express, has significant implications for the future of computing, particularly as we move towards 2025.
The PCIe 5.0 standard has been adopted by the most advanced graphics cards, such as the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080, which utilize the PCIe 5.0 x16 slot. In contrast, Generation 5.0 SSDs, which are some of the best M.2 SSDs on the market, have been available for over three years, allowing manufacturers to leverage the increased bandwidth offered by this technology to ensure future compatibility.
To take advantage of the PCIe 5.0 standard, you need to have one of the best motherboards that support it. It is recommended to use next-gen processors from AMD and Intel, specifically those that are compatible, such as the LGA 1700 and AM5 models.
In simple terms, PCIe 5.0 allows for a greater amount of data as it provides a bandwidth of up to 128 GB/s, double what its predecessor, PCIe 4.0, offered, which had a maximum of 64 GB/s. This translates into superior performance when using graphics cards, SSDs, and other devices that meet the standard.
The launch of PCIe 5.0 occurred in May 2019, although its adoption by hardware manufacturers did not solidify until 2021, with the arrival of motherboards that supported Intel’s LGA 1700 socket processors. AMD also adopted PCIe 5.0 with its Ryzen 7000 series processors starting in 2022.
Although PCIe 5.0 has been in the market for some time, it wasn’t until January 2025 that the first compatible graphics card was launched, the Nvidia RTX 5090, which offers an impressive bidirectional bandwidth of 64 GB/s, achieving a transfer speed of 1.79 TB/s, compared to the 1,008 GB/s of the RTX 4090, the previous sector leader.
M.2 SSDs, or Generation 5 NVMe SSDs, are one of the areas where PCIe 5.0 has had a significant impact, offering read speeds of up to 14,000 MB/s, compared to 8,000 MB/s of Generation 4 NVMe SSDs. Despite these astounding speeds, there is debate about whether they are genuinely useful for PC gamers today.
In 2025, having a machine compatible with PCIe 5.0 is not strictly necessary unless building a cutting-edge rig. If you want to maximize the performance of new graphics cards, having compatible hardware will be essential. However, for those using older solutions, an upgrade may not be necessary.
Despite its advantages, PCIe 5.0 has not yet been widely adopted, which has resulted in significant costs for its components. Prices for graphics cards like the RTX 5090 are considerably high, and the same is expected for Generation 5 SSDs. Therefore, the option to upgrade will largely depend on the user's needs and budget.
