Should I wait for PCIe 5.0?

[HR19]

Ok, so right now I'm considering building new gaming rig in the next couple of months.  I'd be getting a Ryzen 3rd gen with PCIe 4.0 support for a bit of futureproofing.  But I just read that since the PCIe 5.0 spec just released this year, we might see PCIe 5.0 processors and motherboards as early as next year.  If that's the case, I think it could be good for me to wait.  I could save up more for a better system and then (theoretically) be better future-proofed for high end graphics and NVMe SSDs and whatever other peripherals might need.  But if the tech won't be available until, say, summer 2021, I don't think it's worth it to wait that long.  Or if PCIe 5.0 is liable to be prohibitively expensive (which doesn't seem likely since 4.0 isn't all that expensive).

 

What do you guys think?  Has Intel or AMD said they're definitely releasing 5.0 support next year, or definitely not?  Would you wait if you're ready now, why or why not?

[Mira Yurizaki]

Current video cards don't even suffer much in performance if you put them on a PCIe 3.0 x8 slot. There's no point at the moment in waiting for future PCIe versions.

[Brooksie359]

Better tech is always coming out and trying to future proof is pointless after a certain extent. The fact is that no gpu out today can make effective use of pcie gen 4.0 over gen 3.0. Most likely by the time GPU's require gen 5 to get full performance any system built today or next year will be way out of date. 

[RAS_3885]

@HR19 There will always be next-gen hardware on the horizon.  Just build a system that gets you the best value for your given budget and performance goals with what's available today and enjoy using it.

[Kisai]

20 minutes ago, HR19 said:

What do you guys think?  Has Intel or AMD said they're definitely releasing 5.0 support next year, or definitely not?  Would you wait if you're ready now, why or why not?

 

It will be a half a decade before there will be mainstream adoption of anything.

 

This is why even though NVme was established in 2013, but didn't find it's way into machines until late 2015. USB-C ? 2016.

 

USB 3.0 2010, but devices didn't have it until 2014. USB 3.1, 2013, found in devices? 2016.

 

DDR4? 2010, but not found until 2016 devices.

 

Basically, If you have a device newer than 2016 (Skylake and later), you can wait.

 

DDR5, expected in 2020. PCIe4 2019, PCIe5, expected 2020. Just because they're expected in 2020, doesn't mean they find their way into devices in 2020.

 

 

[RonnieOP]

1 hour ago, HR19 said:

Ok, so right now I'm considering building new gaming rig in the next couple of months.  I'd be getting a Ryzen 3rd gen with PCIe 4.0 support for a bit of futureproofing.  But I just read that since the PCIe 5.0 spec just released this year, we might see PCIe 5.0 processors and motherboards as early as next year.  If that's the case, I think it could be good for me to wait.  I could save up more for a better system and then (theoretically) be better future-proofed for high end graphics and NVMe SSDs and whatever other peripherals might need.  But if the tech won't be available until, say, summer 2021, I don't think it's worth it to wait that long.  Or if PCIe 5.0 is liable to be prohibitively expensive (which doesn't seem likely since 4.0 isn't all that expensive).

 

What do you guys think?  Has Intel or AMD said they're definitely releasing 5.0 support next year, or definitely not?  Would you wait if you're ready now, why or why not?

The only thing even pcie 4 is good for is storage speeds. And if your just a gamer or reg user you wont even see the performance increase.

 

As far as video cards go dont even worry about it. Even the top of the line video card right now doesnt get close to maxing out pcie 3.0 and even the next generation of cards probably wont either 

 

We are years and years away from even needing 4.0 for video cards. 5.0 will be years and years after that.

 

By the time pcie 5.0 is around the pc you build will be long obsolete. You will be finding zen 2 builds being given away at recycling centers.

[HR19]

Hey thanks for all the input everyone!  These are all good points.  It sounds like the only benefit today with 4.0 is faster NVMe SSDs, and even high end graphics cards will barely (if at all) benefit from 4.0, so there's not much reason to wait.  Again, thank you everyone!

[Kilrah]

Pretty much the only benefit we get from PCIe4 at this point is the side effect of increased CPU-chipset bandwidth. Can be of interest in some scenarios like needing loads of fast storage.

[amdorintel]

pcie 4.0 will be good for a gpu 5080ti, even then the cpu might be the bottleneck.

 

more lanes you could go x299 because threadripper is so expensive.

[mr moose]

PCIe5 is one of those rare new technologies that won't provide any benefits to the average users until after a few upgrade cycles. 

[Jarsky]

I'll just point out that the PCIe 4.0 spec was released in early 2017...so if you want to wait 2-3 years to get PCIe 5.0 thats up to you. 

But the fastest GPU's on the market right now dont even fully utilize a PCIe 3.0 X16 let alone PCIe 4.0. 

[GDRRiley]

PCIE 4.0 and 5.0 are not to any real benefit to most consumers.

PCIE 3.0 x8 is plenty for almost all GPUs. So PCIE gen 4 x4 would be plenty for any current GPU. Except there are only a few GPUs that are on gen 4.

[rabbitanarchy14]

i really wish thunderbolt would move to pcie4 so that way we could have a pcie4.0 x4 link to external graphics we may not be bottlenecked as much on external GPUs.

that would mean a total of 8 pcie3 lanes.

[GDRRiley]

6 hours ago, VegetableStu said:

not only that, it's at the mercy of motherboard manufacturers for pathways like that ._.

 

LTT made a potential use case chart for 4x NVMe 3.0 SSDs on the TRX40 chipset and potentially working without bottlenecks, which is a little bit moot because that'd require a multiplexer that splits 4.0 to double 3.0 lanes, and board space for 4 (more) m.2 sockets. none of the announced boards has more than 3 ._. (heck, even some of them are XL-ATX for crying out loud and they don't have that many m.2 sockets)

I don't think it is possible for a PLX chip to exist to do that

[Mira Yurizaki]

12 minutes ago, GDRRiley said:

I don't think it is possible for a PLX chip to exist to do that

This is what some chipsets do. Like Intel's HX10's only offer PCIe 2.0 lanes even though they connect over a 3.0 bus to the CPU.