![\"PCIe](\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/img\/blog\/pcie-drive\/header.jpg\")
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We\u2019re fortunate to work in an industry where there are always new and exciting things around the corner. From DDR5<\/a> to NVIDIA\u2019s ADA architecture<\/a> to 192 core workstations<\/a>, hardware just keeps getting faster and more capable of handling extreme workloads. One highly anticipated component is the PCIe Gen 5 SSD. The first Gen 5 SSDs are hitting the market now, but how fast are they really?<\/p>\n First, an overview. PCIe Gen 5 is the fifth generation<\/a> of the PCI Express interface, which is used to connect various components like graphics cards, storage devices, and network adapters, to a computer’s motherboard. PCIe Gen 5 offers significant improvements in terms of data transfer rates over Gen 4. It doubles the maximum theoretical bandwidth per lane from 16 GT\/s (gigatransfers per second) to 32 GT\/s, resulting in a potential bandwidth of up to 64 GB\/s for a 16-lane (x16) connection. It\u2019s available on most current gen (Intel 700 and 600 series, AMD X670\/B650) motherboards.<\/p>\n Remember from previous posts – M.2 is a form factor for SSDs<\/a>. The interface they use to connect to the board (ie PCIe or SATA) is the important spec in determining overall speed. M.2 SSDs using PCIe are also known as NVMe. Gen 4 NVMe drives have been available for a few years now, and offer 2-3x the total available speed of Gen 3 and around 10x boost over SATA. They\u2019re very popular in our highest end builds.<\/p>\n Now for the meat of the subject \u2013 how fast are Gen 5 drives really? As of this writing, there are only a few Gen 5 drives on the market and in stock. One of those is the Crucial T700, which we\u2019ve qualified and tested in our Raptor Signature Edition<\/a> and Raptor Z95<\/a>. Let\u2019s compare that drive to a few others:<\/p>\n 2TB Crucial T700 (Gen 5)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2TB Samsung 990 Pro (Gen 4)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2TB Crucial P3 (Gen 3)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 12,400 MB\/s<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 7,450 MB\/s<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 3,500 MB\/s<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 11,800 MB\/s<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 6,900 MB\/s<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 3,000 MB\/s<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 1500K IOPS<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1400K IOPS<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 700K IOPS<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 1200 TB<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1200 TB<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 440 TB<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Based on these specs, the Gen 5 T700 performs around +66% faster in terms of sequential read\/writes than the fastest PCIe Gen 4 SSD and close to 3x faster than equivalent Gen 3 drive. When you keep the fact that the T700 is also first to market and that these devices will likely only get faster, the performance advantages of PCIe Gen 5 become very apparent.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to note though, that sequential read speeds are only part of the story. Random read speeds \u2013 essentially how quickly the PC finds smaller scattered data bits rather than large blocks \u2013 is an important measure of day-to-day performance. Though The Gen 5 drive still has an advantage there, the gap is much smaller, so whether you\u2019ll be able to distinguish the speed difference depends on the specific application and usage. Just something to keep an eye on as this category matures.<\/p>\nPCIe Gen 5 (PCI Express Gen 5)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
M.2 SSDs \u2013 Quick Review<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Samsung](\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/img\/blog\/pcie-drive\/second.jpg\")
<\/h2>\nPCIe Gen 5 SSD \u2013 How do they compare to Gen 4?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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\n <\/td>\n \n \n \n \n Sequential Read<\/strong><\/td>\n \n \n \n \n Sequential Write<\/strong><\/td>\n \n \n \n \n Random Read\/Write<\/strong><\/td>\n \n \n \n \n Endurance (TBW)<\/strong><\/td>\n \n \n \n