When upgrading your PC, we often default to selecting hardware with the latest technology standards, and a motherboard is no exception. DDR5 and now PCIe 5 are features of most new motherboard designs for good reason. DDR5 has been the memory standard for a few years now, and there's really no reason to be using older RAM kits anymore. However, PCIe 5.0 is a slightly newer and less common standard.

Of course, as a PC enthusiast, you probably want the latest tech just for the sake of it. However, if you're still rocking a motherboard with PCIe 4, you don't need to rush out and grab a new board just yet.

PCIe 5 vs. 4

What's the difference?

New motherboards come with new PCIe tech, and there are some serious benefits to PCIe 5.0 compared to PCIe 4.0. The biggest change is that PCIe 5 offers a max bandwidth of 32 GT/s per lane, which is double that of PCIe 4 (16 GT/s). The same was true with the jump from PCIe 3 to PCIe 4.

Obviously, being able to transfer data twice as fast, with increased throughput, is a worthy upgrade. Especially if you're trying to build a benchmark-breaking, high-speed machine.

But there's an issue with PCIe 5's massive bandwidth. Most current hardware barely utilizes the full bandwidth of PCIe 3.0 slots, let alone PCIe 4 or 5.

What components can utilize PCIe 5 bandwidth?

Do you have compatible hardware?

PCIe 5 is the latest and greatest, which means only a few components are fully capable of leveraging the power of the new standard. Right now, the one piece of computer hardware that can take advantage of the increased PCIe 5 throughput is the SSD. PCIe 5 SSDs outperform PCIe 4 SSDs under heavy workloads, thanks to the increased bandwidth and data transfer speed.

However, PCIe 5 SSDs are also more expensive and generate significantly more heat than their PCIe 4 counterparts. And unless you're constantly putting your SSD under heavy stress with extensive video editing, you likely don't need the increased throughput of PCIe 5. The PCIe 5 throughput increase is mostly ideal for databases, home servers, and cache drives anyway.

As for GPUs, most current gaming GPUs are still operating at speeds compatible with PCIe 3.0 slots, with only a few GPUs taking advantage of the increased throughput of PCIe 4.0 or 5.0. Of course, there are a few cases where PCIe gen matters, but for the most part, a PCIe 3 or 4 lane can still run your Nvidia RTX 50-series GPU or AMD Radeon RX 9000 series GPU just fine. The biggest hamstring in GPU performance is typically VRAM, rather than the data bus. So most gamers won't notice a difference between PCIe generations.

It's not worth the effort

PCIe 5 alone isn't compelling enough for a full PC overhaul

If you're using your PC as a home server or database, the increased SSD read/write capacity may be useful. However, for most gamers, simply upgrading to better bandwidth for an SSD or achieving a slight increase in GPU performance isn't worth the time and effort required to swap out their motherboard. Since the motherboard is the backbone of your PC, replacing it with a newer model isn't a walk in the park. You have all your cables to reorganize and all your additional components to slot into the new board.

If you're performing a PC overhaul and plan to upgrade your CPU to a newer socket, acquiring a new motherboard with PCIe 5.0 support gives you a bit more flexibility for future components. And at that point, you need to replace your motherboard anyway, so you may as well. However, if your CPU is still functioning properly, there's no need to go through all the extra effort.

When should you upgrade?

When is PCIe 5 worth it?

There are two good reasons to swap your motherboard and get PCIe 5.0 support. One is when upgrading your CPU to a new socket. For most AMD enthusiasts, unless you're still rocking an AM4 socket CPU, there's no real reason to upgrade your AM5 motherboard just yet, even with PCIe 5.0. If you are still using an AM4 CPU, then snagging some PCIe 5.0 lanes on your motherboard when upgrading to Zen 5 architecture just makes sense. You'd need a new board anyway.

If you've already upgraded to AM5, then chances are your motherboard already supports PCIe 5, since the standard was introduced in late 2021.

Things are a bit more accelerated on the Intel side as Team Blue loves to change sockets every other generation. If you've upgraded your Intel CPU to the 12th generation or newer, with an LGA 1700 or LGA 1851 socket, you already have PCIe 5 lanes as well. If you're upgrading from an older Intel CPU, you'll need a new motherboard to match the new CPU socket, which provides access to PCIe 5.

The other reason to upgrade is your GPU. If you're running a budget GPU with low VRAM overhead, having the GPU operate on a newer PCIe lane can help offset some of the performance loss due to limited VRAM. Although it may be better to opt for the 12-16GB VRAM model GPU instead.