PCIe Gen 4 vs Gen 3: Do you need to spend extra on SSDs?

PCIe Gen 4 was revealed in 2017. Graphics cards and storage solutions supporting the specs were then launched in 2019.

PCIe Gen 4 offers a massive upgrade over the traditional PCIe Gen 3 SSD. The new standard almost doubled the transfer speeds supported by Gen 3. The bit rate doubled to 16 GT/s as compared to the 8 GT/s supported by the last-gen devices. However, the performance uplift came at a cost.

PCIe Gen 4 SSDs are much more expensive compared to their last-generation counterparts. These SSDs also come with much higher heat outputs.

Thus, users are left with the question of whether it's worth paying a premium for the latest technology.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinions.

PCIe Gen 4 is a huge but unnoticeable leap over Gen 3

M.2 NVMe SSDs supporting the latest Gen 4 standards are almost twice as fast as their last-gen counterparts. While Gen 3 SSDs topped at around 3,500 MB/s read and write speeds, Gen 4 SSDs take the speeds northwards of 7,000 MB/s.

However, most average users will never notice this doubling in performance. Gen 3 SSDs are insanely fast for virtually any workload, including video games. A few milliseconds' difference in load times will be unnoticeable to most users.

Aside from costing a whole lot more than Gen 3 SSDs, the new generation of hardware comes with a highly increased thermal output. The new Gen 4 SSDs need a heatsink to maintain decent temperatures.

Most SSD manufacturers pack a heatsink out-of-the-box. However, these variants cost more than a regular Gen 4 SSD without a heatsink.

Users can also buy third-party SSD heatsinks. Typically, prices begin at $20. This adds up to the overall price of a Gen 4 SSD. Motherboards supporting Gen 4 SSDs are costlier as well.

However, whether users need the latest generation of SSDs in the market depends. Most users will not notice the performance gap between Gen 3 and Gen 4 SSDs. Moreover, many video games cannot utilize the extra performance of the new standard. As a result, game load times on either generation of SSDs are similar.

However, users who perform massive copying and writing operations on their PCs can benefit from the highly improved transfer speeds that the PCIe Gen 4 is capable of. Gen 4 effectively doubles the bandwidth of Gen 3 SSDs. Thus, files get copied twice as fast.

Although Gen 4 SSDs have huge untapped potential, things will change as more software gets optimized to utilize what these SSDs have to offer. The high transfer speeds of these drives will also allow video game developers to create bigger and more dense worlds without worsening load times.

Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, most users will not notice the performance differences between a Gen 3 and a Gen 4 SSD other than the massive price. Modern software and video games are not built to fully utilize the potential of new generation drives. However, with time, every workload will prefer Gen 4 SSDs.

Thus, users who are looking to upgrade their system within a couple of years can stick to Gen 3 drives. However, those looking to stick with their current system for five years or more can upgrade to Gen 4.

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