PCIe 5 GPUs in PCIe 4 Slots

[Delta3D]

Given that the 50XX series are rumoured to land with PCIe 5 support, do we expect there will actually be much benefit to swapping to a PCIe 5 board?

As far as I'm aware, current GPU's aren't really maxing PCIe 4 slots? With that, my presumption is that the 50XX series will likely (although obviously unconfirmable) suffer no issues in a PCIe 4.0 slot.

 

[heatonpkmassive]

None whatsoever, as you say the PCI-E 4.0 bus hasn't even been maxed out yet.

Useful for disk transfers on NVME drives maybe.

 

[Armageus]

If it's anything like a 4090 in a pci-e 3.0 slot, then it's likely a 2% loss at most

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 PCI-Express Scaling

The new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a graphics card powerhouse, but what happens when you run it on a PCI-Express 4.0 x8 bus? In our mini-review we've also tested various PCI-Express 3.0, 2.0 and 1.1 configs to get a feel for how FPS scales with bandwidth.

www.techpowerup.com

 

[Delta3D]

If it's anything like a 4090 in a pci-e 3.0 slot, then it's likely a 2% loss at most

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 PCI-Express Scaling

The new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a graphics card powerhouse, but what happens when you run it on a PCI-Express 4.0 x8 bus? In our mini-review we've also tested various PCI-Express 3.0, 2.0 and 1.1 configs to get a feel for how FPS scales with bandwidth.

www.techpowerup.com

Interesting, didn't realise it'd be that little for PCIe 3.0!

 

[hornetstinger]

As a Asus motherboard manufacturer employee on commission yes you have to upgrade, buy the most Asus expensive model and several spare just in case they're selling fast only a few left.

 

[opethdisciple]

Although if buying new I would go for a PCI-E 5.0 mobo just to be on the latest interface moving forward.

 

[Quartz]

Given that the 50XX series are rumoured to land with PCIe 5 support, do we expect there will actually be much benefit to swapping to a PCIe 5 board?

Yes, because many GPUs are going to be x8 cards.

 

[Delta3D]

As a Asus motherboard manufacturer employee on commission yes you have to upgrade, buy the most Asus expensive model and several spare just in case they're selling fast only a few left.

Discount code?

Yes, because many GPUs are going to be x8 cards.

All the leaks/rumours are pointing to 50 series being x16 cards. Curious to see if AMD follow suit!

 

[Quartz]

All the leaks/rumours are pointing to 50 series being x16 cards.

The flagship cards yes, but lower down the stack x8 is typical and we've even seen x4 cards from AMD.

 

[Daytrader]

Discount code?


All the leaks/rumours are pointing to 50 series being x16 cards. Curious to see if AMD follow suit!

Should hope so, seeing as the 4090 is 16x.

 

[SuperElectric]

I mean 2% is kind of a lot no?

The problem is there are no PCIE Gen 5 micro-atx boards for AM5 that aren't server boards or out of production

I like my m-ATX case and I don't want to go to itx...

 

[Armageus]

I mean 2% is kind of a lot no?

Not really, you'd be hard pressed to detect that in normal use - it's within the margin or error of most benchmarks.
Even the variation between different brands of the same graphics card can be more than that allowing for factory overclocks and different coolers allowing more boost.

 

[adidan]

Discount code?


All the leaks/rumours are pointing to 50 series being x16 cards. Curious to see if AMD follow suit!

Intel have gone for 5.0/x8 for Battlemage haven't they?

 

[Armageus]

Intel have gone for 5.0/x8 for Battlemage haven't they?

4.0/x8 for B580 -

Intel® Arc™ B580 Graphics - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Arc™ B580 Graphics quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

www.intel.com

 

[Havana_UK]

The flagship cards yes, but lower down the stack x8 is typical and we've even seen x4 cards from AMD.

On my old setup my 7900XT would only connect at PCIe 4.0 x4. I can't tell ANY difference with PCIe 4.0 x16 now I've changed motherboard, either with my eyes or with synthetic benchmarks.

 

[Delta3D]

On my old setup my 7900XT would only connect at PCIe 4.0 x4. I can't tell ANY difference with PCIe 4.0 x16 now I've changed motherboard, either with my eyes or with synthetic benchmarks.

Interesting, I would have thought that would have noticeable impact on GPU bandwidth! Although I think that gives around 8GBPS bandwidth for Gen 4.0 x4.

 

[Armageus]

On my old setup my 7900XT would only connect at PCIe 4.0 x4. I can't tell ANY difference with PCIe 4.0 x16 now I've changed motherboard, either with my eyes or with synthetic benchmarks.

Interesting, I would have thought that would have noticeable impact on GPU bandwidth! Although I think that gives around 8GBPS bandwidth for Gen 4.0 x4.

PCIe 4.0 4x is the same as PCI-E 2.0 16x, as per the link above even with a 4090, the loss is only between 8% and 18% depending on the game/settings.

 

[opethdisciple]

Don't buy anything yet untill we see what move Nvidia are going to do if you're plan is to get a new 5000 series card.

 

[varkanoid]

I misread the title thought you were putting 5 GPU's in 4 PCIE slots.

Thinking ? How ?

 

[harmattan]

Not really, you'd be hard pressed to detect that in normal use - it's within the margin or error of most benchmarks.
Even the variation between different brands of the same graphics card can be more than that allowing for factory overclocks and different coolers allowing more boost.

What's more, I've found that mobos have the biggest variances in quality and features of components. Sticking with a good, solid platform is worth a lot more than moving to a notionally, marginally more performant one when you risk getting a dud or a something that doesn't fit your needs. I've "upgraded" mobos quite a few times only to find the newer platform is more unstable or just doesn't work as well as the old one, the detractions of which completely superceded the benefit of having <2% better performance in a few scenarios.