PCIe Gen 5 SSD vs 4 & 3: Is It Worth It?

Gordon got his hands on the first available PCIe Gen 5.0 NVMe SSD and put it through a lot of testing to see just how much better it is versus other generations of SSDs. The model used was a Gigabyte Aurous Gen5 10000 and it was tested against an SK hynix Platinum P41, XPG Atom 50, SK hynix Gold P31, Samsung 870 QVO, Western Digital WD Red, and an Intel Optane 905P. Which is the best SSD? Does Optane compete? Is it time to upgrade from SATA?

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00:00 - Intro
00:42 - Testing Parameters
01:51 - CrystalDiskMark Default Profile Read Results
02:50 - Testing Explanation
05:21 - CrystalDiskMark Default Profile Write Results
07:02 - CrystalDiskMark Real-World Profile Read Results
10:58 - CrystalDiskMark Real-world Profile Write Results
12:26 - ezIOMeter Results
15:01 - PCMark 10 Storage Results
18:35 - 3DMark Storage Results
19:53 - AJA System Test Results
22:29 - Forspoken DirectStorage Results
23:18 - DirectStorage Bulk Load Results
24:10 - PCIe Gen5 NVMe SSD Cooling Results
29:22 - Conclusion

[AshtonCoolman]

I wish Intel Optane was still around. PCIe 4.0 or 5.0 Optane drives would be mental!

[josephoduor]

We are barely starting to take advantage of Gen 4 SSDs with DirectStorage, which is a niche feature. It'll be a while before Gen 5 SSDs can make sense even to the most hardcore PC users.
At this point we need to rebuild how the OS utilises drives from the ground up to fully take advantage of these fast PCIe SSDs.

[kevinjamesmith]

Just dropping in to say I appreciate this video so much. This is the exact information I needed for consideration in my first new build in about ten years. You guys are awesome for doing this, keep up the great work! Cheers!

[SirCrest]

Optane still killing it from beyond the grave. Glad I picked up some big-ish optane drives to use for the rest of time.

[ClassicalTechnology]

I remember putting spinning hard drives in raid 0 to get a little speed bump- the speeds now are like “space age” futuristic in comparison!

Awesome video

[fleemwings]

I have come to the conclusion that the Gigabyte Aurous Gen5 10000 is actually a PCIe 4 SSD with a PCIe5 interface. I guess it needs some major revamp in the controller and NAND flash. I think future drives will be faster but heat dissipation will be crucial to achieving higher performance.

[Kennephone]

I find it crazy that SSDs are the speed of DDR3 RAM (at least sequentially), and faster than the whole capacity of most hard drives at the start of the century.

[_GuiltySpark]

People were buying the Inland Gen5 drive at Microcenter well before that Aorus was available at retail. Certainly not the first available commercial drive.

[DanangAlta]

Been following Gordon since the MaximumPC days. I totally enjoyed reading his articles in the mag - not sure if it's still in publication? Gordon is who I learned pc building from back in 1995.

[intoxicode]

Most board owners are on lucky since their first or fastest M2 slot is usually directly underneath the first PCI x16 slot... So you're going to be always constrained on thermals and installation room

[pkpnyt]

Please test Gen 5 drives using thin heat spreaders, which is the most common type of heat spreader available in mid end motherboards.

[itsdeonlol]

It's INSANE how we went from a spinning drive, then to a fast m.2 drive.

[IrocZIV]

There is no way that heatsink would fit on my board with how the GPU/CPU heat sinks are located. Would be curious if all the PCIe 5 drives will be so hot. When there are a few more on the market I would like to see how the compete when using just the motherboard's "flat" heatsinks

[tomsun]

Great comparison lineup, but i miss the more spreaded type like samsung 990 Pro (not assumming that the results would significantly vary, but its known as the fasstest NVME Gen4). But i would highlight the inclusion of optane.

[DJaquithFL]

I think it's laughable how people gravitate on sequential read/writes which is only good for M.2 to M.2 that are at least the same exact or faster speeds. The real world is random 4K que depth 1.

[erbenton]

I wish you had included the Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB nvme

[johnd]

Great testing info. Putting third P41 in cart…

[BiGG_X]

Thanks for making these videos. They have helped me alot with building my new computer. Especially with the 13900k. However Im still on the fence with PCIe Gen5. Will Gen5 benefit me at all before building a new PC in 4 or 5 years, or just stick with a PCIe Gen4 mobo and do it on the next PC replacement cycle lol. I use my PC mostly for gaming, rarely streaming, and occasionally some recording, so maybe PCIe Gen4 is better for me right now. This would definitely open up my mid/high-end motherboard options.

[capnoddy]

Its always worth it when new technology comes in.
Now I can afford high capacity PCIE Gen 3 / 4 SSDs!!

[benbaer]

It is rarely worth it when a brand new technology is just released due to growing pains and price. I always wait a year or 2.