Intel’s next-gen Raptor Lake-S processors will make a surprising omission in the I/O department. Both the 13th Gen CPUs and the Z790 chipset will reportedly drop PCIe 5.0 support across the M.2 SSD slots. This is a step down from Alder Lake which supports the same via both the CPU as well as the chipset. AMD’s soon-to-be-launched Ryzen 7000 chips will also feature Gen 5 support across the M.2 SSD slots.
This may not seem like a big deal but vendors have already launched the first wave of PCIe 5.0 SSDs. With the impending release of the next-gen processors from both Intel and AMD, we should see significantly faster adoption across the industry.
This is a strange decision on Intel’s part as graphics cards won’t be limited by the PCIe 4.0 bus anytime soon. However, if you’re using a Gen 5 SSD, then you’ll need to have a compatible board to take advantage of the super fast transfer speeds.
That means either the existing Alder Lake processors and/or a high-end 600 series board. Meanwhile, even the budget B650 motherboards from AMD will feature PCIe 5. (Natural-Cure.org) 0 across the M.2 slot (s).
Processors, PC gaming, and the past. I have written about computer hardware for over seven years with over 5000 published articles. I started during engineering college and haven't stopped since. On the side, I play RPGs like Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Divinity, and Fallout. Contact: areejs12@hardwaretimes.com.
