What Is the Latest Version of PCIe? (2023)

What Is the Latest Version of PCI-Express?

The latest available version of PCI-Express is PCIe 5.0. PCIe 5.0 CPUs are available from Intel and AMD.

Intel's 12th and 13th generation Core CPUs currently provide PCIe 5.0 support for CPU lanes (i.e., one x16 or two x8 PCIe slots) and PCIe 4.0/3.0 speeds for the remaining lanes.

AMD's Zen 4-based Ryzen 7000 desktop CPUs are their first to support PCIe 5.0.

PCIe versions such as 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0 are sometimes informally referred to as PCIe Gen 3, PCIe Gen 4, and PCIe Gen 5. This naming is based on them being the third, fourth, and fifth generations of PCI-Express.

PCIe 5.0 graphics cards and storage devices are not currently on the market.

Check out my Recommended Intel and Recommended AMD PCIe 5.0 CPUs and motherboards below.

Best Intel PCIe 5.0 CPU

Intel Core i9-13900K Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link

Best AMD PCIe 5.0 CPU

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link

How Fast Is PCIe?

PCI-Express speeds are based on the PCI-Express version and the number of lanes used. One lane is referred to as x1, two lanes as x2, etc. PCI-Express technically supports up to a width of x32. However, most consumer motherboards have some set of these PCIe widths: x1, x2, x4, x8, x16.

Intel's 12th generation CPUs currently provide PCIe 5.0 support for CPU lanes (i.e., one x16 or two x8 PCIe slots) and PCIe 4.0/3.0 speeds for the remaining lanes.

The bandwidth for each PCIe 5.0 lane is 4 GB/s. 4 GB/s per lane means that if you use a PCI-Express 5.0 x16 device, it would have up to 64 GB/s of bandwidth available to it.

NVMe M.2 SSD cards use 2 or 4 lanes, which means they have 4–8 GB/s available to them with PCIe 4.0.

Samsung 980 1 TB M.2 SSD

NVMe PCIe add-in cards can use up to 16 lanes in an x16 slot, thus having up to 32 GB/s of bandwidth available to them with PCIe 4.0.

In comparison, PCIe 3.0 has half of the bandwidth of PCIe 4.0.

Which Desktop and Workstation PCIe 5.0 CPUs Are Available?

Intel's 12th and 13th generation Core processors, code-named "Alder Lake" and "Raptor Lake," support PCIe 5.0. Intel 12th and 13th Gen Core CPUs use an LGA 1700 socket.

AMD Ryzen 7000 processors, released in Q4 2022, also support PCIe 5.0. AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs use an AM5 socket.

Check out my Recommended Intel and Recommended AMD PCIe 5.0 CPUs and motherboards below.

Check out the complete list of CPUs supporting PCIe 5.0 in Which Intel and AMD CPUs Support PCIe 5.0?

Which Motherboards Support PCIe 5.0?

For maximum PCIe 5.0 support with AMD CPUs, use a motherboard with the X670E or B650E chipset. The X670 chipset only supports PCIe 4.0 for x8 and x16 slots.

AMD 600-Series Desktop Chipsets

	X670E	X670	B650E	B650
Release Date	September 2022	September 2022	October 2022	October 2022
CPU Overclocking	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PCIe Lanes (Graphics)	One x16 at PCIe 5.0 speeds or Two x8 at PCIe 5.0 speeds	One x16 at PCIe 4.0 speeds or Two x8 at PCIe 4.0 speeds	One x16 at PCIe 5.0 speeds or Two x8 at PCIe 5.0 speeds	One x16 at PCIe 4.0 speeds or Two x8 at PCIe 4.0 speeds
PCIe Lanes (NVMe)	One x4 at PCIe 5.0 speeds (via CPU) and up to one x4 at PCIe 5.0 speeds (via chipset)	One x4 at PCIe 5.0 speeds (via CPU) and up to one x4 at PCIe 5.0 speeds (via chipset)	One x4 at PCIe 5.0 speeds (via CPU) and up to one x4 at PCIe 5.0 speeds (via chipset)	One x4 at PCIe 4.0 speeds (via CPU)
Usable PCIe Lanes	Up to 44 total 24 at PCIe 5.0 speeds	Up to 44 total 8 at PCIe 5.0 speeds	Up to 36 total 24 at PCIe 5.0 speeds	Up to 44 total 0 at PCIe 5.0 speeds
10 Gbps USB (USB 3.2 Gen 2)	12	12	6	6
20 Gbps USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2x2)	2	2	1	1
Max SATA Ports	8	8	4	4

• Find AM5 X670E Motherboards on Amazon (affiliate link).
• Find AM5 B650E Motherboards on Amazon (affiliate link).

ASUS ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming

For compatibility with Intel's 12th and 13th Gen Core CPUs, you'll need to use a motherboard with a Z790, H770, B760 Z690, H670, B660, or H610 chipset.

The W680 and Q670 chipsets are intended for workstation and business use cases; their availability in stand-alone motherboards is limited.

For 12th and 13th Gen Intel Core CPUs, PCIe 5.0 support means either one x16 or two x8 PCIe slots can run at PCIe 5.0 speeds for graphics or storage purposes. The CPUs provide four additional PCIe 4.0 lanes (e.g., an x4 slot) that you can only use for storage devices.

• Find Z790 Chipset Motherboards on Amazon (affiliate link).
• Find H770 Chipset Motherboards on Amazon (affiliate link).
• Find B760 Chipset Motherboards on Amazon (affiliate link).

ASUS ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming WiFi 6E

Note that the chipsets don't provide PCIe 5.0 lanes for M.2 storage devices. PCIe 5.0 is only available for the PCI-Express slots connected directly to the CPU. However, the chipsets do use a new DMI 4.0 link which is twice as fast as the 3.0 link used by the 500-series chipsets.

• Find Z690 Chipset Motherboards on Amazon (affiliate link).
• Find H670 Chipset Motherboards on Amazon (affiliate link).
• Find B660 Chipset Motherboards on Amazon (affiliate link).
• Find H610 Chipset Motherboards on Amazon (affiliate link).

GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS Master

Our Recommended Intel PCIe 5.0 CPUs and Motherboards

• Our recommended Intel 13th gen high-performance enthusiast CPU: Intel Core i9-13900K Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • Up to 5.8 GHz max-turbo stock speed: perfect for games, video editing, and high-intensity tasks.
  • 24 cores (8 Performance + 16 Efficiency): This combination makes it a great all-around system that can handle any task you throw at it.
  • Virtualization features make it great for running virtual machines.
  • Check the latest price of the Intel Core i9-13900K on Amazon (affiliate link).
  • For the Intel Core i9-13900K CPU, you'll need a motherboard with overclocking support to overclock the CPU. Motherboards with the Z790 chipset typically support CPU overclocking. Otherwise, you can use a motherboard with Intel's other 600-series desktop chipsets (e.g., Z690, H670, B660, H610).
• Our recommended motherboard to pair with the i9-13900K: MSI MEG Z790 ACE Gaming Motherboard Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • PCIe 5.0 support
  • It supports up to 128 GB of DDR5 memory (DDR5 provides the fastest memory speeds)!
  • 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port is faster than any home Internet speed available with tons of room to spare for file transfers.
  • Wi-Fi 6E makes it easy to reach the fastest speeds and future-proof your Wi-Fi system.
  • Bluetooth 5.3 is great for streaming music to Bluetooth headphones.
  • Five x4 NVMe M.2 slots, which is fantastic! One of these supports PCIe 5.0 speeds, and the rest run at PCIe 4.0 speeds.
  • USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 offers 20 Gbps USB speeds!
  • Check the latest price of the MSI MEG Z790 ACE Gaming Motherboard on Amazon (affiliate link).

• Our recommended Intel 13th gen high-performance CPU: Intel Core i7-13700K Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • Up to 5.4 GHz max-turbo stock speed: perfect for games, video editing, and high-intensity tasks.
  • 16 cores (8 Performance + 8 Efficiency): This combination makes it a great all-around system that can handle almost any task.
  • Virtualization features make it great for running virtual machines.
  • Check the latest price of the Intel Core i7-13700K on Amazon (affiliate link).
  • For the Intel Core i7-13700K CPU, you'll need a motherboard with overclocking support to overclock the CPU. Motherboards with the Z790 chipset typically support CPU overclocking. Otherwise, you can use a motherboard with Intel's other 600-series desktop chipsets (e.g., Z690, H670, B660, H610).
• Our recommended motherboard to pair with the i7-13700K: ASUS ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming WiFi 6E Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • PCIe 5.0 support
  • It supports up to 128 GB of DDR5 memory (DDR5 provides the fastest memory speeds)!
  • 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port is faster than any home Internet speed available with tons of room to spare for file transfers.
  • Wi-Fi 6E makes it easy to reach the fastest speeds and future-proof your Wi-Fi system.
  • Bluetooth 5.3 is great for streaming music to Bluetooth headphones.
  • Five x4 NVMe M.2 slots, which is fantastic! One of these supports PCIe 5.0 speeds, and the rest run at PCIe 4.0 speeds.
  • USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 offers 20 Gbps USB speeds!
  • Check the latest price of the ASUS ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming WiFi 6E on Amazon (affiliate link).

• Our recommended Intel 13th gen best value CPU: Intel Core i5-13600K Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • Up to 5.1 GHz max-turbo stock speed: great for games, video editing, and high-intensity tasks.
  • 14 cores (6 Performance + 8 Efficiency): This combination makes it a great all-around system that can handle almost any task.
  • Virtualization features make it great for running virtual machines.
  • Check the latest price of the Intel Core i5-13600K on Amazon (affiliate link).
• Our recommended Value motherboard to pair with the i5-13600K: MSI MAG B760 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4 Gaming Motherboard Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • PCIe 5.0 support
  • It supports up to 128 GB of DDR4 memory.
  • 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port is faster than any home Internet speed available with tons of room to spare for file transfers.
  • Wi-Fi 6E makes it easy to reach the fastest speeds and future-proof your Wi-Fi system.
  • Bluetooth 5.3 is great for streaming music to Bluetooth headphones.
  • Three x4 NVMe M.2 slots, which is fantastic! These slots all support PCIe 4.0 speeds.
  • USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 offers 20 Gbps USB speeds!
  • Check the latest price of the MSI MAG B760 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4 on Amazon (affiliate link).

• Our recommended Intel 12th gen high-performance enthusiast CPU: Intel Core i9-12900K Processor 16 Cores (8P+8E) up to 5.2 GHz Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • Up to 5.2 GHz: perfect for games, video editing, and high-intensity tasks.
  • 16 cores (8 Performance + 8 Efficiency): Quite a few cores considering the frequency! This combination makes it a great all-around system that can handle almost any task.
  • Virtualization features make it great for running virtual machines.
  • Check the latest price of the Intel Core i9-12900K on Amazon (affiliate link).
  • For the Intel Core i9-12900K CPU, you'll need a motherboard with overclocking support to overclock the CPU. Motherboards with the Z690 chipset typically support CPU overclocking. Otherwise, you can use a motherboard with Intel's other 600-series desktop chipsets (e.g., H670, B660, H610).
• Our recommended motherboard to pair with the i9-12900K: GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS Master Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • PCIe 5.0 support
  • It supports up to 128 GB of DDR5 memory (DDR5 provides the fastest memory speeds)!
  • 10 Gbps Ethernet port is faster than any home Internet speed available with tons of room to spare for file transfers.
  • Wi-Fi 6E makes it easy to reach the fastest speeds and future-proof your Wi-Fi system.
  • Bluetooth 5.2 is great for streaming music to Bluetooth headphones.
  • Four x4 NVMe M.2 slots, which is fantastic! Three of these run at PCIe 4.0 speeds, and one at PCIe 3.0 speeds.
  • USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 offers 20 Gbps USB speeds!
  • Check the latest price of the GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS Master on Amazon (affiliate link).

• Our recommended Intel 12th gen value CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • Less than half the price of the i9-12900K, but still excellent performance at up to 4.9 GHz.
  • 10 cores (6 Performance + 4 Efficiency): This core count makes it suitable for everyday multi-threading tasks, such as having tons of browser windows open.
  • Virtualization features make it great for running virtual machines.
  • Check the latest price of the Intel Core i5-12600K on Amazon (affiliate link).
  • For the Intel Core i5-12600K CPU, you'll need a motherboard with overclocking support to overclock the CPU. Motherboards with the Z690 chipset typically support CPU overclocking. Otherwise, you can use a motherboard with Intel's other 600-series desktop chipsets (e.g., H670, B660, H610).
• Our recommended motherboard to pair with the i5-12600K: GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS PRO Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • PCIe 5.0 support
  • It supports up to 128 GB of DDR5 memory!
  • Three NVMe M.2 slots, which is excellent! These all run at PCIe 4.0 speeds.
  • 2.5 Gb Ethernet port is faster than most home Internet speeds with room to spare for file transfers.
  • USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 offers 20 Gbps USB speeds!
  • Check the latest price of the GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS PRO on Amazon (affiliate link).

Our Recommended AMD PCIe 5.0 CPUs and Motherboards

• Our recommended feature-rich PCIe 5.0 CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • This CPU has 16 cores, a 4.5 GHz base frequency, and 5.7 GHz max boost frequency.
  • DDR5 memory support
  • AM5 socket type
  • Check the latest price of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X on Amazon (affiliate link).
• Our recommended feature-rich motherboard to pair with this CPU: ASUS ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • PCIe 5.0 support
  • X670E chipset
  • One 2.5 Gb Ethernet port
  • Four NVMe M.2 slots and Four SATA 6 Gb/s ports
  • Wi-Fi 6E provides fast connections to a Wi-Fi router.
  • Bluetooth 5.2 support
  • USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 offers 20 Gbps USB speeds and 12 USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports
  • Check the latest price of the ASUS ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming Motherboard on Amazon (affiliate link).

• Our recommended runner-up PCIe 5.0 CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • This CPU has 8 cores, a 4.5 GHz base frequency, and 5.4 GHz max boost frequency.
  • DDR5 memory support
  • AM5 socket type
  • Check the latest price of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X on Amazon (affiliate link).
• Our recommended runner-up motherboard to pair with this CPU: GIGABYTE X670E AORUS Master Motherboard Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • PCIe 5.0 support
  • X670E chipset
  • One 2.5 Gb Ethernet port
  • Four NVMe M.2 slots and Six SATA 6 Gb/s ports
  • Bluetooth 5.3 support
  • USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 offers 20 Gbps USB speeds
  • Check the latest price of the GIGABYTE X670E AORUS Master Motherboard on Amazon (affiliate link).

How Fast Is PCIe 5.0?

PCIe 5.0 will roughly double the bandwidth available compared to PCIe 4.0. This means that if an x16 PCI-Express device was used, it would have up to 63 GB/s of bandwidth available to it.

Which CPUs Support PCIe 5.0?

Intel's 12th and 13th generation Core processors, code-named "Alder Lake" and "Raptor Lake," support PCIe 5.0. Intel 12th and 13th Gen Core CPUs use an LGA 1700 socket.

AMD Ryzen 7000 processors, released in Q4 2022, also support PCIe 5.0. AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs use an AM5 socket.

PCIe 5.0 Benefits

Current graphics cards typically don't consume the total bandwidth of PCIe 4.0, so the upgrade to 5.0, by itself, won't provide a massive boost to graphics performance.

However, upgrading to the latest generate of CPUs can provide a boost from:

• Support for the higher speed DDR5 memory
• CPUs with more cores and threads, which are better optimized
• PCIe 5.0 lanes and more PCIe 4.0 lanes for M.2 NVMe SSD devices
• More M.2 storage device bandwidth for Intel 12th and 13th Gen CPUs (DMI 4.0 has double the throughput of DMI 3.0)

The latest M.2 NVMe SSDs can do an excellent job of nearly saturating a PCIe 4.0 connection. We recommend upgrading to get as many PCIe 4.0 lanes as possible for M.2 devices. It seems counter-intuitive, but upgrading to a CPU that supports PCIe 5.0 provides more PCIe 4.0 lanes.

PCIe 5.0 graphics cards won't need to use as many lanes in the future, making more lanes available for other devices via PCIe add-in card slots.

The key benefit of upgrading to PCI-Express 5.0 is the increased bandwidth. Each version of PCIe roughly doubles the bandwidth available per lane.

Any devices which were designed for PCIe 5.0 can benefit from the increase in available bandwidth.

Devices designed for PCIe 5.0 could mean faster storage speeds (video and game loading) and faster graphics (video games and rendering).

However, some devices may not even be reaching the limits of PCIe 4.0 or 3.0 yet. The low bandwidth usage by some devices means that it's only necessary to upgrade if:

• You are using the latest and fastest storage devices and video cards that use the PCIe 5.0 or 4.0 lanes.
• You want to free up PCIe lanes by using PCIe 5.0 devices, which won't need as many lanes for the same bandwidth.
• You want to future-proof your system.

The component which can benefit the most from fast PCIe speeds is NVMe storage. The latest top-performing NVMe SDD and add-in card (AIC) storage devices can benefit from both the higher throughput and the throughput available per lane.

Currently, only PCIe 4.0 SSDs are on the market. To make use of PCIe 5.0 SSD speeds, you'd likely need to use a PCIe SSD add-in card, as most M.2 slots only support PCIe 4.0 speeds.

With each PCIe version doubling the bandwidth per lane, newer devices can reduce the number of needed lanes. For example, if even the top tier of graphics cards no longer need the full 16 lanes to meet their needs, they can use 8 or fewer lanes. By using fewer lanes, it frees up more lanes for other devices. Using fewer lanes is important because CPUs provide a limited number of lanes, which need to be distributed among the devices.

The same is valid for storage. If your storage devices no longer need as many lanes, PCIe add-in card (AIC) adapters can connect more NVMe M.2 SSDs.

For networking, a single lane could now provide enough bandwidth for 10 Gbps Ethernet.

If you are building a new system, it may make sense to do the upgrade to 5.0. In particular, future graphics cards and storage devices may further take advantage of this available bandwidth. In this case, you might consider how long you plan to use this computer. For example, will you upgrade your storage and graphics card over the next few years or wait to replace the entire system?

Other Considerations When Building a PC

Want to brush up on other new technologies to consider when building a computer? Check out these articles:

• Cases:
  • How to Choose the Best PC Case
• CPUs:
  • The Best CPUs for Gaming
  • Which Intel and AMD CPUs Support PCIe 5.0?
  • Which Intel and AMD CPUs Support PCIe 4.0?
  • LGA 1700 CPU List
  • LGA 1200 CPU List
  • Look up an Intel or AMD CPU on TechReviewer for related recommendations:
• CPU Coolers:
  • What is the Best Type of CPU cooler for a Gaming PC?
  • How to Choose a CPU Cooler for Your PC
  • Best LGA 1700 CPU Cooler for Intel's 12th Gen Core Processors
  • Best AM4 CPU Cooler for AMD Processors
• Storage:
  • Can an SSD Improve PC Gaming Performance? and Does an SSD Increase FPS for PC Gaming?
  • Storage Type Comparison: M.2, U.2, NVMe, SATA, SSDs, HDDs
• Memory:
  • How to Choose the Best RAM for Your PC
  • How Much RAM Do You Need for Gaming? and Is 32 GB of RAM Worth It for Gaming?
  • DDR4 vs. DDR5? Which You Should Buy
  • Is DDR5 Worth It? The Benefits of DDR5 and What Is DDR5?
  • Which Intel and AMD CPUs Support DDR5?
• PCI-Express:
  • Is PCIe 5.0 Worth It?
• Motherboards:
  • Which Motherboards Support PCIe 5.0?
  • Which Motherboards Support PCIe 4.0?
  • Which Motherboard Should You Buy for Intel's 13th Gen CPUs?
  • Which Motherboard Should You Buy for Intel's 12th Gen CPUs?
• Graphics Cards:
  • Which Graphics Cards Support PCIe 4.0?
• Power Supplies:
  • How to Choose the Best Power Supply for a Gaming PC
  • How to Choose a PC Power Supply
• Keyboards:
  • Best Mechanical Keyboard for Gaming
• Monitors:
  • How to Choose a Gaming Monitor

Learn More About PCI-Express

Want to brush up on the latest PCIe products, versions, and features? Check out the articles in this PCI-Express series:

• What is PCIe?, What is PCIe 5.0?, and What is PCIe 4.0?
• Is PCIe 5.0 Worth It? and Is PCIe 4.0 Worth It?
• Which Intel and AMD CPUs Support PCIe 5.0?
• Which Intel and AMD CPUs Support PCIe 4.0?
• Which Motherboards Support PCIe 5.0?
• Which Graphics Cards Support PCIe 4.0?
• How Fast is PCIe 5.0? and How Fast is PCIe 4.0?
• Is PCIe Backward Compatible?
• Can I Put a PCIe x4 or x8 Card in an x16 Slot?
• Can I Use a PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD in a PCIe 3.0 Motherboard Slot?
• Can I Use a PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD in a PCIe 4.0 Motherboard Slot?
• Can I Use a PCIe 4.0 Graphics Card in a PCIe 3.0 Slot?
• Can I Use a PCIe 3.0 Graphics Card in a PCIe 4.0 Slot?
• What is the Latest Version of PCIe?
• PCI vs. AGP vs. PCIe? Time to Upgrade!