PCIe 4.0: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW, FROM CAVEATS TO COMPATIBILITY TO SPECS

Come July, AMD gets to hoist the trophy in the race to the next-generation PCIe 4.0 interface for desktop PCs. By combining its upcoming Ryzen 3000 CPUs, Radeon RX 5700 graphics, X570 chipset, and a new spate of PCIe 4.0 SSDs, consumers will be able to build or buy the first PCIe 4.0-based PC.

PCIe 4.0 sounds exciting—it’s the first big change to the interface since 2010. But as always, the questions of who can get it (and who can’t), and who really needs it, are more nuanced than you’d think. Keep reading to get the all the details.

WHAT IS PCIE 4.0?

PCIe 4.0 is the next iteration of the PCIe interface. It’s used for connecting add-in cards and M.2 drives, as well as interconnecting