PCIe Gen 4 vs Gen 3: Do you need to spend extra on SSDs?

PCIe Gen 4 offers a massive upgrade over the traditional PCIe Gen 3 SSD. The new standard almost doubled the transfer speeds as compared to the previous generation. The bit rate has jumped to 16 GT/s as compared to the 8 GT/s supported by Gen 3. This means faster loading times in video games, snappier multitasking experiences, and a more responsive operating system.

Now that PCIe Gen 5 is the talk of the town, SSDs bearing older specs have been lucratively discounted. You can buy a 1 TB Gen 3 SSD for less than $100 these days. PCIe Gen 4 used to be much more expensive, but we spotted deals on premium options like the Sabrent Rocket 1 TB drive at $100. The latest Gen 5 SSDs are quite expensive, however. You would also shell out extra cash on a new CPU and motherboard which drives the overall price of the system up.

This raises the question — which generation is the better buy in 2024? We'll try to compare the different aspects of storage drives and try to answer that in this piece.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinions.

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PCIe Gen 4 is a huge but unnoticeable leap over Gen 3

An M.2 NVMe SSD in a laptop device (Image via MSI)

PCIe Gen 4 was revealed in 2017. Graphics cards and storage solutions supporting the specs were then launched in 2019.

M.2 NVMe SSDs supporting the latest Gen 4 standards are almost twice as fast as their last-gen counterparts. While Gen 3 SSDs topped at around 3,500 MB/s read and write speeds, Gen 4 SSDs take the speeds northwards of 7,000 MB/s.

However, I have said this before and I'll repeat it — most users will never notice this doubling in performance. Gen 3 SSDs are insanely fast for virtually any workload, including video games. A few milliseconds' difference in load times will be unnoticeable to most users unless you professionally move large files with sizes running into tens of gigabytes. In that case, an enterprise-grade server system makes more sense.

A factor you need to consider with the new generation of hardware is a highly increased thermal output. Most high-end PCIe Gen 4 SSDs need a heatsink to maintain decent temperatures.

The heatsink of the Gigabyte Aorus PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD (Image via Newegg)

SSD manufacturers generally pack a heatsink out of the box. However, there are cheaper variants that don't bundle one. We recommend getting an after-market cooler in this case. Typically, prices begin at $20. This adds up to the overall price of your gaming setup.

However, whether users need the latest generation of SSDs in the market depends. Most users will not notice the performance gap between Gen 3 and Gen 4 SSDs. Moreover, many video games, even in 2024, cannot utilize the extra performance of the new standard. As a result, game load times on either generation of SSDs are similar.

However, users who perform massive copying and writing operations on their PCs can benefit from the highly improved transfer speeds that the PCIe Gen 4 is capable of. Gen 4 effectively doubles the bandwidth of Gen 3 SSDs. Thus, files get copied twice as fast.

Although Gen 4 SSDs have huge untapped potential, things will change as more software gets optimized to utilize what these SSDs have to offer. The high transfer speeds of these drives will also allow video game developers to create bigger and more dense worlds without worsening load times.

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Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, most users will not notice the performance differences between a Gen 3 and a Gen 4 SSD other than the massive price. Although some video games have started utilizing the extra speeds of the latest standards, we are still far from an ideal world where the difference is noticeable. We, therefore, recommend a Gen 3 SSD given its higher value for money.

However, if you are looking to future-proof your rig and will use the SSD for about five or six years, get a faster PCIe Gen 4 drive. Storage drives generally last over five to seven years under normal usage conditions. The tenth generation would likely use the new drives to their fullest, making your system future-ready.