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PCIe Gen 3 Vs PCIe Gen 4: A Gaming Performance Comparison

We compare the two and test their performance in games including GTA V, Battlefield V, The Witcher 3, and more.

The PCIe 4.0 was the prominent feature during AMD’s introduction of their Ryzen third generation desktop CPUs and a new chipset as they are the first one to introduce the PCIe 4.0 for desktop users. Today, we will be doing a PCIe Gen 3 vs PCIe Gen 4 comparison to see how they differ from each other. 

Key Takeaways

  • To begin with, it is worth mentioning that x570 motherboards are the only ones that support PCIe 4.0, whereas the older variants only come with PCIe 3.0 compatibility.
  • AMD claims that the PCIe 4.0 interface offers twice the bandwidth of PCIe 3.0, resulting in a significant increase from 32GB/s to 64GB/s.
  • Furthermore, the results of our 3D Mark’s PCI Express Feature Test indicated that the PCIe 4.0 demonstrated nearly twice the level of performance compared to its predecessor, the PCIe 3.0.
  • However, gaming, thermal, and power consumption benchmarks did not demonstrate any noticeable difference.

PCIe 4.0 has doubled the bandwidth that PCIe 3.0 specify ication offers taking it to 64 GB/s from 32GB/s. This is a whopping figure offering more throughput than ever. Only AMD’s X570 chipset-based motherboards are coming with PCIe 4.0 slots and to achieve the 4.0 functionality, one would need AMD’s third-generation Ryzen CPUs.

Earlier AIB partners of AMD teased that selected motherboards in X470 would be provided limited PCIe 4.0 support with the BIOS update. Also, make sure to learn about how to reset BIOS settings, as that will help you greatly if you ever run into some issues. 

Comparison Table

Parameters PCIe Gen 3 PCIe Gen 4
Release Year 2010 2017
Protocol PCIe 3.0 PCIe 4.0
Bandwidth per lane 8 GT/s 16 GT/s
Max bandwidth for x1 slot 1 GB/s 2 GB/s
Max bandwidth for x4 slot 4 GB/s 8 GB/s
Max bandwidth for x8 slot 8 GB/s 16 GB/s
Max bandwidth for x16 slot 16 GB/s 32 GB/s
Data transfer encoding 128b/130b 128b/130b
Backward compatibility Compatible with PCIe Gen 1 and Gen 2 devices Backward compatible with PCIe Gen 3 devices

Now that you have learned the basic differences between the two through the table above, let’s take a look at the difference in encoding, transfer rate, and bandwidth. 

PCI Express Version Encoding Transfer Rate Bandwidth
PCIe 1.0 8b/10b 2.5 GT/s 8.0 GB/s
PCIe 2.0 8b/10b 5.0 GT/s 16 GB/s
PCIe 3.0 128b/130b 8.0 GT/s 32 GB/s
PCIe 4.0 128b/130b 16.0 GT/s 64 GB/s

As can be seen from the above table, the PCIe 4.0 standard or specification is supporting a transfer rate of 16 GT/s which results in 64 GB/s total bandwidth and approximately 2 GB/s per lane (single). Everything here is doubled as compared to the PCIe 3.0 standard.

Also Read: LGA 1200 Vs LGA 1700

As expected PCI 4.0 is backward compatible meaning if you would want to use PCIe 3.0 device on the motherboards with PCIe 4.0 support, it will work. Similarly, a PCIe 4.0 device will work on motherboards with PCIe 3.0 support.

Let me digress here to answer a simple question easily for a few who asked. The PCIe slots are listed as X1, X4, X8, and X16. The number followed by X is showing the number of lanes available for that slot. Each lane has two pairs of wires. One pair is to receive the packet and the other is to send the packet. The packets move across the lane at the rate of 1-bit per cycle.

AMD’s new X570 and third-generation CPUs have up to 40 PCIe lanes. 24 of these lanes are in the CPU whereas up to 12 lanes are from the chipset. As can be seen in the above picture of a Ryzen third-generation CPU, 16x PCIe 4.0 lanes are dedicated to the graphics card (the first PCIe 4.0 x16 slot). 4x lanes are dedicated to high-speed storage. The last 4 are for interconnecting between the CPU and the X570 chipset.

pcie gen 4 vs gen 3
AMD X570 Chipset Included. Image Credits (Tech4Gamers)

The above picture now includes the X570 chipset in the overall scenario.

pcie gen 4 vs gen 3
Breakdown of PCIe 4.0 Lanes. Image Credits (Tech4Gamers)

The above picture further scales down the X570 chipset showing the breakup of the PCIe 4.0 lanes from the chipset. We have a total of 16 PCIe 4.0 lanes in the chipset which includes the 4x lanes for interconnecting.

PCIe Gen 3 Vs PCIe Gen 4: Gaming Performance Test

We have to look at the PCIe Gen 4.0 functionality in two departments which are the gaming performance and the high-speed storage connectivity. This is part I of the content where I will be testing if the PCIe 4.0 has any impact on the gaming performance and in part II I will test the high-speed storage using the PCIe Gen 4.0 interface.

Also Read: Z790 Vs Z690

Does PCIe Gen 4 bring any significant improvement in gaming performance over the Gen 3? This is the exact question that I will be addressing in this content. In my opinion, there won’t be a difference as such as we have not even saturated the full PCIe 3.0 bandwidth. Still, let’s find it out.

Testing Rig

Following is the test bench configuration:

  • AMD Ryzen 7 3700X [PBO]
  • AORUS X570 PRO WIFI
  • CORSAIR H100i RGB Platinum [Balanced Mode]
  • CORSAIR VENGEANCE PRO RGB 16GB @ 3200MHz CL16
  • MSI RX 5700XT MECH OC
  • HyperX 120GB SSD [OS]
  • Samsung 840 EVO 1TB SSD [Games]
  • Antech HCP1300
  • AZZA Apollo 430 White Chassis

I have set the FCLK to 1600 manually in the UEFI settings. My 3600MHz with CL16 kits are stuck in Canada otherwise I would have used the same. AMD Ryzen 7 3700X was used on stock settings with PBO/XFR enabled.

AMD driver Adrenalin 2020 Edition 20.2.2 was used for all tests. Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) was used to remove the complete traces of any previous installation before installing the drivers.

MSI Afterburner 4.62 was used to monitor and record the FPS for the games without in-built benchmarks.

Games Tests

The following games were tested:

  • Battlefield V (DX12]
  • Metro Exodus [DX12]
  • Assassin’s Creed: Origins [DX11]
  • Shadow of the Tomb Raider [DX12]
  • Grand Theft Auto – V [DX11]
  • Middle Earth – Shadow of War [DX11]
  • The Witcher 3 [DX11]
  • DOOM [Vulkan]
  • Wolfenstein II The New Colossus [Vulkan]
Advanced Mode
Advanced Mode. Image Credits (Tech4Gamers)

To switch between Gen 3 and Gen 4, go to the UEFI/BIOS by pressing the Del key and F2 at the startup. Once inside the UEFI, go to the Settings menu. You will find the Miscellaneous option there. Click on it.

Gen 4
Gen 4. Image Credits (Tech4Gamers)

In the submenu, there will be a setting named PCIe Slot Configuration. It will be set at Auto. Here Auto means that the slot will be set to 3.0 or 4.0 mode based on the native graphics device interface. Clicking the Auto, you will get a dropdown menu. You can set the slot configuration for any generation from there. I have set it to Gen 3 and after completing the testing on it, I changed it to Gen 4.

Similar Comparisons: B550 Vs X570

Please, note that the above settings are from the GIGABYTE/AORUS UEFI/BIOS. If you are using another manufacturer’s motherboard, refer to the user manual to identify the proper setting for switching between the PCIe generations.

First, let’s take a look at the 3D Mark’s PCI Express Feature Test.

Feature Test
Feature Test. Image Credits (Tech4Gamers)

The test results in 13.99 GB/s bandwidth when run on PCIe Gen 3. For confirmation, I have also shown the TechPowerUp GPU-Z snapshot. The bus interface can be seen set at x16 3.0.

nvme gen 3 vs gen 4
Feature Test. Image Credits (Tech4Gamers)

The test results in 25.84 GB/s bandwidth when run on PCIe Gen 4. Again, for confirmation, I have shown the TechPowerUp GPU-Z snapshot showing the bus interface of x16 4.0.

pci gen3 vs gen4
Monitoring. Image Credits (Tech4Gamers)

Since we only have PCIe Gen 3.0 standard on the Intel-based configurations. For cross-confirmation, I have also run this test on an Intel i7 8700k using ASUS Strix Z390-E Gaming motherboard using the same graphics card. This result is confirming the result obtained when we set the AORUS motherboard to run on PCIe Gen 3.0.

One thing to remember here is that these tests are showing the results of the generation differences only from the x16 PCIe slot. 64 GB/s is the combined throughput. The rated throughput for the PCIe 3.0 x16 is 15.75 GB/s whereas it is 31.51 GB/s for the PCIe 4.0 x16.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins [Game Engine: AnvilNext 2.0]

AC Origins
Assassin’s Creed Origins. Image Credits (Tech4Gamers)

As such no difference was observed in this game at both PCIe generations.

Battlefield V [DX12] [Game Engine: Frostbite 3]

BFV
Battlefield V. Image Credits (Tech4Gamers)

Again, we are seeing no difference to report.

Also Check: LGA Vs PGA Sockets

DOOM [Game Engine: ID Tech 6]

pcie 3 vs 4
DOOM. Image Credits (Tech4Gamers)

A difference of a mere 2.3 FPS is not enough to conclude anything and is within the margin of error.

Grand Theft Auto V [Game Engine: RAGE]

gen 3 vs gen 4
GTA V. Image Credits (Tech4Gamers)

No difference here as well.

Metro Exodus [DX12] [Game Engine: 4A Engine]

pcie gen3 x 4
Metro Exodus. Image Credits (Tech4Gamers)

Same result here as well.

Middle Earth: Shadow Of War [Game Engine: LithTech Firebird]

pcie 4 vs 3
Middle Earth. Image Credits (Tech4Gamers)

A mere difference of 2 FPS is nothing conclusive.

Shadow Of The Tomb Raider [DX12] [Game Engine: Foundation]

Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Image Credits (Tech4Gamers)

Again, we are seeing no difference.

Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt [Game Engine: REDengine 3]

pcie gen 4
Witcher 3. Image Credits (Tech4Gamers)

No difference either.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus [Game Engine: ID Tech 6]

pcie gen3 vs gen4
Wolfenstein II. Image Credits (Tech4Gamers)

The same result was observed in this game as well.

Also Read: X670 Vs B650 Motherboards

Difference In Thermals 

pcie gen 3 vs 4

There was no difference as such on the thermals of the graphics card in both sets of the testing. The temperature reading was taken after a 30-minute gaming session of Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt on 1440P at Ultra settings. The reading from the MSI AfterBurner was counter-checked with the reading from the HWInfo64.

Difference In Power 

pcie gen 4 speed

Similarly, there was no difference in terms of the power being utilized by the graphics card in both sets of testing. The power reading was taken after a 30-minute gaming session of Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt on 1440P at Ultra settings. The reading from the MSI AfterBurner was counter-checked with the reading from the HWInfo64.

Also Read: ASUS Vs Gigabyte Motherboards

Since the AORUS X570 PRO WIFI has a sensor for the PCIe X16 slot’s temperature; I used the HWInfo64 to read those temps after each run of the tests. After the PCIe 3.0 tests, the PCIe x16 slot’s temperature was 52°C whereas it was 54°C after the PCIe 4.0 tests.

Conclusion

Based on our testing using the PCIe 4.0 Ready graphics card, we can see that there is no gaming performance boost or improvement yet when using the PCIe 4.0 standard over the PCIe 3.0 standard. As I have mentioned above that this is one aspect of the PCIe Gen 4. In any case, we hope that our PCIe Gen 3 vs PCIe Gen 4 comparison was of help to you. 

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