Does PCIe 5 SSD Really Matter?

Performance metrics between PCIe 4 and PCIe 5 show minimal real-world differences during standard gameplay sessions.

Hardware by Masaru Hoshino on Aug 10, 2025

PCI Express 5 is often praised for its blazing speeds, but does it truly make a noticeable difference over PCI Express 4 when it comes to gaming? Given the substantial price difference between PCIe 4 and PCIe 5 SSDs, one may wonder if the investment is worthwhile.

It's critical to ascertain whether PCIe 5 offers actual advantages for gamers or if it's just theoretical bragging rights, given the abundance of marketing hoopla around better read and write speeds.

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The Test Setup: Comparing Two SSDs

We tested the WD Blue 4TB NVMe SSD directly against an existing PCIe 5 drive Gigabyte's AORUS Gen5 10000 NVMe SSD.

The AORUS 10000 uses a Phison E26 controller and TLC flash. It delivers up to 10000MB/s read speeds and 9500MB/s write speeds, with a lifespan rated at 1400TB written. It includes a 5-year warranty and an MTBF of 1.6 million hours.

On the other hand, the WD Blue 4TB SSD uses a Polaris 3 controller and also uses TLC flash. It offers up to 5150MB/s read and 4900MB/s write speeds, with a 5-year warranty, a 600TB written endurance rating, and a 1 million hours MTBF.

Clearly, the PCIe 5 drive has higher numbers on paper, but does that translate into noticeable performance?

Installing and Preparing the SSD

Before installing any NVMe drive, it's important to completely power off the PC. In this case, we had to remove the graphics card to access the SSD plate and swap in the new WD Blue 4TB drive. Once installed, the PC was reassembled and booted into Windows.

The new drive didn't show up immediately in "This PC", which is expected. A quick trip to Disk Management resolved the issue.

After initializing the drive as GPT, a new simple volume was created, formatted as NTFS, and labeled as "Western Blue". Now it was time to start testing with some real games.

Game Load Time Testing: Expedition 33

We installed Expedition 33 on the WD Blue SSD and ran some load-time tests. The results were surprisingly quick.

Loading the game and returning to the title screen happened almost instantly, and the game appeared to be highly optimized.

Even multiple load cycles didn't show any noticeable lag or stutter. From a user standpoint, performance felt seamless and responsive.

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More Load Time Tests: Elden Ring

Next, we fired up Elden Ring and conducted similar save and load tests. The outcomes were outstanding once more.

Throughout several tests, load times were quick and constant; there were no lags or discernible variations that would point to a PCIe 4 SSD limit.

Cyberpunk 2077: Does PCIe 5 Matter Here?

Cyberpunk 2077, known for its massive world and high system requirements, seemed like the perfect candidate to test any potential gains from PCIe 5. But after running multiple save/load cycles, the results remained similar.

The difference between PCIe 4 and PCIe 5 wasn't noticeable to us while gaming. We were expecting more of a gap, but real-world experience didn't reflect the specs on paper.

Monsser Hunter Wilds

We then tested FPS in Monster Hunter Wilds to determine whether storage speed has an impact on in-game performance measures or frame rates.

And the outcome? No significant performance or FPS increases were noticed. Though switching between PCIe 4 and PCIe 5 SSDs had no effect on in-game performance, load times remained quick.

Benchmarking Black Myth: Wukong and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

To dive deeper, we ran benchmarks on Black Myth: Wukong and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Once more, we looked for variations in system performance or FPS.

Regardless of the SSD utilized, the scores from both games were almost the same. This served as further evidence that, despite its impressive appearance, PCIe 5 doesn't significantly alter the gaming experience, at least not in games that are now available.

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Final Thoughts

One thing emerged from all the testing: excellent gaming performance can be had without the fastest SSD on the market. Indeed, a PCIe 5 powerhouse was no match for PCIe 4 SSDs like the WD Blue.

PCIe 4 even beats its more recent competitor in certain situations, demonstrating that practical use does not always correspond with theoretical maximum speeds.

If you're building or upgrading a PC and trying to decide between PCIe 4 and PCIe 5, the smarter financial move for most gamers might be sticking with PCIe 4. It's fast, reliable, and much more cost-effective.

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