{"id":20769,"date":"2022-11-24T13:15:57","date_gmt":"2022-11-24T12:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/g100.us\/?p=20769"},"modified":"2023-05-05T16:09:26","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T14:09:26","slug":"what-does-pcie-x16-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does PCIe x16 Mean? [Beginner's Guide]"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_39 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">TABLE OF CONTENTS<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-668445db966fd\" class=\"cssicon\"><span style=\"display: flex;align-items: center;width: 35px;height: 30px;justify-content: center;direction:ltr;\"><svg style=\"fill: #7f11e0;color:#7f11e0\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #7f11e0;color:#7f11e0\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\" \/><\/svg><\/span><\/label><label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-668445db966fd\" class=\"cssiconcheckbox\">1<\/label><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-668445db966fd\" checked><nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 \"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/#What_Does_PCIe_x16_Stand_for\" title=\"What Does PCIe x16 Stand for?\">What Does PCIe x16 Stand for?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/#What_is_PCI_Express\" title=\"What is PCI Express?\">What is PCI Express?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/#What_Does_PCIe_x16_Mean\" title=\"What Does PCIe x16 Mean?\">What Does PCIe x16 Mean?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/#Devices_Commonly_Used_With_PCIe_x16_Slots\" title=\"Devices Commonly Used With PCIe x16 Slots\">Devices Commonly Used With PCIe x16 Slots<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/#How_Different_Versions_of_PCIe_x16_Compare\" title=\"How Different Versions of PCIe x16 Compare\">How Different Versions of PCIe x16 Compare<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/#PCIe_x16_Gen_1\" title=\"PCIe x16 Gen 1\">PCIe x16 Gen 1<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/#PCIe_x16_Gen_2\" title=\"PCIe x16 Gen 2\">PCIe x16 Gen 2<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/#PCIe_x16_Gen_3\" title=\"PCIe x16 Gen 3\">PCIe x16 Gen 3<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/#PCIe_x16_Gen_4\" title=\"PCIe x16 Gen 4\">PCIe x16 Gen 4<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/#PCIe_x16_Gen_5\" title=\"PCIe x16 Gen 5\">PCIe x16 Gen 5<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/#PCIe_x16_Gen_6\" title=\"PCIe x16 Gen 6\">PCIe x16 Gen 6<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/#Are_All_PCIe_x16_Slots_The_Same\" title=\"Are All PCIe x16 Slots The Same?\">Are All PCIe x16 Slots The Same?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/#FAQ\" title=\"FAQ\">FAQ<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/#How_Do_PCIe_Lanes_Work_In_a_Motherboard\" title=\"How Do PCIe Lanes Work In a Motherboard?\">How Do PCIe Lanes Work In a Motherboard?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/#Can_PCIe_x16_Cards_Be_Used_In_PCIe_x8_Slots_or_Vice_Versa\" title=\"Can PCIe x16 Cards Be Used In PCIe x8 Slots or Vice Versa?\">Can PCIe x16 Cards Be Used In PCIe x8 Slots or Vice Versa?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/#Are_There_PCIe_x16_SSDs\" title=\"Are There PCIe x16 SSDs?\">Are There PCIe x16 SSDs?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-17\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/what-does-pcie-x16-mean\/#Over_to_You\" title=\"Over to You\">Over to You<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>What does PCIe x16 mean, and why does it matter?<\/p>\n<p>Today, I\u2019ll be diving into everything you need to know to understand this specification whenever you see it, including how different PCIe generations compare and what devices use PCIe <strong>x16<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s not waste any time, and dive right in!<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Does_PCIe_x16_Stand_for\"><\/span>What Does PCIe x16 Stand for?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>First, let\u2019s just break down \u201cPCIe x16\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20776\" style=\"width: 1600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20776\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20776\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Slot.jpg\" alt=\"PCIe x16 Slot\" width=\"1600\" height=\"870\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Slot.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Slot-300x163.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Slot-1024x557.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Slot-768x418.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Slot-1536x835.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20776\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20776 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201600%20870%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"PCIe x16 Slot\" width=\"1600\" height=\"870\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201600%20870%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Slot.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Slot-300x163.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Slot-1024x557.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Slot-768x418.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Slot-1536x835.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Slot.jpg\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-20776\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msi.com\/Motherboard\/B450-TOMAHAWK\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MSI<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>\u201cPCIe\u201d means \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/types-of-pcie-slots\/\">PCI Express<\/a>\u201d,<\/strong> referring to the dominant standard of PC motherboard expansion for the past twenty or so years.<\/p>\n<p><strong>That \u201cx16\u201d is a specification referring to either the x16 PCIe slot form factor (<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>physical length<\/em><\/span> of the slot) or a full <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/guide-to-pcie-lanes\/\">x16 lanes of PCI Express bandwidth<\/a> (<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>electrical bandwidth<\/em><\/span> of the slot)<\/strong>. Usually both, but not always.<\/p>\n<p>With the name itself broken down, we can now dive into deeper definitions of PCI Express and PCIe x16.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_PCI_Express\"><\/span>What is PCI Express?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>As mentioned prior, <strong>PCI Express is the dominant standard for PC expansion cards<\/strong> and has been since its debut.<\/p>\n<p><strong>That \u201cPCI\u201d stands for \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">P<\/span>eripheral <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">C<\/span>omponent <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">I<\/span>nterconnect\u201d if you\u2019re curious<\/strong>, and there were also a few (very old) non-Express PCI versions before we got PCIe.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The main reason PCI Express is the dominant standard for PC expansion cards is that it doubles its bandwidth every generation, making it by far the fastest slot<\/strong> on any motherboard where it happens to be present.<\/p>\n<p>PCI Express also allows flexibility by coming in 4 different slot sizes and matching lane configurations<strong>*<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>PCI Express x1 <\/strong>\u2014 Single lane, smallest slot.<\/li>\n<li><strong>PCI Express x4 <\/strong>\u2014 Four lanes, second-smallest slot.<\/li>\n<li><strong>PCI Express x8 <\/strong>\u2014 Eight lanes, second-largest slot.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>PCI Express x16<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 Sixteen lanes, largest slot.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em><strong>*some slots may not have matching lanes in bandwidth, more on this throughout the article.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_17884\" style=\"width: 2048px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17884\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-17884\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/06\/PCI-Express-slots-overview-x1-x4-x8-x16.jpg\" alt=\"PCI Express slots overview x1 x4 x8 x16\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/06\/PCI-Express-slots-overview-x1-x4-x8-x16.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/06\/PCI-Express-slots-overview-x1-x4-x8-x16-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/06\/PCI-Express-slots-overview-x1-x4-x8-x16-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/06\/PCI-Express-slots-overview-x1-x4-x8-x16-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/06\/PCI-Express-slots-overview-x1-x4-x8-x16-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17884\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-17884 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"PCI Express slots overview x1 x4 x8 x16\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/06\/PCI-Express-slots-overview-x1-x4-x8-x16.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/06\/PCI-Express-slots-overview-x1-x4-x8-x16-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/06\/PCI-Express-slots-overview-x1-x4-x8-x16-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/06\/PCI-Express-slots-overview-x1-x4-x8-x16-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/06\/PCI-Express-slots-overview-x1-x4-x8-x16-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/06\/PCI-Express-slots-overview-x1-x4-x8-x16.jpg\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-17884\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Types of PCI Express slots overview - x1, x4, x8, x16<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Today, our main focus is on <strong>PCIe x16<\/strong>, so let\u2019s dive deeper into <em>that<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Does_PCIe_x16_Mean\"><\/span>What Does PCIe x16 Mean?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>PCIe x16 is your 16-lane PCI Express slot, or at least your largest\/longest PCI Express slot. <\/strong>It is the most high-bandwidth, high-performance expansion slot inside any PC.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Devices_Commonly_Used_With_PCIe_x16_Slots\"><\/span>Devices Commonly Used With PCIe x16 Slots<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>So, what usually goes in a PCIe x16 Slot? It largely breaks down into the following three categories:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Graphics Cards<\/strong> \u2014 The most common use for a PCIe x16 slot is a <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/gpu-vs-graphics-card-vs-video-card\/\">graphics card, or GPU<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Heavy Duty Networking Cards* <\/strong>\u2014 For high-end networking environments (servers, etc), the higher bandwidth of PCIe makes sense for managing multiple Ethernet connections at once.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Heavy Duty Storage Cards*<\/strong> \u2014 Also usually on servers, some heavy-duty storage setups (like multi-drive RAID setups with lots of high-capacity drives) may be managed by a PCIe x16 RAID card.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In general, PCIe x16 is mostly known for being used with graphics cards. Other PCIe x16 cards tend to be rarer and very workload-specific.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>*These are also common in an x8 form factor.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Different_Versions_of_PCIe_x16_Compare\"><\/span>How Different Versions of PCIe x16 Compare<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-20777\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-1-vs-Gen-2-vs-Gen-3-Comparison.jpg\" alt=\"PCIe x16 Gen 1 vs Gen 2 vs Gen 3 Comparison\" width=\"2048\" height=\"688\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-1-vs-Gen-2-vs-Gen-3-Comparison.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-1-vs-Gen-2-vs-Gen-3-Comparison-300x101.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-1-vs-Gen-2-vs-Gen-3-Comparison-1024x344.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-1-vs-Gen-2-vs-Gen-3-Comparison-768x258.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-1-vs-Gen-2-vs-Gen-3-Comparison-1536x516.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-20777 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%20688%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"PCIe x16 Gen 1 vs Gen 2 vs Gen 3 Comparison\" width=\"2048\" height=\"688\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%20688%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-1-vs-Gen-2-vs-Gen-3-Comparison.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-1-vs-Gen-2-vs-Gen-3-Comparison-300x101.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-1-vs-Gen-2-vs-Gen-3-Comparison-1024x344.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-1-vs-Gen-2-vs-Gen-3-Comparison-768x258.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-1-vs-Gen-2-vs-Gen-3-Comparison-1536x516.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-1-vs-Gen-2-vs-Gen-3-Comparison.jpg\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"PCIe_x16_Gen_1\"><\/span>PCIe x16 Gen 1<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Single Direction Speed: 4 Gigabytes per second<\/li>\n<li>Dual Direction Speed: 8 Gigabytes per second<\/li>\n<li>Release Date: 2003<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Originally released in 2003, the first PCI Express standard introduced the x16 slot with unprecedented bandwidth<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>It was also the first successor to the original PCI, often sharing space on motherboards with regular PCI slots.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"PCIe_x16_Gen_2\"><\/span>PCIe x16 Gen 2<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Single Direction Speed: 8 Gigabytes per second<\/li>\n<li>Dual Direction Speed: 16 Gigabytes per second<\/li>\n<li>Release Date: 2007<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Just four years after the original release in 2003, PCI Express Gen 2 dropped in 2007.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Boasting a full double-speed improvement over the original standard, PCIe Gen 2 lived up to the promises made by the evolving standard.<\/p>\n<p>Non-Express PCI slots were still common at this time, too, for supporting older peripherals.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"PCIe_x16_Gen_3\"><\/span>PCIe x16 Gen 3<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Single Direction Speed: 16 Gigabytes per second<\/li>\n<li>Dual Direction Speed: 32 Gigabytes per second<\/li>\n<li>Release Date: 2010<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>PCI Express Gen 3 is probably the first \u201cmodern\u201d PCI Express standard and has by far the longest lifespan, being released in 2010 and not succeeded until 2017.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Over the course of PCI Express Gen 3\u2019s life, many advancements were being made in the PC hardware space, including the increasing adoption of SSDs and the removal of legacy ports like PCI.<\/p>\n<p><strong>One change introduced by PCIe Gen 3 that continues into the newer generations is the introduction of NVMe M.2 slots onto the motherboard.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20779\" style=\"width: 2048px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20779\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20779\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCI-Express-M.2-SSD-Adapters.jpg\" alt=\"PCI Express M.2 SSD Adapters\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCI-Express-M.2-SSD-Adapters.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCI-Express-M.2-SSD-Adapters-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCI-Express-M.2-SSD-Adapters-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCI-Express-M.2-SSD-Adapters-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCI-Express-M.2-SSD-Adapters-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20779\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20779 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"PCI Express M.2 SSD Adapters\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCI-Express-M.2-SSD-Adapters.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCI-Express-M.2-SSD-Adapters-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCI-Express-M.2-SSD-Adapters-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCI-Express-M.2-SSD-Adapters-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCI-Express-M.2-SSD-Adapters-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCI-Express-M.2-SSD-Adapters.jpg\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-20779\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gigabyte.com\/us\/SSD\/AORUS-Gen4-AIC-Adaptor#kf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GIGABYTE<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>These enable SSDs with PCI Express bandwidth, though they\u2019re usually limited to x4 bandwidth. <strong>However, x16 and x8 cards can be used for adding M.2 to systems without the slot.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-20778\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-4-vs-Gen-5-vs-Gen-6-Comparison.jpg\" alt=\"PCIe x16 Gen 4 vs Gen 5 vs Gen 6 Comparison\" width=\"2048\" height=\"688\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-4-vs-Gen-5-vs-Gen-6-Comparison.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-4-vs-Gen-5-vs-Gen-6-Comparison-300x101.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-4-vs-Gen-5-vs-Gen-6-Comparison-1024x344.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-4-vs-Gen-5-vs-Gen-6-Comparison-768x258.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-4-vs-Gen-5-vs-Gen-6-Comparison-1536x516.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-20778 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%20688%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"PCIe x16 Gen 4 vs Gen 5 vs Gen 6 Comparison\" width=\"2048\" height=\"688\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%20688%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-4-vs-Gen-5-vs-Gen-6-Comparison.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-4-vs-Gen-5-vs-Gen-6-Comparison-300x101.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-4-vs-Gen-5-vs-Gen-6-Comparison-1024x344.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-4-vs-Gen-5-vs-Gen-6-Comparison-768x258.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-4-vs-Gen-5-vs-Gen-6-Comparison-1536x516.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/PCIe-x16-Gen-4-vs-Gen-5-vs-Gen-6-Comparison.jpg\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"PCIe_x16_Gen_4\"><\/span>PCIe x16 Gen 4<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Single Direction Speed: 32 Gigabytes per second<\/li>\n<li>Dual Direction Speed: 64 Gigabytes per second<\/li>\n<li>Release Date: 2017<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>PCI Express Gen 4 is one of the current standards and the most common in motherboards released since 2017.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Once we breach PCI Express Gen 4\u2014 which was the first major change to PCIe in the seven years since Gen 3\u2014 we also start breaching the higher-end of what NVMe storage and modern GPUs are capable of.<\/p>\n<p>Even last-gen GPUs begin to breach the maximum bandwidth capabilities offered by PCIe Gen 3, requiring PCIe 4.0 or newer:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-100\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-100 tablepress-responsive\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1 odd\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">GPU<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Required PCIe Gen. &amp; Lane Count<br>\nfor &lt; 1% performance loss<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">Required PCIe Gen. &amp; Lane Count<br>\nfor &lt; 5% performance loss<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">GTX 1660 Super<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">PCIe 3.0 x4<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">PCIe 3.0 x4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">RTX 2060 Super<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">PCIe 3.0 x8<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">PCIe 3.0 x4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">RTX 2080 Ti<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">PCIe 3.0 x16<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">PCIe 3.0 x8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">RTX 3060 Ti<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">PCIe 4.0 x8<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">PCIe 4.0 x4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">RTX 3080<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">PCIe 4.0 x8<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">PCIe 4.0 x4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-7 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">RTX 3090<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">PCIe 4.0 x16<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">PCIe 4.0 x8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-100 from cache -->\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"PCIe_x16_Gen_5\"><\/span>PCIe x16 Gen 5<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Single Direction Speed: 64 Gigabytes per second<\/li>\n<li>Dual Direction Speed: 128 Gigabytes per second<\/li>\n<li><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> 2019<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>PCI Express Gen 5 was released in 2019 and served as a quick high-end refresh to Gen 4 boards<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>This is also <strong>the fastest version of PCI Express currently available at the time of writing (late 2022)<\/strong> since Gen 6 has been announced but not actually launched in market-ready motherboards yet.<\/p>\n<p><strong>At the time of writing, not even the most powerful GPUs available on the market\u2014 like the RTX 4090\u2014 can fully saturate the bandwidth offered by PCI Express 5.0 x16.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The day when we need more than PCIe Gen 5 for running GPUs without bottlenecks should be pretty far away.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"PCIe_x16_Gen_6\"><\/span>PCIe x16 Gen 6<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Single Direction Speed: 128 Gigabytes per second<\/li>\n<li>Dual Direction Speed: 256 Gigabytes per second<\/li>\n<li>Release Date<strong>:<\/strong> 2021* (Announced, not actually in motherboards at the time of writing, likely to come to market in 2022)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>PCI Express Gen 6 is the newest PCI Express standard, but thus far has only been announced and has yet to be seen in motherboards<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Even if it does become available, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.anandtech.com\/show\/17203\/pcie-60-specification-finalized-x16-slots-to-reach-128gbps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">outlets like Anandtech suspect<\/a> that we won\u2019t see commonplace usage of PCIe Gen 6 until 2023, and consumer boards may not even get the feature until 2024.<\/p>\n<p>And, yeah\u2014 I highly doubt any graphics cards released in the next five years will be saturating the usage of PCIe Gen 6 x16 bandwidth.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Are_All_PCIe_x16_Slots_The_Same\"><\/span>Are All PCIe x16 Slots The Same?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Besides the generational differences discussed directly above, <strong>it\u2019s important to clarify that on many motherboards, PCIe x16 lanes may actually be restricted to x8 bandwidth instead<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Alternatively, there may be only a single x16 slot instead of an additional x16 slot on x8 bandwidth. <strong>Cuts like these are usually made to make the motherboard cheaper to produce, which is why you see these compromises in budget boards so often. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>You can usually see the difference if you look carefully enough, <\/strong>though, as shown in the image below:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_15375\" style=\"width: 2048px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15375\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-15375\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes.jpg\" alt=\"PCIe Slots vs PCIe lanes\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15375\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-15375 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"PCIe Slots vs PCIe lanes\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes.jpg\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-15375\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Even though the slot has a mechanical length of a x16 slot, the pins only reach up to x8 length.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Usually, you\u2019ll only see multiple full-size, full-bandwidth PCIe x16 Slots on a higher-end motherboard<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Higher-end boards with better chipsets and more powerful CPUs are able to more effectively utilize all of the raw bandwidth needed for multiple full-speed PCIe x16 slots.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Do_PCIe_Lanes_Work_In_a_Motherboard\"><\/span>How Do PCIe Lanes Work In a Motherboard?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Curious about how PCIe Lanes work and how many you need to support your PC\u2019s workloads? <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/guide-to-pcie-lanes\/\"><strong>Consider Alex\u2019s Extended Guide To PCIe Lanes<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Before you consider heading off there, though, I do have a few quick tips about PCIe Lanes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Users who are only using a single x16 card usually don\u2019t need to worry about buying higher-end boards or CPUs for increased lane support.<\/li>\n<li>The visual difference between a True PCIe x16 Slot and an x8 PCIe x16 Slot is obvious once you know what you\u2019re looking for.<\/li>\n<li>The higher-end boards are generally the better bet if you plan on using multiple PCI Express expansion cards, NVMe drives, or both. Higher-end boards will also support higher RAM speeds and CPU overclocking headroom.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_PCIe_x16_Cards_Be_Used_In_PCIe_x8_Slots_or_Vice_Versa\"><\/span>Can PCIe x16 Cards Be Used In PCIe x8 Slots or Vice Versa?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Yes, in both directions! There is a catch, though.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>For PCIe x8 cards used in PCIe x16 slots, there is no downside. <\/strong>Larger slots can support smaller cards without any problems.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For PCIe x16 cards used in smaller PCIe x8 slots, basic compatibility is still maintained<\/strong>...<strong>but <\/strong>since not all of the connector is being used and you\u2019re on a slower slot in general,<strong> not all of the bandwidth is going to be kept<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>So PCIe x16 cards <em>work<\/em> in x8 slots but may face performance degradation as a result, especially high-end cards.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Are_There_PCIe_x16_SSDs\"><\/span>Are There PCIe x16 SSDs?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Nope! PCI Express and NVMe SSDs don\u2019t tend to use x16 bandwidth. <\/strong><strong>NVMe SSDs are reliant on PCIe x4 bandwidth with dedicated M.2 NVMe slo<\/strong><strong>ts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20780\" style=\"width: 2048px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20780\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20780\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/Types-of-PCIe-Slots.jpg\" alt=\"Types of PCIe Slots\" width=\"2048\" height=\"818\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/Types-of-PCIe-Slots.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/Types-of-PCIe-Slots-300x120.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/Types-of-PCIe-Slots-1024x409.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/Types-of-PCIe-Slots-768x307.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/Types-of-PCIe-Slots-1536x614.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20780\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20780 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%20818%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Types of PCIe Slots\" width=\"2048\" height=\"818\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%20818%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/Types-of-PCIe-Slots.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/Types-of-PCIe-Slots-300x120.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/Types-of-PCIe-Slots-1024x409.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/Types-of-PCIe-Slots-768x307.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/Types-of-PCIe-Slots-1536x614.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/11\/Types-of-PCIe-Slots.jpg\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-20780\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gigabyte.com\/Motherboard\/B550M-AORUS-ELITE-rev-1x#kf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GIGABYTE<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>Meanwhile, most PCI Express SSDs that came in actual cards have long since been phased out in favor of NVMe drives as well.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Even Intel\u2019s specialized Optane SSDs, which still come in a card form factor, rely on PCIe x4 instead of x16.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Over_to_You\"><\/span>Over to You<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>And that\u2019s it, at least for now! <strong>I hope that this article helped you come to a fuller understanding of PCIe x16! <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>I tried to answer any pressing questions you might have about the PCIe x16 slot in this article, but feel free to ask any more you may have in the <a href=\"#comments\">comments<\/a> below or head to the G100 <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/forum\/\">Forums<\/a> to interact with the rest of the team and community.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Until then or until next time, have a good one! And remember to double-check your PCIe x16 slots if you\u2019re using a multi-GPU configuration since some high-end cards can be bottlenecked by PCIe x8!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does PCIe x16 mean, and why does it matter? Today, I\u2019ll be diving into everything you need to know to understand this specification whenever you see it, including how different PCIe generations compare and what devices use PCIe x16. Let\u2019s not waste any time, and dive right in! What Does PCIe x16 Stand for?...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2339,"featured_media":20770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[74],"tags":[119,219],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20769"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2339"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20769"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22430,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20769\/revisions\/22430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}