Which Motherboard supports PCIe 4.0 [Intel & AMD] 2023

High-performance PCIe 4.0 expansion cards, PCIe 4.0 motherboards, PCIe SSDs, and PCIe 4.0 CPUs are all broadly accepted by the industry. PCIe 4.0 extension cards, such as GPUs, RAID cards, PCIe SSDs, and more, will perform better due to board manufacturers and chipmakers releasing or getting ready to release PCIe 4.0 motherboards and PCIe 4.0 CPUs. Intel will only use the PCIe 4.0 network on the following Rocket Lake chips, with hardware vendors including it on their motherboards.

When your software or application is ready to switch to PCIe 4.0, you could even consider whether doing so will benefit you. If you use the same lanes as PCIe 3.0, PCI-Express 4.0 will enable you to reach twice the performance. We’ll talk about PCIe 4.0 in this article, along with its function, speeds, compatibility, and whether you should consider upgrading to PCIe 4.0 when it is correct. In this complete reference guide to PCIe 4.0, we’ll go over everything you need to know, slot by slot.

What is PCIe 4.0?

The PCI Special Interest Group created, released, and maintains PCIe 4.0, sometimes called PCIe Gen 4, which is the fourth generation of Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) extension bus specifications. In 2017, PCIe 4.0, Version 1.0, was formally released. High-performance computer makers are racing to adopt PCIe 4.0 for their customers as it is the fastest PCIe generation currently on the market, with a transfer rate of 16 Giga transfers per second (GT/s).

One of PCIe 4.0’s standout features is its increased data transmission rate of 16 GT/s over PCIe 3.0. 16 GT/s is double the 8 GT/s transfer rate of PCIe 3.0, the previous and currently most popular PCIe version. The individual bandwidths consumers can expect from the x1, x2, x4, x8, or x16 PCIe slots on their motherboards are doubled due to this increase in the transfer rate. PCIe 4.0 is currently available. The new generation is now being put into hardware by chip and board vendors.

Which Motherboard supports PCIe 4.0?

You can take note of its chipset instead of searching for PCIe 4.0 support in every single motherboard model. Each motherboard is built on top of a particular chipset. Therefore, understanding the chipset would help you determine whether a particular motherboard supports PCIe 4.0. Only a few motherboard chipsets are available right now that enable PCIe v4.0. Motherboard chipsets that support PCIe 4.0 are included in the following tables:

AMD chipsets with PCIe 4.0 support

• AMD X570: Premium Chipset with V4.0-compliant CPU and Chipset lanes.
• AMD B550: Mid Range Chipset that only has CPU lanes that are V4.0 compliant.
• AMD TRX40: Chipset for AMD Ryzen Threadripper CPUs and workstation motherboards.

For people who wish to upgrade to PCIe 4.0, the AMD X570 motherboard chipset, announced in mid-2019, is highly popular. This premium AMD chipset supports both CPU and chipset lanes in addition to being a premium AMD chipset.

Intel chipsets with PCIe 4.0 support

Currently, four Intel chipsets can handle 4.0 SSDs.

The LGA 1200 socket is present in the next three devices (for 11th Gen CPUs)

• The Intel Z590 is a premium chipset, although only the CPU lanes are PCIe V4.0 compliant.
• Intel B560: A mid-range chipset with only PCIe 4.0 CPU lanes.
• Intel H570: Another mid-range chipset with only PCIe 4.0 CPU lanes.

Sadly, PCIe 4.0 compatibility is only available for CPU lanes and NOT chipset lanes for all chipsets for 11th-generation Intel CPUs. The LGA1700 socket is available for 12th-generation Intel CPUs in the following 600 series:

• Intel Z690: High-end chipset for 12th-generation CPUs. CPU and chipset lanes are V4.0 ready.

The Z690 chipset, introduced in Q4 2021, is the only Intel chipset that supports PCIe 4.0 across both chipset and CPU lanes.

How is PCIe 4.0 different from PCIe 3.0?

The data transfer rate doubles with each version of PCIe; as a result, this is the primary difference between PCIe 4.0 and PCIe 3.0. The data transmission rate between PCIe 4.0 and PCIe 3.0 is 16 Giga transfers per second (GT/s), making PCIe 4.0 twice as quick as PCIe 3.0.

If your computer has a PCIe 4.0 motherboard, every PCIe 4.0 expansion card you buy will provide a greater data transfer rate than a PCIe 3.0 expansion card. This finally improves the performance of your expansion card and the activities it supports, such as reading and writing data to and from a PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD.

Conclusion

You are now aware that the majority of midrange and high motherboards from both Intel and AMD support PCIe Gen 4. Always check the manufacturer’s website to see if the motherboard you’re interested in has Gen 4 PCIe, regardless of the motherboard you choose. The difference is significant, especially regarding NVMe SSD speeds, as it is twice as fast as Gen 3 PCIe. Although PCIe 4.0 delivers double the bandwidth of PCIe 3.0, the difference is only apparent if you have a graphics card or NVMe SSD that can match the faster rates. 

Since most of the gear is compatible with both standards, you can utilize newer parts in PCIe 3.0 slots and older ones in PCIe 4.0 slots. It is possible to tell whether a motherboard supports PCIe 4.0 by looking at its chipset. Only a few motherboard chipsets made by Intel and AMD now enable PCIe 4.0. But choosing the proper motherboard chipset is only one aspect of the situation. You also need the appropriate CPU. Here, I went into great length regarding the motherboards that support PCIe 4.0.

Abdullah Sarfraz

Motherboards & Graphics Cards Expert

Abdullah Sarfraz is a skilled writer with a BS in Economics (Honors) from GC University Faisalabad. He began his academic journey at High School No. 1. His expertise lies in technology, specifically motherboards and graphics cards, backed by three years of practical experience. His unique blend of economics and technology knowledge allows him to write comprehensively about these intersecting fields. His work is a valuable resource for understanding complex technological concepts and their economic implications.