感谢AMD，在 2019 年夏天，新的PCI Express 硬件(PCI Express hardware)已经出现在我们的计算机中，有望比以往更快的显卡和固态驱动器。PCI Express 4.0接口提供的带宽是PCI Express 3.0 ( PCIe 3 )的两倍，它可以为连接到主板的任何扩展卡做到这一点。现在，我们有与PCI Express 4(PCI Express 4) ( PCIe 4 )兼容的显卡和SSD(SSDs)，可在商店购买。您可能会问自己：玩游戏时PCIe 4是否每秒提供更多帧？它是否使您的SSD开车快很多？我们问了自己同样的问题，因此我们决定进行性能分析(performance analysis)，比较PCIe 4和PCIe 3：
我们如何测试PCI Express 性能(PCI Express performance)
为了查看PCI Express 第 4 版(PCI Express version 4)引入的性能改进，我们使用了以下测试计算机(test computer)：
- 处理器：AMD Ryzen 7 3700X（8 核，16 线程，基本时钟 3600 (Base Clock 3600) MHz，最大加速时钟 4600 (Max Boost Clock 4600) MHz）
- 主板：华硕ROG Crosshair VIII Hero(ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Hero)（Wi-Fi）
- 散热器：华硕ROG Ryou 120(ASUS ROG Ryou 120)
- 内存：HyperX Predator DDR4 RGB 内存(HyperX Predator DDR4 RGB Memory)（2 x 8GB，3600MHz）
- 显卡：华擎(Card)AMD Radeon RX 5700 (ASRock AMD Radeon RX 5700) XT Taichi X 8G OC+
- 存储：ADATA XPG Gammix S50
- 显示器：华硕 ROG Strix XG32VQ 曲面电竞显示器(ASUS ROG Strix XG32VQ Curved Gaming Monitor)（32 英寸WQHD 2560 x(x 1440) 1440，144Hz）
- 电源(Power Supply Unit)：ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum
- 操作系统(Operating System)：Windows 10 Pro x64，2019年 11 月(November 2019) 更新(Update)
我们的主板提供了出色的UEFI BIOS，您可以调整许多选项和设置。其中，您可以找到并设置主板上每个插槽使用的PCI Express接口版本。(PCI Express interface)为了比较PCIe 4 与 PCIe 3(vs. PCIe 3)，我们首先使用默认设置的PCIe 4运行所有接下来的基准测试。(PCIe 4)然后，我们配置UEFI BIOS以将GPU和SSD的(SSD)PCI Express 接口(PCI Express interface)限制为 PCIe 3。
让我们看看我们得到了什么结果，以及PCI Express 版本 4与(PCI Express version 4)版本 3(version 3)相比是否提供了有意义的改进。
PCIe 4 vs. PCIe 3：你在游戏中每秒获得更多帧吗？
我们首先测试了Z 世界大战中(World War Z)华擎 AMD Radeon RX 5700 (ASRock AMD Radeon RX 5700) XT Taichi X 8G OC+ 显卡的性能。我们使用了Vulkan API和Ultra图形质量设置。当我们使用PCIe 4时，与 PCIe 3 相比，我们看到每秒帧数略有增加。根据我们所查看的指标，这些数字提高了 3%：最小FPS、平均FPS或最大第一人称射击(FPS)。
战地 V(Battlefield V)是一款流行的游戏，需要相当多的硬件资源才能显示其最佳图形质量。为此，我们使用了DirectX 12 API和Ultra 质量(Ultra quality)设置。无论分辨率是 1440p 还是 1080p，与 PCIe 3 相比，我们使用(Regardless)PCIe 4时的每秒帧数略好一些。但是，在测量平均每秒帧数时，改进高达 2%。
从视觉质量的角度(quality point)来看，《古墓丽影》(Tomb Raider)是一款出色的游戏。我们使用DirectX 12、TAA（时间抗锯齿(Temporal Anti-Aliasing)）和最高(Highest preset)的图形质量预设对其进行了测试。无论我们使用的是 1440p 还是 1080p 分辨率以及PCIe 4还是PCIe 3 ，我们的基准测试结果几乎相同。奇怪的是， PCIe 3(PCIe 3)上的最大FPS更高，因此从PCIe 3切换到PCIe 4似乎没有任何效果。
Tom Clancy 's The Division 2提供了一个只输出平均FPS的(FPS)基准测试工具(benchmarking tool)。使用DirectX 12和Ultra图形质量预设，我们在使用 1080p 分辨率、 (quality preset)PCIe 4和PCIe 3时获得了相同的每秒帧数。在 1440p 中，PCIe 4每秒传输的帧数比PCIe 3多 4% 。
Metro Exodus是最近推出的具有苛刻硬件要求的游戏之一。我们获得的结果尚无定论，当使用PCIe 4(PCIe 4)而不是PCIe 3时，我们没有注意到任何改进。
我们还在Fortnite中对(Fortnite)ASRock AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT Taichi X 8G OC+ 进行了基准测试，这不是一个要求很高的游戏(demanding game)，但它很受欢迎。Fortnite的DirectX 12实施处于beta 阶段(beta stage)，结果会及时改变。我们注意到FPS(FPS)的平均数量在 1080p 分辨率上提高了 44%，在 1440p 分辨率上提高了 27%。
我们转向Apex Legends，这是另一款流行的在线(online battle)大逃杀游戏。我们使用了最高的图形质量设置，而我们测量的结果又是不确定的。在本场比赛中，从PCIe 3(PCIe 3)切换到PCIe 4时没有任何有意义的影响。
Except Fortnite, we did not notice significant improvements in the number of frames per second rendered while playing games. In most games, you get up to 4% higher frame rates, when using PCIe 4 instead of PCIe 3. In some games, there is no difference between the two versions of PCIe.
PCIe 4 与 PCIe 3(vs. PCIe 3)：游戏加载速度更快吗？
我们通过 3DMark 的PCI Express 功能测试对(PCI Express feature)华擎 AMD Radeon RX 5700 (ASRock AMD Radeon RX 5700) XT Taichi X 8G OC+ 显卡进行了基准测试。该基准测试通过PCI Express 接口(PCI Express interface)测量显卡可用的带宽。它的结果告诉我们达到的平均带宽，从而让我们大致了解游戏在加载期间传输数据的速度。当我们将主板配置为使用PCI Express 4时，显卡的平均带宽为 23.25 GB/s。将PCI Express 接口(PCI Express interface)限制为Gen 3意味着可用带宽降至 14.31 GB/s。换句话说，使用PCIe 4意味着与 PCIe 3 相比，显卡可以受益于% wider bandwidth
拥有支持 PCI Express 4 的显卡意味着您可以在玩游戏时享受更快的加载时间。(Having a graphics card that supports PCI Express 4 means that you can enjoy faster loading times in the games you play.)
PCIe 4 与 PCIe 3(vs. PCIe 3)：Windows 10 的加载速度是否更快？
为了查看PCIe 4是否使 Windows 10 加载速度更快，我们使用了BootRacer。无论我们将ADATA XPG Gammix S50 SSD设置为在PCIe 4还是PCIe 3上运行，我们的测试计算机(test computer)都有相同的启动时间(startup time regardless)。
PCIe 4 vs. PCIe 3：磁盘上的数据读写速度更快吗？
我们下载并运行了CrystalDiskMark，这是一个可以衡量SSD性能的基准，在读取数据和写入数据时，随机和顺序(random and sequential)。测量结果表明，虽然随机数据传输受到的影响不大，但当您使用 PCIe 4 而不是PCIe 3作为SSD 驱动器(SSD drive)时，顺序数据传输明显更好。顺序数据读取速度提高了 61 % faster，而顺序数据写入速度提高了 46 % faster。
Having a PCI Express 4 solid-state drive improves the speed of sequential data transfers by quite a lot, ranging from 46% for the write speed to 61% for the read speed.
PCIe 4 是否(Does PCIe 4) 比PCIe 3提高了性能(improve performance)？
这是使用PCIe 4而不是PCIe 3时得到的结果：
- 您在游戏中获得更快的加载时间
- 在Windows 10(Windows 10)中复制和移动大文件速度更快
但是，在玩游戏时，对您获得的每秒帧数没有影响。仅在少数标题中，您可能会看到高达 4% 的改进。此外，使用PCIe 4(PCIe 4)而不是PCIe 3时，Windows 10 的加载速度不会更快。
您是否购买了 PCIe 4 硬件？
如果您确实在PCIe 4(PCIe 4)显卡或 SSD(card or SSD)上花钱，您这样做的主要原因是什么？在您的特定情况下值得吗？我们想要PCIe 4，因为，是的，在某些情况下，它确实意味着更高的性能。然而，这也意味着增加成本。在结束之前，请在下面的评论中告诉我们您对这个主题的看法。
PCI Express 4 vs PCIe 3: Is there a performance improvement?
Thаnks to AMD, in the summer of 2019, new PCI Exprеss hardware has arrived іn our сomputers, promising graphics cards and solid-state drives thаt are fаster than ever. The РCI Exрress 4.0 interfаce offers double the bandwidth of РCI Express 3.0 (PCIe 3), and it can do that for any expanѕion cards that connect to your motherboard. Now we have bоth graphics cards and SSDs that аre compatible with PСI Εxpress 4 (PCIe 4), available in shops. You may ask yourself: does PCIe 4 delіver more frameѕ per second when playing gamеs? Does it make your SSD drives a lot faster? We asked ourselves the same questions, so we decided to make thiѕ performance analysis in which we compare PCIe 4 with PСIe 3:
How we tested the PCI Express performance
To see the performance improvements introduced by PCI Express version 4, we used the following test computer:
Our motherboard offers an excellent UEFI BIOS, with a lot of options and settings that you can tweak. Among them, you can find and set the PCI Express interface version used by every slot on the motherboard. To compare PCIe 4 vs. PCIe 3, we first ran all the next benchmarks first using PCIe 4, which is the default setting. Then, we configured the UEFI BIOS to limit the PCI Express interface for the GPU and the SSD to PCIe 3.
Let's see what results we got, and whether PCI Express version 4 delivers meaningful improvements when compared to version 3.
PCIe 4 vs. PCIe 3: Do you get more frames per second in games?
We began by testing the performance offered by the ASRock AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT Taichi X 8G OC+ graphics card in World War Z. We used the Vulkan API and the Ultra graphics quality settings. When we used PCIe 4, we saw a small increase in the number of frames per second compared to PCIe 3. The numbers were up to 3% better, depending on what metric we're looking at: minimum FPS, average FPS, or maximum FPS.
Battlefield V is a popular game that demands quite a lot of hardware resources to display its best graphics quality. For it, we used the DirectX 12 API and the Ultra quality settings. Regardless of the resolution, 1440p or 1080p, the number of frames per second we had was slightly better when we used PCIe 4 compared to PCIe 3. However, the improvements were up to 2% when measuring the average number of frames per second.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is an outstanding game from a visual quality point of view. We have tested it using DirectX 12, TAA (Temporal Anti-Aliasing), and the Highest preset for graphics quality. The results of our benchmarks were almost identical, regardless of whether we used 1440p or 1080p resolutions and PCIe 4 or PCIe 3. Strangely, the maximum FPS was higher on PCIe 3, so it seems that making the switch from PCIe 3 to PCIe 4 doesn't have any effect.
Tom Clancy's The Division 2 offers a benchmarking tool that only outputs the average FPS. Using DirectX 12 and the Ultra graphics quality preset, we obtained the same number of frames per second, when using the 1080p resolution, with PCIe 4 and PCIe 3. In 1440p, PCIe 4 delivered 4% more frames per second than PCIe 3.
Metro Exodus is one of the recent games with demanding hardware requirements. The results we obtained were inconclusive, and we did not notice any improvement when using PCIe 4 instead of PCIe 3.
We also benchmarked ASRock AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT Taichi X 8G OC+ in Fortnite, which is not a demanding game, but it is very popular. Fortnite's DirectX 12 implementation is in beta stage, and the results are going to change in time. We noticed an improvement in the average number of FPS up to 44% on the 1080p resolution, and up to 27% on the 1440p resolution.
We moved on to Apex Legends, which is another popular online battle royale game. We used the highest graphics quality settings and the results that we measured were inconclusive again. In this game, there was no meaningful impact when switching from PCIe 3 to PCIe 4.
Except Fortnite, we did not notice significant improvements in the number of frames per second rendered while playing games. In most games, you get up to 4% higher frame rates, when using PCIe 4 instead of PCIe 3. In some games, there is no difference between the two versions of PCIe.
PCIe 4 vs. PCIe 3: Do games load faster?
We benchmarked the ASRock AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT Taichi X 8G OC+ graphics card with 3DMark's PCI Express feature test. This benchmark measures the bandwidth available for the graphics card over the PCI Express interface. Its result tells us the average bandwidth achieved and thus gives us an approximate image of how fast games can transfer data during loading times. When we configured our motherboard to use PCI Express 4, the graphics card had access to an average bandwidth of 23.25 GB/s. Limiting the PCI Express interface to Gen 3 meant that the available bandwidth dropped to 14.31 GB/s. In other words, using PCIe 4 means that the graphics card can benefit from a 39% wider bandwidth compared to PCIe 3.
Having a graphics card that supports PCI Express 4 means that you can enjoy faster loading times in the games you play.
PCIe 4 vs. PCIe 3: Does Windows 10 load faster?
To see whether PCIe 4 makes Windows 10 load faster, we used BootRacer. Our test computer had the same startup time regardless of whether we set our ADATA XPG Gammix S50 SSD to run on PCIe 4 or PCIe 3.
PCIe 4 vs. PCIe 3: Is data written and read faster on the disk?
We downloaded and ran CrystalDiskMark, a benchmark that can measure the performance of the SSD, when reading data and writing data, both random and sequential. The measurements showed that, while the random data transfers are not affected much, the sequential data transfers are significantly better when you use PCIe 4 instead of PCIe 3 for the SSD drive. The sequential data read speed was up to 61% faster, while the sequential data write speed was up to 46% faster.
Having a PCI Express 4 solid-state drive improves the speed of sequential data transfers by quite a lot, ranging from 46% for the write speed to 61% for the read speed.
Does PCIe 4 improve performance over PCIe 3?
Here is what you get when using PCIe 4 instead of PCIe 3:
- You get faster loading times in games
- Copying and moving large files in Windows 10 is faster
However, when playing games, there is no impact on the number of frames per second you get. Only in a few titles you may see improvements of up to 4%. Also, Windows 10 does not load faster when using PCIe 4 instead of PCIe 3.
Did you buy PCIe 4 hardware?
If you did spend money on a PCIe 4 graphics card or SSD, what was your primary reason for doing so? Was it worth it in your particular case? We wanted PCIe 4 because, yes, it does mean more performance, in some situations. However, it also means added costs. Before closing, tell us your perspective on this subject, in a comment below.
