There is no doubt that the biggest bottleneck in the PC is the hard drive, so much so that it is tiring and boring to talk about the effects of having an SSD as the main storage unit. However, that market has decided to hit the throttle without brakes and although the transfer speed of Gen 5 SSDs is impressive, at the same time it can be concluded that very few drives will take advantage of it.
Why M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSDs will live longer?
The main reason why M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSDs will have a long life is simple: it is the way to expand the storage capacity of the PS5 console to be able to install games and applications on it. So there is going to be a demand for these units for a long time, at least while the console is on sale and since SONY consoles usually have a commercial life of 7 years, then we are talking about a useful life until the 2027.
Although it is not the only reason, but the fact that from the SSD that uses PCIe 5.0 they will mostly need a heat sink, this means increasing the height of the laptops and many manufacturers are going to design their computers to place a totally bare unit. In any case, it must be remembered that when we talk about the interface we are referring to the transfer speed, and not to the storage capacity. Which will increase in the following years due to the release of 3D NAND chips with more layers and with new manufacturing processes that will make them have more storage capacity.
Games will be an important point in standardization
One of the realities is that for now there is no game that takes advantage of the capacities of SSDs for its development, but since many games are multiplatform, they were designed to take advantage of the speed of the storage unit from SONY PS5. The reason? 99% of the games will be developed for this console, as it is the best-selling platform. Let’s not forget that the vast majority of games are conversions between the PC and said system. Well, it’s not going to be like that 100%.
The counterargument is found in the fact that the Xbox Series storage drive works at a speed of 2.4 GB/s of bandwidth. Which corresponds rather to a PCIe 3.0 SSD of the DRAM-Less type. The fact is that with regard to the development of games, the vast majority of games are multiplatform, not only PS5 and PC, but also the Xbox Series. In other words, the reality is that many games are not going to take advantage of the high speeds of PCIe 4.0 SSDs, despite the fact that they will be the best-selling this generation.
So, if so, how is it that we have said that they will be the ones that will be standardized? From what we have told you before, they will be in high demand by users in order to increase the storage capacity of PS5 and because they do not need to come mounted with a heat sink for its operation. Let’s not forget that the PCIe standard is backwards compatible and a Gen 4 M.2 drive will work in the Gen 3 port with no problem.
Why are PCIe SSDs not used well in games?
Due to the fact that each and every one of the data transfers from one PC memory to another during any application must be explicitly programmed. That is why most programs and games do not take full advantage of the benefits of SSDs, since they have been designed for the limitations of hard drives, both in access and in transfer speed.
On the other hand, we have that in consoles SONY has decided to give its PS4 console more power and extend its life for a few more years. Exclusive titles like Horizon Forbidden West, God of War Ragnarok, Gran Turismo 7 and other system flagships are not designed to use it. Even the PS5 exclusive and about to launch on PC Returnal is going to use HDD on PC.
That is to say, we are in that one of the defining characteristics of the new generation of consoles is not even used. This is as if the classic PS2 games were all sold on CD and not DVD. Live to see, and in conclusion, it is this SONY policy that is holding back the adoption of PCIe SSDs as storage in games.
