One of the novelties of the new generation of Intel CPU and its Z690 chipsets is the support of PCIe Gen 5, which grants double the bandwidth for the communication of graphics cards, NVMe SSDs and other peripherals with the CPU and the System RAM. However, it is a new interface and some manufacturers are dispensing with it to reduce costs, so because of this they will introduce Z690 motherboards with PCIe 4.0 and cheaper.
Let’s be honest, there are still no graphics cards or NVMe SSD storage units that require a PCI Express 5.0 interface in our computer to work, so it is currently a future useful technology, but not present. Due to this, several motherboard manufacturers have decided to make the decision to sell Z690 boards without the latest generation PCIe.
Intel Z690 motherboards without PCIe Gen 5?
Due to the lack of components that take advantage of the PCI Express 5.0 interface at present, several manufacturers have decided to do without it, at least in the motherboard models that make use of DDR4 memory and that, therefore, are economically cheaper than the long one due to the lower price of this type of RAM.
If we take into account the shortage of components then it makes sense to reduce the number of elements on the motherboard, especially when they do not currently increase the value curve of the product. What’s more, as you can see in the image above, there would already be several motherboards with a Z690 chipset without the PCIe Gen 5 interface on them.
This has surprised us, as lower-end motherboards than those using the Z690 are expected to come without PCIe Gen 5, but not what has been leaked. To all this we must remember that it is possible that the AMD Ryzen 6000 does not support this interface either, although this is a rumor, which would reduce the market share for the components that make use of this interface.
The limitations of the Z690 chipset
If we look at the diagram on the new Intel chipset we will see that it does not support a fifth generation PCI Express interface, but that it is supported by the Southbridge or FCH integrated in the CPU itself. So the Z690 chipset does not support PCIe Gen 5 by itself and this raises the question: Are we going to see a desktop CPU by Intel in the near future with PCIe Gen 4 support instead of Gen 5? We doubt it, although it could happen.
What is clear is that the next generation of graphics cards will make use of PCIe Gen 5, especially the new connector that will allow much higher consumption, and with it higher clock speeds in both the GPU and VRAM. The new 12-pin power connector is associated with the fifth generation parallel interface, so removing it will limit access to future NVMe graphics cards and SSDs.
The last point to take into account is that we are talking about a high-consumption expansion port, eliminating PCI Express 5.0 is not only eliminating the 12-pin connector, but also all the complexity of the board to support graphics cards. close to 500 W of consumption.
