Does the Ryzen 7 5800X3D benefit from Gen4 or Gen5 SSDs?

> Does the 5800X3D benefit meaningfully from these faster interfaces, or should I just stick with a reliable Gen4 SSD and call it a day?

Before I give advice, can you clarify if youre planning to upgrade ur motherboard soon? tbh the 5800X3D is technically locked to Gen4 anyway, so maybe just grab the Samsung 990 Pro 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD and save some cash lol.

Seconding the recommendation above! Honestly, you're basically throwing money away if you go Gen5 on AM4 cuz the platform literally can't hit those speeds. Since you're looking for value, just grab a solid Gen4 drive and save the cash for more games or RAM.

Here are some amazing budget-friendly Gen4 picks I've used:
* Western Digital WD_BLACK SN850X 2TB NVMe Internal Gaming SSD - Usually around $150 and it's basically the gold standard for gaming.
* Crucial P3 Plus 2TB PCIe Gen4 3D NAND NVMe M.2 SSD - A fantastic value pick if you can find it for under $120.
* Lexar NM790 2TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD - Lowkey a beast for the price, usually super cheap.

Seriously, even with Starfield, you won't notice a difference between these and something twice the price. Stick with Gen4 and call it a day! 👍

Following

Ok so, I've been running the 5800X3D since launch and honestly? Don't waste your money on Gen5. Since the AM4 platform is hardware-locked to PCIe 4.0, a Gen5 drive like the Crucial T705 2TB PCIe Gen5 NVMe SSD will literally just downclock to Gen4 speeds. It's super disappointing... I actually tried a high-end drive and had issues with heat for zero gain. That L3 cache is amazing for gaming, but it doesn't bypass your motherboard's bandwidth limits. Just grab the WD_BLACK 2TB SN850X NVMe Internal Gaming SSD and call it a day. It's plenty fast for Starfield and way more reliable than dealing with Gen5 thermal throttling lol. gl!

@Reply #5 - good point! ngl I've been obsessing over this same exact thing since I started my 5800X3D build last month. It's such a weird spot to be in because the CPU is so good but the platform feels like it's reaching its limit. I spent way too much time worrying if I'd regret not going Gen5 later on... it's a total headache. Make sure to be careful with some of these high-end Gen4 drives tho. I almost pulled the trigger on a Gen5 drive just for the future proof factor but realized I'd just be fighting heat issues for zero gain. I ended up looking at the Kingston KC3000 2TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 which is super snappy for my game loads and pretty affordable. If you're worried about longevity for video editing, you might want to consider the Seagate FireCuda 530 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 instead. It's got a massive endurance rating and is basically a tank. Just watch out for the heatsink height if you get the version with a built-in cooler... I had a close call where my GPU almost didn't clear the drive because the SSD heatsink was so chunky. Better to play it safe with the AM4 limits.

I get where everyone is coming from regarding sticking to Gen4, but I'd actually push back a bit on the idea that you have to go with the big names like Samsung or WD for the best experience. While the SN850X is great, Ive found that the SK hynix Platinum P41 2TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe often runs a bit cooler in tight cases, which is something to consider if you're pulling long sessions in Flight Simulator. Honestly, with a 5800X3D, the CPU is doing so much heavy lifting with that cache that the difference between a top-tier Gen4 and a slightly more affordable one is basically zero in real-world gaming. If you want to save some cash for other parts, the Kingston KC3000 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe is an absolute beast that usually undercuts the 990 Pro in price while offering nearly identical performance. Tbh, dont sweat the Gen5 stuff at all... by the time Gen5 actually matters for gaming, you'll likely be looking at a whole new platform anyway. Stick to a high-quality Gen4 and you'll be set for years.

reading this a few hours later and man, i feel your pain. i had the exact same dilemma when i was putting my 5800x3d setup together last year. honestly, way too much time was spent looking at benchies and worrying about pcie lanes... eventually i just decided to go with a high-capacity drive from seagate and i couldnt be happier. it works so well for my daily stuff and gaming. ngl just get any fast nvme from seagate or maybe even kingston. you really cant go wrong with either of those brands for reliability. my setup has been running like this for ages and i have zero complaints about loading times. sometimes sticking to the tried and true brands is the way to go so you can actually spend time playing instead of troubleshooting.