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Next-gen, high-speed consumer storage has been shown by MSI

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rjohnson11
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Friday, October 29, 2021 10:54 AM (permalink)
https://videocardz.com/newz/msi-shows-off-pcie-gen5-m-2-expander-z-card-for-next-gen-storage-up-to-128gb-s
 
The M.2 Expander-Z is an add-in card that must be installed in a PCIe slot. It serves as a bridge between M.2 connector and the PCIe Gen5 slot. What is important to note here is that the only platform that supports this standard is the Intel 12th Gen Core series. Even more importantly, utilizing this card will automatically reduce the available lanes to the graphics card, as Alder Lake-CPUs only have 16 PCIe Gen5 lanes. Right now this is not a problem because no Gen5 GPUs exist, and differences between Gen5 and Gen4 GPUs should be minimal, yet we anticipate GPU manufacturers to begin releasing Gen5 compatible GPUs as early as January next year (RTX 3090 Ti might be the first card).
 
MSI promises bandwidth up to 128 GB/s, but this is just the maximum speed of the PCIe connector. Companies such as Phison revealed they are preparing controllers with transfer speed up to 14 GB/s, a double of what Gen4 is capable of. The Gen5 storage will require either active or passive cooling. The Expander-Z Gen5 has a heatsink over the M.2 slot and a single fan (which can be turned off). The power consumption should increase as well, but the exact numbers aren’t quite clear yet. MSI has not confirmed when Gen5 Expander will be available. But these expansion cards are typically added to the GODLIKE motherboard series. The Z690 version of this motherboard has not yet been shown and the release date is still unknown.
 
I'm not sure how popular such a card would be. 
 


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    Flint 1760
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    Re: Next-gen, high-speed consumer storage has been shown by MSI Friday, October 29, 2021 11:20 AM (permalink)
    The problem for some for future planning is going to be PCIe/5 lanes.  If the rumors that Gen 5 is coming early next year are true, it might impact sales.


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    the_Scarlet_one
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    Re: Next-gen, high-speed consumer storage has been shown by MSI Friday, October 29, 2021 11:33 AM (permalink)
    Well PCIe 4.0 was on what.. two chipsets plus some add in devices, and now PCIe 5.0 is already released KNOWING FULL WELL that PCIe 6.0 was already approved just shortly after PCIe 5.0 was approved and roadmapped. So is 5.0 going to go away just as quickly and get replaced by 6.0? If there any point in jumping on an already outdated bandwagon?

    This isn’t the manufacturers fault either, it is fully on PCISIG for throwing numerous certifications out back to back instead of building the specifications in a smart and efficient roadmap rather than shotgunning out 3 different specifications back to back. 5.0 was introduced 3 months before 6.0, and 6.0 DOUBLES the bandwidth over 5.0.
    post edited by the_Scarlet_one - Friday, October 29, 2021 11:40 AM
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    Flint 1760
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    Re: Next-gen, high-speed consumer storage has been shown by MSI Friday, October 29, 2021 12:27 AM (permalink)
    ^You make a good point, will Gen 5 even last until Q1/2023?  It would not surprise me to see Gen 6 pushed at the time of the new HEDT CPUs if and when they are released.  Manufacturers might be really reluctant to adopt a new PCISIG every 6-12 months.


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