1. Introduction
For the next-generation flagship graphics card, the GeForce RTX 5090, there is a significant difference compared to the previous generation—it supports PCIe 5.0 x16. However, many people believe this does not make much of a difference.
This article will compare the gaming performance of the GeForce RTX 5090 in PCIe 5.0 x16 mode versus PCIe 4.0 x16 mode to arrive at an objective and fair conclusion.
2. Specifications
The GeForce RTX 5090 was released on January 6, 2025, featuring the GB202-300-A1 GPU, built on TSMC’s 5nm process. It has 21,760 CUDA cores, 176 raster units, 680 texture units, 170 streaming multiprocessors, 680 tensor cores, 172 ray tracing cores, and 96MB of L2 cache.
The standard operating frequency is 2017 MHz, with a maximum boost clock of 2407 MHz. It comes equipped with 32GB of GDDR7 memory, a 512-bit memory bus, a memory speed of 28Gbps, and a memory bandwidth of 1.8TB/s. Its FP32 floating-point performance reaches 104.8 TFLOPS, power consumption is rated at 575W, and the suggested retail price is $1,999.
3. Test Platform Configuration
The main test setup is as follows:
- Processor: Core i9-14900K
- Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming
- Memory: 32GB DDR5 6000MHz
- Graphics Card: GeForce RTX 5090 32GB
- Storage: Two Samsung 970 EVO 1TB SSDs
- Operating System: Windows 11
4. Game Testing on RTX 5090 Benchmark (PCIe 4.0 vs PCIe 5.0)
The following tests will evaluate seven games, all running in 4K resolution mode. In the images below, the left side represents the PCIe 4.0 platform, while the right side represents the PCIe 5.0 platform.
Game 1: God of War
PCIe 4.0 Platform
- Avg FPS: 193
- Min FPS: 164
- Frame Time: 4.7ms
- CPU Usage: 20%
- Power Consumption: 82W
- Temperature: 49°C
- RAM Usage: 12.4GB
- GPU Usage: 99%
- VRAM Usage: 8.6GB
- GPU Power: 559W
- GPU Temperature: 56°C
PCIe 5.0 Platform
- Avg FPS: 198
- Min FPS: 172
- Frame Time: 5.0ms
- CPU Usage: 15%
- Power Consumption: 88W
- Temperature: 49°C
- RAM Usage: 11.5GB
- GPU Usage: 99%
- VRAM Usage: 8.9GB
- GPU Power: 567W
- GPU Temperature: 57°C
Comparison:
- PCIe 5.0 has 5 FPS higher average FPS, 8 FPS higher minimum FPS, and 0.3GB more VRAM usage.
- CPU usage is 5% lower, RAM usage is 0.9GB lower.
- Power consumption is 8W higher, GPU temperature is 1°C higher.
- Overall, PCIe 5.0 shows a slight advantage.
Game 2: Ghostwire: Tokyo
PCIe 4.0 Platform
- Avg FPS: 164
- Min FPS: 130
- Frame Time: 5.6ms
- CPU Usage: 12%
- Power Consumption: 75W
- Temperature: 49°C
- RAM Usage: 12.3GB
- GPU Usage: 99%
- VRAM Usage: 8.0GB
- GPU Power: 511W
- GPU Temperature: 54°C
PCIe 5.0 Platform
- Avg FPS: 164
- Min FPS: 125
- Frame Time: 5.2ms
- CPU Usage: 11%
- Power Consumption: 73W
- Temperature: 50°C
- RAM Usage: 11.5GB
- GPU Usage: 98%
- VRAM Usage: 8.2GB
- GPU Power: 514W
- GPU Temperature: 53°C
Comparison:
- Both platforms have the same average FPS.
- PCIe 5.0 has 5 FPS lower minimum FPS but 0.2GB more VRAM usage.
- CPU usage is 1% lower, RAM usage is 0.8GB lower.
- Power consumption is 3W higher, temperature is 1°C lower.
- No clear advantage between platforms.
Game 3: Cyberpunk 2077
PCIe 4.0 Platform
- Avg FPS: 106
- Min FPS: 84
- Frame Time: 9.7ms
- CPU Usage: 27%
- Power Consumption: 99W
- Temperature: 57°C
- RAM Usage: 12.5GB
- GPU Usage: 98%
- VRAM Usage: 12.0GB
- GPU Power: 548W
- GPU Temperature: 57°C
PCIe 5.0 Platform
- Avg FPS: 107
- Min FPS: 83
- Frame Time: 9.2ms
- CPU Usage: 28%
- Power Consumption: 98W
- Temperature: 58°C
- RAM Usage: 11.7GB
- GPU Usage: 98%
- VRAM Usage: 11.6GB
- GPU Power: 539W
- GPU Temperature: 56°C
Comparison:
- PCIe 5.0 has 1 FPS higher average FPS and 1 FPS lower minimum FPS (essentially equal).
- CPU usage is 1% higher, RAM usage is 0.8GB lower, VRAM usage is 0.4GB lower.
- Power consumption is 9W lower, temperature is 1°C lower.
- Performance is identical when considering testing variance.
Game 4: Silent Hill 2
- PCIe 4.0 Platform: Avg FPS: 87 | Min FPS: 77
- PCIe 5.0 Platform: Avg FPS: 88 | Min FPS: 78
Comparison:
- PCIe 5.0 has 1 FPS higher average and minimum FPS (insignificant).
- CPU usage, power, and GPU usage are equal, PCIe 5.0 has 0.6GB lower RAM usage and 0.2GB higher VRAM usage.
- Temperature is 2°C higher, power consumption is 7W higher.
- Results are effectively the same.
Game 5: Black Myth: Wukong
- PCIe 4.0 Platform: Avg FPS: 116 | Min FPS: 92
- PCIe 5.0 Platform: Avg FPS: 119 | Min FPS: 106
Comparison:
- PCIe 5.0 has 3 FPS higher average FPS and 14 FPS higher minimum FPS.
- CPU usage is 5% higher, RAM usage is 1.2GB lower, VRAM usage is equal.
- Power consumption is 14W higher, temperature is 2°C higher.
- Slight advantage for PCIe 5.0.
Game 6: Hogwarts Legacy
- PCIe 4.0 Platform: Avg FPS: 71 | Min FPS: 53
- PCIe 5.0 Platform: Avg FPS: 72 | Min FPS: 59
Comparison:
- PCIe 5.0 has 1 FPS higher average FPS and 6 FPS higher minimum FPS.
- CPU usage is equal, RAM usage is 0.1GB higher, VRAM usage is 0.2GB lower.
- Power consumption is 8W higher, temperature is 1°C higher.
- Performance is nearly identical.
Game 7: Star Wars Outlaws
- PCIe 4.0 Platform: Avg FPS: 85 | Min FPS: 70
- PCIe 5.0 Platform: Avg FPS: 88 | Min FPS: 73
Comparison:
- PCIe 5.0 has 3 FPS higher average and minimum FPS.
- CPU usage is 13% lower, RAM usage is 0.4GB lower, VRAM usage is 0.4GB lower.
- Power consumption is 1W lower, temperature is equal.
- PCIe 5.0 shows a minor advantage.
5. Comparison Conclusion
The comparison results are clear. In some games, the GeForce RTX 5090 running in PCIe 5.0 mode does show a slight performance advantage, but the difference is extremely minor. For most games, the performance is nearly identical, making this factor largely negligible.
Given this, there is no need to be concerned about whether the GeForce RTX 5090 operates in PCIe 5.0 or PCIe 4.0 mode—it does not make a meaningful difference. However, if your hardware supports PCIe 5.0, it is still recommended to use it.
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