Ensure your motherboard stays secure—keep the current B450 or upgrade to the B550.
Ensure your motherboard stays secure—keep the current B450 or upgrade to the B550.
Hi, I’m not sure about asking this. Would upgrading from a B450 to a B550 be worthwhile? I bought a B450 this year and have it paired with a 5600x. I remember the B550 was available when I got it, thinking I wouldn’t need those extra features now. But after some research on older models with limited lanes, I’m worried about storage options in the coming years. It seems the main concern might be PCIe version differences—maybe this is more about future-proofing than actual needs. I’m not sure if these specs will still matter later. I usually avoid the top-tier cards, so PCI bottlenecks could be a bigger issue for me.
I wouldn't purchase it unless there was a real requirement for it. It will remain available in the future. Who can say for sure; you might move to a different platform before you need a GPU supporting PCIe 4.0.
In short, unless you're planning to install a high-end graphics card or an extremely fast SSD for content creation, you don't need to stress too much. TL;DR: I own a RTX 3080 and a RTX 2060 on an Asus X570, both at x8 speeds. That means my RTX 3080 operates just like your PCI-E Gen 3.0 x16 slot, since PCI-E speeds roughly double with each generation—no major hit in performance. Unless you're using an AMD Ryzen with built-in graphics that cuts PCI bandwidth in half (to x8), or you have a top-tier RTX 4000 or RX 7000 series, the situation stays similar. DirectStorage is still not widely available on PCs yet, and most games don’t take full advantage of it. We haven’t seen it become common, so you probably won’t notice big gains in the next few years. Some friends use spinning drives for games, but most people stick with SATA SSDs or even HDDs. A fast SSD that supports PCI-E Gen 4 and stores several TB is still pricey compared to regular SATA drives. I’d expect DirectStorage to take time before becoming mainstream; affordable, high-speed storage is needed now, which is rare. Companies like Sony and Microsoft handle it on consoles with proprietary cards, but PC support is limited. Current consumer SSDs are much smaller than those used in consoles, and adding many drives isn’t practical for gamers. A single 10TB drive would be a big leap compared to today’s options. GamersNexus mentioned this in a video—some games run a bit slower on RTX 3080, but the difference is usually under 1% FPS, which is barely noticeable. For most players, it’s not a game-changer right now.
Due to all the shifts in the present circumstances, it feels like we’re almost there where three years from now is practically the distant past. The only certainty left is the situation itself, and even that isn’t a guarantee. For those of us playing competitive games on AAA titles, that’s a given. Others can manage with older systems, but you’ll be amazed at how top companies still run Windows XP in late 2022.
Fair point. I worried some mid-range GPUs relying on x8 PCIe might become costly to replace in a few years, making a switch to another platform more attractive. Direct storage isn’t as pressing, though performance could be overlooked. The key distinction is that direct storage could be added if needed, whereas those GPUs are already available.
However, you lack those GPUs... Unless you don’t, you’re not concerned. The AM4 era is behind us; if you already have a functional setup, there’s no need to invest further.