According to a report by ServeTheHome, SSD manufacturers are slowly phasing out older models that use PCIe Gen 3. This change is the result of the increasing availability and adoption of PCIe Gen 4 SSDs, which offer almost twice the throughput compared to Gen 3. Large chip makers like Intel and AMD are now integrating PCIe Gen 4 as a standard for new platforms, further accelerating the transition. For example, all PCIe channels on the recently introduced Intel Core Ultra 200S in combination with the Z890 chipset support a minimum of PCIe 4.0.

PCIe Gen 3 SSDs, which have been on the market since the early 2010s, are becoming less and less relevant, especially when it comes to higher capacity models. Although smaller Gen 3 SSDs remain available, high-capacity drives are predominantly based on PCIe Gen 4. Also, PCIe Gen 5 SSDs are gaining popularity by offering even better performance, making them ideal for demanding applications such as gaming, video editing and work tasks with high data intensity.
 

This change is not limited to consumer markets. Enterprise-level platforms are also increasingly moving away from Gen 3 in favor of PCIe Gen 5 and even PCIe Gen 6 SSDs as businesses demand more throughput for servers and data centers. The limitations of PCIe Gen 3 are becoming more apparent, especially in cutting-edge applications, leading manufacturers to halt development and production of Gen 3 models.
 

In the coming years, PCIe Gen 4 is expected to dominate the market, while PCIe Gen 5 will become the standard. As manufacturers increasingly embrace the new standards, consumers will benefit from faster and more efficient storage solutions that meet the growing demands of modern computing.