I have a Ryzen 5 5500 and an A520 motherboard, so my graphics card will run at PCIe 3.0 speeds. If I install a modern PCIe 5.0 GPU, would a model using 16 lanes perform noticeably better than one using only 8 lanes? Does the extra lane count compensate for the lower PCIe generation, and should I expect a meaningful difference in games?
2 Answers
I would personally choose an x16 GPU if the price and performance are otherwise similar, particularly for a PCIe 3.0 system. Aim for at least 12 GB of VRAM if possible. An x8 card is not automatically a bad purchase, but it leaves less bandwidth available and gives you less headroom for future, more demanding games.
For ordinary gaming, PCIe 3.0 x16 is generally fine, and even PCIe 3.0 x8 may be acceptable depending on the GPU and game. Testing tends to show small differences when VRAM usage stays within the card's capacity, often around a few percent or within the margin of error. The gap can become much larger in demanding scenes with an 8 GB card that is already VRAM-limited.
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