I've been troubleshooting my setup with a Gen 4 Lexar NM790 SSD, which is only negotiating at PCIe 3.0 speeds instead of 4.0. I'm using a Ryzen 7 5700X3D CPU with an MSI MPG B550 Gaming Plus motherboard that has the latest BIOS (AGESA 1.2.0.ca). The SSD is installed in the M2_1 slot, but I've also realized that my previous PCIe 3.0 drive worked fine in this arrangement. Currently, I'm facing some odd issues: my SSD isn't being detected at all in the top slot when I've tried an MSI Spatium Gen 4 drive and the HDD LED on my case isn't responding with the Gen 4 drives, which makes me wonder if there's a failure in the PCIe lanes. I've tried reseating everything, forcing Gen 4 in the BIOS, and ensuring all drivers and updates are current. Since the motherboard and CPU are out of warranty, I'm unsure if I should return the SSD or stick with it at Gen 3 speeds. I'm trying to figure out if the lack of PCIe 4.0 is a sign of hardware failure and whether I should worry about the real-world difference in performance for gaming.
2 Answers
Honestly, unless you're seeing significant performance drops, you might not notice the difference when gaming after everything loads. The biggest impact is felt when loading games, but even then, it’s usually only a few seconds difference. If the drive isn’t in the top slot, I'd suggest moving it there, but if it is already, you might have to consider if this is worth the effort.
Make sure to check which M.2 slot you're using! The bottom slot on some MSI B550 boards might not support PCIe 4.0. If you're using the top slot already and it still doesn't negotiate correctly, double-check that you have a genuine MSI B550 Gaming Plus board—it could be a mix-up with a Gen 3 version.
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