Breaking the 14GB/s Barrier
The shift to PCIe 5.0 storage has officially moved from "luxury" to "standard" for high-end builds in 2026. With controllers like the Phison E26 Max, we are seeing sequential read speeds hitting 14,500 MB/s. However, this level of throughput comes with a massive power draw—up to 14W during sustained transfers.
The Thermal Protocol
During our testing of the latest Gen5 drives, we found that passive heatsinks provided by motherboards are no longer sufficient. Within 60 seconds of a sustained write operation, the drive hit 85°C and throttled to Gen4 speeds.
Does it matter for gaming?
With DirectStorage 2.0 integrated into 2026 titles, the decompression of assets happens directly on the GPU. In our Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart tests, the Gen5 drive reduced level transitions to essentially zero frames. However, for the average user, the real-world difference over a top-tier Gen4 drive remains marginal—roughly 0.3 seconds.
Verdict: Essential for content creators and AI researchers. Gamers should prioritize capacity over Gen5 speeds unless they already have a maxed-out rig.