PCI-SIG today announced the release of PCI Express (PCIe ) 5.0 specification, reaching 32 GT/s transfer rates, while maintaining low power and backwards compatibility with previous technology generations. "New data-intensive applications are driving demand for unprecedented levels of performance," said Al Yanes, PCI-SIG Chairman and President. "Completing the PCIe 5.0 specification in 18 months is a major achievement, and it is due to the commitment of our members who worked diligently to evolve PCIe technology to meet the performance needs of the industry. The PCIe architecture will continue to stand as the de facto standard for high performance I/O for the foreseeable future."

"For 27 years, the PCI-SIG has continually delivered new versions of I/O standards that enable designers to accommodate the never-ending increases in bandwidth required for next generation systems, while preserving investments in prior generation interfaces and software," noted Nathan Brookwood, research fellow at Insight 64. "Over that period, peak bandwidth has increased from 133 MB/second (for the first 32-bit parallel version) to 32 GB/second (for the V4.0 by16 serial version), a 240X improvement. Wow! The new PCIe 5.0 standard doubles that again to 64 GB/second. Wow2. We have come to take this increased performance for granted, but in reality, it takes a coordinated effort across many members of the PCI-SIG to execute these transitions so seamlessly."

PCIe 5.0 Specification Highlights

• Delivers 32 GT/s raw bit rate and up to 128 GB/s via x16 configuration
• Leverages and adds to the PCIe 4.0 specification and its support for higher speeds via extended tags and credits
• Implements electrical changes to improve signal integrity and mechanical performance of connectors
• Includes new backwards compatible CEM connector targeted for add-in cards
• Maintains backwards compatibility with PCIe 4.0, 3.x, 2.x and 1.x

The new specification increases performance in the high-performance markets including artificial intelligence, machine learning, gaming, visual computing, storage and networking.

"AMD congratulates PCI-SIG on the release of the PCI Express 5.0 specification to the industry and the future 2x increase in performance it is expected to deliver. We expect to bring our first PCIe 4.0 specification CPUs to market this year and look forward to meeting the future bandwidth demands of end-users with PCIe 5.0 technology," said Gerry Talbot, AMD Corporate Fellow, Technology & Engineering Group.

"PCI Express 5.0 technology will advance graphics and high-performance computing by doubling its bandwidth to approaching 64 GB/s while maintaining socket compatibility with prior versions of the PCIe specification. We are proud to be part of the PCI-SIG team and look forward to the innovation that will be sparked by this next evolution," said Michael Diamond, senior director of strategic partnerships at NVIDIA and member of the PCI-SIG board of directors, NVIDIA.

"Intel believes that open standards foster platform innovation, create healthy ecosystems, and accelerate market growth. As a founding promoter of PCI Express architecture, we fully support the newly-released PCIe 5.0 specification, and look forward to continuing the PCI Express specification tradition of high-performance, multi-platform, open interconnect," said Dr. Debendra Das Sharma, Intel Fellow and Director of I/O Technology & Standards, Member of PCI-SIG Board of Directors, Intel Corporation.

To learn more about the PCIe 5.0 specification, visit PCI-SIG website. PCI-SIG members can download the full specification here.