Question Storage Matters: Longterm outlook for PCIe NVMe SSDs

[aatroxed]

So some of yall might have read -https://www.anandtech.com/show/15848/storage-matters-xbox-ps5-new-era-of-gaming

Most of my research (let me know if I'm wrong) points to NVMe SSDs not providing significant speed boosts vs SATA SSDs aside from workstation, heavy video editing workflows. Fine but keeping in mind that new consoles could bring about changes in PC space, might someone buying an NVMe SSD today enjoy those benefits in 2-5 years? Or would other hardware changes need to happen as well?

Basically if someone built a computer today pairing a fast NVME SSD and a fast CPU, without changing anything, could they enjoy benefits in 5 years purely from software and design changes in games and other utilities? Or are most of the bottlenecks deeply tied to hardware designs in place today? Could the new DirectStorage API, even a miraculous new windows file system, changes in game software design be enough?

I ask because if the answer is no, then for most people the premium might not be worth it now over SATA SSD.

 

[KentState]

NVMe does increase the overall sequential speeds, but the one thing you are overlooking is latency and a direct link to the CPU. This will come into play if they end up streaming content continuously like Unreal demoed.

 

[UsandThem]

I ask because if the answer is no, then for most people the premium might not be worth it now over SATA SSD.

A good portion of NVMe SSDs are literally the same price as SATA SSDs, so a person doesn't even pay a premium for NVMe drives anymore.

 

[dorion]

A good portion of NVMe SSDs are literally the same price as SATA SSDs, so a person doesn't even pay a premium for NVMe drives anymore.

Especially if I just slot it on my motherboard. Who needs 2.5, 3.5, or 5.25 anymore he asked facetiously.

 

[aigomorla]

Who needs 2.5, 3.5, or 5.25 anymore he asked facetiously.

raises hand as i am perfectly fine with SATA6G speeds for gaming, however i do not have enough pci-e lanes to just drop nvme's like sata drives.

 

[beginner99]

Basically if someone built a computer today pairing a fast NVME SSD and a fast CPU, without changing anything, could they enjoy benefits in 5 years purely from software and design changes in games and other utilities?

I don't think so. Especially with the PS5, Sony has put a lot of focus on IO due to their inferior GPU, we know that it requires special hardware and software. The PS5 will have a small chip that can do some IO and data moving without involving the CPU at all. You will never have that chip on a current PC. The PS5 also requires relatively high minimum specs for expansion drives because their whole software stack depends on that IO speed.
In PC world, the OS and software still has to work with harddisks and their limitations. Hence the whole stack (crutch really) to hide hdd latency will remain in place and it's simply not possible to design the OS or software to profit from the high nvme bandwidth if it must also work with a hdd. Well some software vendor could decide to require that but you still have the OS limits and no specialized IO chip.
This will simply be solved on the PC-side as it is often always solved. With more RAM. This fast streaming is simply a way to save money on the BOM by needing less RAM. GDDR6 isn't cheap and takes quite some motherboard space.

 

[VirtualLarry]

This will simply be solved on the PC-side as it is often always solved. With more RAM. This fast streaming is simply a way to save money on the BOM by needing less RAM. GDDR6 isn't cheap and takes quite some motherboard space.

You said it well. Especially, now that you can get a 32GB kit (2x16GB) of DDR4-3200 RAM, for under $100. (It was $99.99 recently, from Team Group.) It's a no-brainer to beef up your RAM amounts, and throw in an 8C/16T, or 12C/24T Ryzen Zen2 CPU, and then eventually, an RDNA2 GPU, and go to town. A PC faster than a PS5, isn't going to be *that* hard to build.