I'm planning a new build around Zen 3 & Big Navi. I've read that X570 boards offer faster transfer rates on some SSD's due to PCI Express 4 lanes. Is it worth going 570 vs 550? Is there a real benefit for flight simulation? Namely the new FS2020.

All B550 boards should have access to PCIe 4.0 lanes from the CPU for the first M.2 slot, so there is no reason to go for the X570 unless you are planning to add more than one PCIe 4.0 SSD. Right now there is no reason to pick a PCIe 4.0 SSD since they all use modified PCIe 3.0 controllers that offer small sequential speed improvements at a premium, but very soon you will see SSDs on the market that can saturate a PCIe 4.0 x4 bus, and new 3D NAND processes that will improve random speeds and endurance. Look out for SSDs with the Phison E18 or SM2264 controllers, as well as the Samsung 980 PRO and WD Black SN850.

Considering that there is a very small difference between SATA and NVME SSDs in loading times of the new simulator a PCIe 4.0 SSD is unlikely to be of any benefit now. This could change if they decide to implement DirectStorage at some point, and I think it's quite likely considering the pending Xbox release. But it's too early to tell how large the benefit will be.

Edited November 12, 20205 yr by ChaoticBeauty

Thank you CB, so what kind of SSD would you recommend? Is an 860 EVO Plus or 970 sufficient?

27 minutes ago, canadiantree said:

Thank you CB, so what kind of SSD would you recommend? Is an 860 EVO Plus or 970 sufficient?

While you do get the best in each category, I would recommend avoiding the Samsung tax and going with something more cost-effective with a negligible deficit outside of benchmarks. For SATA SSDs, I would recommend either the WD Blue 3D/Sandisk Ultra 3D (pretty much the same drive) or the Crucial MX500. You can go with whichever costs the least, though the MX500 is said to have switched to Micron's 96L 3D NAND recently which would give it the slight edge.

With NVME prices coming down and the news of DirectStorage coming to PC with GPU acceleration, I would recommend going with a budget NVME drive at least. The Kingston A2000 and WD Blue SN550 provide excellent value, the former has slightly better performance while the latter is slightly more consistent as the drive fills up. A tier above are the ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro and the Silicon Power P34A80, though due to parts being swapped, they have suffered a very minor performance decrease lately. If you live in the US, the Sabrent Rocket and SK Hynix Gold P31 are excellent choices.

While the Samsung 860 Evo and 970 Evo Plus are the best in the SATA and NVME categories respectively, the former has likely already lost its advantage to the 96L MX500, and the latter will do so very soon once the new wave of PCIe 4.0 SSDs hits the market very soon. Right now, I would recommend going with a budget NVME drive (though sometimes the mid-range and high-end models can have deep discounts, certainly keep an eye on those), and once the simulator is upgraded to DirectX 12 and presumably DirectStorage, add a PCIe 4.0 drive once they have more mature controllers and capable flash if you feel you need a storage upgrade.

9 hours ago, ChaoticBeauty said:

The Kingston A2000 and WD Blue SN550 provide excellent value, the former has slightly better performance while the latter is slightly more consistent as the drive fills up.

I've had a few of the SN550 drives, and have been the best price/performance drives I've used

it will be an excellent set.

Edited November 16, 20205 yr by Ricardo Andrada