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An XDA Developers contributor reports that after roughly half a year with a Crucial T710 PCIe 5.0 SSD, games did not load noticeably faster than they did on his older PCIe 4.0 Corsair drive. His experience is personal rather than a controlled benchmark, but it highlights why gaming buyers may get more value from extra SSD capacity than from higher sequential read speeds.
An XDA Developers contributor says games loaded about the same on his Crucial T710 PCIe 5.0 SSD as on his previous Corsair PCIe 4.0 drive, despite the newer model’s much higher advertised sequential read speed. The account, based on roughly half a year of use after a PC upgrade, suggests that gamers may see little practical benefit from paying extra for a Gen 5 drive when they already have a capable NVMe SSD.
The writer bought the T710 during an upgrade to an AM5 system with an X870E motherboard. Before that, he used a Corsair MP600 Gen 4 NVMe SSD dating from 2019. Crucial lists the T710’s maximum read speed at up to 14,900 MB/s; the writer describes that as about three times the MP600’s sequential read speed. Those figures describe drive performance in suitable tests, not a guaranteed reduction in game loading times.
After using the newer drive for about half a year, the contributor says he noticed no meaningful difference in game loading, including when loading saves or fast-traveling in open-world games. He says any time saved may amount to a fraction of a second, but he could not perceive it during ordinary play. This is a report of one user’s experience, not a published, controlled comparison across games, hardware configurations or repeatable loading tests.
The article argues that game loading is not determined by SSD throughput alone. A game may also need the CPU to decompress and process assets, prepare data in system memory and graphics memory, compile shaders or contact online services. Those tasks can limit how much a faster drive changes the time between selecting a load and being able to play. The contributor says even games that use Microsoft DirectStorage, including Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart in his own play, did not feel faster on the T710.
Capacity May Beat Peak SSD Speed
For PC players choosing between a faster drive and more storage, the report’s practical takeaway is to weigh capacity against price, rather than assuming a higher advertised transfer rate will shorten every loading screen. The writer recommends a PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive for a gaming-focused build and suggests putting roughly $100 toward more capacity instead of paying a premium for PCIe 5.0 speed. That recommendation reflects his experience and the prices he describes, not a universal price comparison for every retailer or market.
Storage capacity can affect day-to-day use as large games take up substantial space. The contributor notes that some AAA games exceed 100GB, while also saying SSD prices are under pressure from AI-related demand. That pricing explanation is presented as his assessment; no price data or market analysis is provided in the account. For buyers, the supported point is narrower: if a Gen 4 drive already delivers acceptable load times, adding capacity may be more noticeable than upgrading sequential speed.
The report does not say PCIe 5.0 drives have no value. The writer says he also uses his system for virtual machines, where multiple instances can benefit from greater I/O performance, and expects faster storage to matter more as software demands change. The distinction is between a drive’s usefulness for varied workloads and a clear, noticeable gain in today’s gaming experience.
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Why Game Loads Differ From Benchmarks
SSD makers commonly advertise sequential read speeds, which describe how quickly a drive can read large, contiguous blocks of data under test conditions. The XDA contributor says game workloads often involve smaller, more scattered reads and relatively low queue depths, so they may not resemble a benchmark such as CrystalDiskMark. A high score in a storage test therefore does not, by itself, establish that a game will load proportionally faster.
Loading screens can include work beyond retrieving files. The CPU and game engine may need to process or prepare assets; data may need to be moved into RAM and VRAM; shader compilation or online checks may add time. A faster SSD can reduce the storage portion of that process, but cannot speed up work that is limited elsewhere. The contributor’s account is consistent with that explanation, although it does not isolate each component through testing.
DirectStorage is intended to reduce CPU overhead in storage operations and can support GPU-based asset decompression. The writer says its gradual adoption could make fast storage more useful over time, but argues that the games he tried did not show him an obvious Gen 5 advantage. He also says DirectStorage works with PCIe 3.0 NVMe drives, which, in his view, indicates that the feature does not currently require PCIe 5.0 performance for gaming.
““When gaming, I just don’t see the difference at all, no matter what title I play.””
— XDA Developers contributor
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How Broadly the Experience Applies
The report does not provide timed loading tests, sample sizes, a full list of games or matched system configurations. Its finding is therefore an individual’s observation, not proof that PCIe 5.0 never improves game loading. Results can vary with a game’s storage design, the rest of the PC, software updates and the specific drives being compared.
It is also unclear how much the T710 would help in workloads beyond the gaming examples described, or how future games will use DirectStorage and faster storage. The article offers no controlled comparison of Gen 3, Gen 4 and Gen 5 drives, and no current market-wide price survey to establish the exact premium buyers should expect. Its roughly $100 capacity trade-off is the writer’s recommendation, not a fixed price difference.
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Future Games Could Change the Trade-Off
For buyers making a decision now, the writer’s advice is to compare actual drive prices and consider whether a Gen 4 NVMe SSD with more capacity better fits a gaming library than a smaller, more expensive Gen 5 model. The account does not identify a specific upcoming game or benchmark that would settle the question for all players.
The longer-term case depends on how game developers use DirectStorage and whether future workloads can make more use of higher storage throughput. The contributor expects faster SSDs could become more relevant as demands grow, while noting that his own gaming experience has not yet shown a clear benefit. Until more comparable testing or different game workloads provide stronger evidence, the practical difference for an individual PC should be treated as uncertain.
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Key Questions
Did the PCIe 5.0 SSD make games load faster?
The XDA contributor says he noticed no meaningful difference in game loading compared with his previous PCIe 4.0 SSD. The account reflects one person’s experience and does not establish results for every PC or game.
How fast is the Crucial T710?
The article cites a rated maximum read speed of up to 14,900 MB/s. That is an advertised sequential read figure, not a promise that games will load at a corresponding speed.
Why might a faster SSD not reduce loading screens much?
Loading can involve CPU processing, asset decompression, preparing data in RAM and VRAM, shader compilation and online services. If one of those tasks is the limiting factor, faster storage may have a small effect on total loading time.
Should gaming PC buyers choose Gen 4 or Gen 5 storage?
The writer recommends considering a Gen 4 NVMe drive and greater capacity if gaming is the main use and a capable NVMe SSD is already sufficient. The best choice depends on current prices, other workloads and future needs.
Could DirectStorage make PCIe 5.0 drives more useful later?
Possibly. The article says DirectStorage could benefit from faster storage as game support and workloads develop, but the writer reports no noticeable advantage in the DirectStorage games he played. Future benefits remain uncertain.
Source: XDA Developers
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