I can’t seem to find an answer to this question. I learn that there are different versions of the PCI standard:
However, in the configurator and in the support material, I cannot find a single mention of what is implemented in the FW Desktop. How can I discover this information?
The details are here:
Aha, super - thanks James.
Interesting that it’s 4.0 and not the latest - surprising for such a recent (and premium) product. I expect there was a design trade-off somewhere…
The people to ask are AMD, they made the choice. FW and others have to live with it. Given most Ryzen 300 systems were originally destined for laptops it was a power saving (and heat) measure.
I don’t doubt you’re right, and it is not a criticism from me as such - I’m a software engineer, and know nearly bugger-all about hardware design. But for my curiosity, isn’t this a Framework mobo, rather than an AMD one? Could Framework have requested from AMD a 5.0 spec (or indeed 8/16 lanes) if they had wanted to? I appreciate that would have pushed up the price still further…
The number and type of lanes, and their allocation, are configured inside the CPU from AMD. There’s very little Framework, or any SI or OEM, can do. Unlike desktop boards where there are 24+ lanes that can be split out by CPU and chipsets however the maker wants. The Ryzen 300 CPU only has a total of 16 lanes of PCIe Gen 4, configured by AMD:
You push PCIe 5 you increase the need for power and cooling for something few people are really benefiting from most of the time.
Most interesting. I might have gone with one less NVMe, and given the PCIe 8 lanes. Nevertheless, I realise that this is my design choice, and that AMD/FW probably made the choice that will appeal to the widest set of target users.