PCIe 8.0 is coming in 2028 with 256 GT/s speeds and eight times the bandwidth of PCIe 5.0

Nearly four years after PCI-SIG announced PCIe 7.0, the consortium has now revealed it is moving towards its successor. PCI-SIG members have gained access to version 0.5 of the PCIe 8.0 standard, described as the first official draft. The release incorporates feedback from the earlier 0.3 draft published in September 2025, while the final PCIe 8.0 specification remains on track for release in 2028.

PCIe 8.0 represents a major leap over existing standards, offering eight times the transfer rate of PCIe 5.0, which remains the fastest PCIe standard available on consumer desktop platforms today. On paper, the new standard delivers a 256 GT/s data rate and 1 TB/s of raw bi-directional bandwidth via a 16-lane configuration. As with every new PCIe generation, PCI-SIG aims to double bandwidth every three years. Here is the breakdown across different lane configurations:

• x1 - 64 GB/s
• x2 - 128 GB/s
• x4 - 256 GB/s
• x8 - 512 GB/s
• x16 - 1024 GB/s

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At x1, PCIe 8.0 effectively matches the bandwidth of PCIe 4.0 running at x16 or PCIe 5.0 at x8. At x2, it reaches the full PCIe 5.0 bandwidth, while x4 mode matches PCIe 6.0 capabilities. Hence, technically, PCIe Gen8 NVMe SSDs will be rated for sequential speeds of up to 120,000 MB/s.

The upcoming standard uses PAM4 signaling technology and is designed to meet the growing demands of AI, machine learning, high-performance computing, and high-speed networking. PCI-SIG says development also focuses on connector technology, latency, forward error correction (FEC), reliability, protocol-level bandwidth optimizations, and lower power consumption. Backward compatibility with older PCIe generations also remains a key priority.

That being said, for consumers, PCIe 8.0 is still a long way off for any desktop platform. Most PC users consider PCIe 4.0 and 5.0 more than sufficient for their needs, while PCIe 6.0 is expected to reach data center CPUs and accelerators first. Still, the rapid growth of AI applications has created a clear demand for faster interconnects and higher-bandwidth memory, forcing PCI Express to keep pace.

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Next-generation data center CPUs are already planning ahead. Upcoming server CPUs, such as AMD's Zen 6-based EPYC processors and Intel's Diamond Rapids Xeon processors, are expected to support PCIe 6.0, while PCIe 7.0 is almost certainly already part of both companies' future CPU, GPU, and AI accelerator roadmaps. PCI-SIG's goal is to have PCIe 8.0 ready before the industry truly needs it, giving hardware vendors ample time to prepare for upcoming increases in bandwidth requirements.