PCIe standards group releases draft specification for PCIe 7.0

I was thinking the same :(

I'm running a PCIe 4.0 GPU in a 3.0 socket... and I swear I just bought the thing!

I recently built a computer with only one PCIE 5 slot.

The main issue I see there is the power still has to come from somewhere. All this would likely do is move the pci-e power plugs to the motherboard and cause lots of confusion related to: "this GPU only requires two plugs of power, but the motherboard has three plugs, do I need to plug in all three? My PSU only has two pci-plugs."

I read something recently about progress on that. Google is only finding this older article for me right now though : https://www.tomshardware.com/news/new-gpu-power-connector-eliminates-cables-delivers-more-than-600w

ASUS has been going outside the spec to implement their BTF thing, where cards have an extra connector in line with the PCIe bits that slots into the board for power (which is fed from standard ATX power plugs on the back of the board). https://edgeup.asus.com/2024/introducing-btf-an-easy-clean-approach-to-pc-building-that-keeps-the-cables-out-of-sight/

It's a step forward. ATX, though convenient and easy to work with for human fingers, could really be simplified for modern purposes. We've just been tacking stuff on for decades.