Question - PCIe or PCIe

What does the X4 mean in an PCIe Gen X4 NVME drive? pcie 4 in pcie 3 slot ssd 2_1 slot on my ASUS ROG Strix x570i mobo The only thing I can find in bios is set to _1 link = Gen 4 Yet the SSD is still running at Gen 3 pcie slot height Yes, PCIe standards are thankfully backwards compatible, meaning that a PCIe device will work in a PCIe slot, but it will only be able to reach PCIe

pcie 4 nvme in pcie 3 slot PCIe PCIe x 16 Slots 7 · 6 · 5 · 4 · 3 · 2 · 1 SSD Slots 5 x SuperSpeed Storage：3*PCIe Connectors; EZ-Latch：PCIe x16 Slot with Quick