Microsoft's DirectStorage makes NVMe SSDs nearly 70% faster compared to Win32

The DirectStorage API SDK finally hit Windows recently which means game developers can now begin using the technology for implementation in PC games. Following that, today we have the first demo of a game using DirectStorage, shown off at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2022 event.

Luminous Productions' Forspoken, formerly called Project Athia, has gained the feature and the numbers are impressive. A couple of loading scenes were shown in the demo and the improvement using Microsoft's DirectStorage looks big, even when using SATA-based SSDs; and the gap is bigger with faster NVMe SSDs.

During the presentation, a chart was also provided showing the I/O (input-output) rates and the corresponding game load times when using the DirectStorage as compared to Windows Win32 Storage API.

The gain is especially impressive when you look at the NVMe figures as it shows nearly 70% improvement on DirectStorage (4,829 MB/s) when compared to Win32 (2,862 MB/s). In the actual load time, though, the difference isn't as big but it may potentially imply even faster loading speeds in certain future titles.

You can watch the Forspoken video showcasing the technology below:

As you may have noticed in the video above, aside from Microsoft's DirectStorage, Forspoken is also getting AMD's new FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 2.0, although support for the feature is currently still in development. However, implementing it probably won't be too difficult as the game already uses the FSR 1.0 feature.

Via: The Verge

Microsoft's DirectStorage makes NVMe SSDs nearly 70% faster compared to Win32