Microsoft DirectStorage 1.1 now out, promises up to 3x faster loads with GPU decompression

Microsoft showed off the great benefits of the GPU decompression feature last month, promising up to three times or 200% improvements in the game load times. Additionally, the CPU usage also reduces tremendously as the CPU cycles no longer have to deal with decompression work. Microsoft also added that there are "additional optimizations in the IO stack" for Windows 11 which will help it more, even though DirectStorage should work on both Windows 11 and Windows 10.

Today, the DirectStorage version 1.1, which brings GPU decompression, is now available. The announcement blog post also highlights the changes in version 1.1, it says:

The DirectStorage team is pleased to share that GPU decompression with DirectStorage 1.1 is available now. This new version of DirectStorage contains everything a developer needs to get started with GPU decompression.

What’s New:

• GPU decompression and GDeflate now available.

• Added EnqueueSetEvent to use Win32 event objects for completion notification.

• Performance improvements and bug fixes.

DirectStorage 1.1-supported drivers have also been available for a week or so. AMD has not confirmed, though, which driver exactly comes with the feature support. Intel and Nvidia however have confirmed the driver versions. In the case of Team Blue, it is beta driver version 31.0.101.3793. For Team Green, it is GeForce Game ready driver 526.47.

Microsoft DirectStorage 1.1 now out, promises up to 3x faster loads with GPU decompression