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DirectStorage API finally launches, faster SSD performance beckonsLoading times facing the chop
Loading times facing the chop
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun
RememberDirectStorage? Back in the not-exactly-halycon days of 2020, Microsoft revealed that the storage API would make its way to PC, having showed how it could slash loading times to bits on the Xbox Series X and S. A year and a half later, it’s finally ready for Windows, as Microsoft havemade the full DirectStorage API available to developers.
On our end, that means we just need to wait a blittle longer for games to get DirectStorage implemented, then it should be good to go on compatible hardware. You’ll need an SSD, butboth PCIe 3.0 and PCIe 4.0 NVMe models are supported, so there’s no need to splurge on a high-end upgrade. Our guide to thebest SSDs for gaminghas some recommendations for all budgets. Likewise, it initially appeared that DirectStorage would be exclusive toWindows 11; as it turns out, Windows 10 will support it too, though Windows 11 includes some optimisations that supposedly make DirectStorage even faster.
It’s all very promising, and hopefully we’ll start seeing games adopting DirectStorage in a matter of weeks rather than months. Though it might not have as strong an effect on PC as it does on the Xboxes, as the Windows version doesn’t yet include GPU decompression – that’s merely “next on our roadmap”, according to Microsoft’s announcement post.
