Microsoft’s DirectStorage API promises to give PC users the same ultra-fast load times that Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 console users have enjoyed for the past two years.
A benchmark shows accurate performance advantages at retail “hardware” as the first game suitable for DirectStorage is ready to market.
PC video games’ “Hardware” tests show that NVMe SSDs can load data much more quickly than SATA SSDs thanks to Microsoft’s DirectStorage API.
They also provide the significant advantages of GPU-based decompression over CPU-based decompression.
The site used a SATA SSD, a PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD, and a PCIe 4.0 NVMe to run Microsoft’s publicly available Avocado Loading DirectStorage demo.
Additionally, it compares the decompression speeds of one CPU, a 5.2GHz Intel i9-12900K, an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, an Intel Arc A770, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080.
DirectStorage Benchmark Graph
The switch price for each hardware combination is shown in GB/s in the graph below, which also shows the average scores from five tests.
Here, NVMe SSDs performed significantly faster than SATA SSDs, and PCIe 4.0 slightly outperformed PCIe 3.0.
The A770 surpasses the RX 7900 XT and 4080 in GPU decompression despite being in a lower weight class for gaming performance, which is probably the strangest result of all.
The differences between CPU and GPU decompression are depicted in the demo screenshots.
Some just offer a few gigabytes of data and load in 1.5–5 seconds while utilizing 30%–100% of the CPU.
Others display the same property loading in about 0.5 seconds with less than 5% CPU utilization, demonstrating that the GPU has taken over the task.
The demo shows encouraging early results for the “hardware” outside of Microsoft Labs.
Additionally, they demonstrate a significant shift from 2020 examinations showing that modern video games do not fully utilize the bandwidth advantages of NVMes over SATA storage.
To read our blog on “Android phones will soon have PC-Level storage speeds,” click here.
