Thanks to Microsoft’s DirectStorage technology, game loading times are extremely fast. However, not everything is sunshine and rainbows. According to the latest tests by a German publication, DirectStorage can cause slight performance degradation. PC gaming hardware (opens in new tab).
DirectStorage 1.1 moves the decompression of game assets from the processor to the graphics card. A Microsoft demo showed scenes loading almost three times faster on the graphics card than on the processor. Of course, your mileage will vary and is very hardware dependent. While many news outlets have focused on benchmarking the impact of DirectStorage on load times, PC Gaming Hardware has taken it a step further by measuring the impact of Microsoft’s technology on frame rates.
AbandonedSquare Enix’s is the first game to take advantage of DirectStorage 1.1, the foundation for testing PC gaming hardware. The publication’s system consisted of a Core i9-12900K (Alder Lake) processor and a GeForce RTX 4090, one of his best graphics cards in 4K. The reviewer tested with a SATA SSD and two M.2 SSDs, but didn’t mention the exact model.
DirectStorage frame rate benchmark
| Constitution | Average FPS | 1% percentile | 0.2% percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct storage (SATA SSD) | 83.2 | 54.3 | 36 |
| Direct Storage (M.2 SSD) | 75.3 | 53.8 | 37.3 |
| Direct Storage (M.2 SSD) | 74.4 | 53.5 | 35.1 |
According to the results, the configuration with SATA SSDs provided the best performance in terms of frame rate. However, switching to the M.2 SSD dropped the average frame rate by ~10%. This number seems quite high, but the difference between the configurations is less than 10 FPS. Additionally, the percentiles were very close to each other, and gameplay was smooth even at low average frame rates.
It’s too early to tell if DirectStorage contributes only 10% to poor game performance. The number can be quite large. PC gaming hardware is tested at 4K, so the impact may be more noticeable at lower resolutions such as 1080p and 1440p. The GeForce RTX 4090 also has strong firepower. So it will be interesting to see how DirectStorage affects slower graphics cards. Even more interesting is to quantify the performance loss and compare between AMD, Nvidia, and Intel graphics cards.
Since DirectStorage now handles decompression work for the graphics card, it was expected to put some stress on the graphics card. However, it still needs a lot of testing. The PC gaming hardware results are just a stepping stone. Either way, DirectStorage is a game changer for game developers and gamers, and will likely be used in many upcoming titles.
