DirectStorage Explained: Faster Game Loading on PC and What Your SSD Needs

DirectStorage is a Windows technology that lets games load data from storage in a faster, more efficient way. It is often mentioned next to NVMe SSDs, but it is not a switch you turn on yourself. This explainer uses Microsoft's own announcements to show what it does, what hardware it likes, and what to check before you spend money on a new drive.

What DirectStorage is

Microsoft released DirectStorage as a public developer kit (SDK) on 14 March 2022, so that Windows games can ship with it. Microsoft describes it as a new model of input and output for games that helps developers make fuller use of modern storage devices, with the aim of fast load times and detailed worlds. The important word is developers: the game has to use it. Owning an NVMe drive does not add DirectStorage to a game that does not support it.

The problem it tries to fix

In the traditional path described by Microsoft, game assets move from storage into system memory, the processor decompresses them, and then they are copied into the graphics card's memory. DirectStorage 1.0 improves the transfer step. Microsoft said that games installed on NVMe storage could see load times reduced by up to 40 percent, and that real results depend on the game and the hardware.

GPU decompression in version 1.1

The next version, DirectStorage 1.1, adds GPU decompression, which moves the unpacking work from the processor to the graphics card. In Microsoft's early demo, loading with GPU decompression and a format called GDeflate took 0.8 seconds, compared with 2.36 seconds with CPU decompression, which Microsoft describes as nearly three times faster. It says the processor is almost entirely freed up, but it gives no processor usage figures and notes that numbers vary with workloads and hardware. The GDeflate format was contributed by NVIDIA and is designed for GPU decompression.

What your PC needs

According to Microsoft's posts:

• Windows: Windows 10 and Windows 11 are supported, and Windows 11 is recommended because it has additional storage optimizations.
• Storage: Any storage device may see some benefit, but an NVMe SSD is strongly recommended and is needed for significant improvements. NVMe is recommended, not required.
• Graphics card: For GPU decompression, Microsoft says any DirectX 12 card with Shader Model 6.0 can use it, and a DirectX 12 Ultimate card is recommended.
• Drivers: AMD, Intel and NVIDIA were working on drivers for GDeflate. Without them, DirectStorage falls back to an optimized implementation that uses the graphics card in a different way.

These posts are from 2022. Hardware support and driver details may have moved on, so check your graphics card maker's current driver notes.

Should you buy an NVMe SSD for this?

This is our reading, not a claim from Microsoft. An NVMe drive is worth considering if you play modern games that support DirectStorage and want shorter loading, but you should check the games you actually play before buying. If a game does not use DirectStorage, the gain from NVMe over a good SATA SSD may be small in normal play, and our explainer on SSD speed on consoles and PC shows how speed is measured.

How to check a game

1. Open the game's store page and look for storage and DirectStorage notes in the requirements.
2. Read the patch notes for the words DirectStorage or GPU decompression.
3. Make sure Windows and your graphics drivers are up to date.
4. Install the game on your fastest drive.

Quick checklist

• DirectStorage only helps games that support it.
• Microsoft recommends Windows 11 and an NVMe SSD.
• GPU decompression arrived with version 1.1 and needs a DirectX 12 card.
• Gains vary, and Microsoft's own numbers are examples, not promises.