PC games will load a lot faster on your system from now. This is because Microsoft has finally released DirectStorage 1.1 with GPU decompression for Windows 10 and 11. It is the latest update to Microsoft’s new API for Windows that is meant to make load times faster.
For the layman, this means games will load faster, but you’ll need high-end SSD storage to get the best results.
The new and improved DirectStorage will let game creators shift the workload of decompressing files from the system’s CPU to GPU, thereby reducing loading times. This should benefit the latest GPUs better since they can handle parallel processing quite well.
Microsoft announced the launch of DirectStorage 1.1 through a blog post earlier this week. The post includes guides for developers as well as a quick overview of the feature for those who want to catch up with it. A previous blog post included in-depth explanations for the feature back when it was in its final stages last month.
The feature works best with a high-speed NVMe SSD drive working with a modern GPU, allowing the system to do more work at once, explains the blog post.
Graphics cards are extremely efficient at performing repeatable tasks in parallel, and we can utilize that capability along with the bandwidth of a high-speed NVMe drive to do more work at once. As a result, the amount of time it takes for an asset to load decreases, reducing level load times and improving open world streaming
GPU decompression is now available on Windows 10 and 11, but Windows 11 should work better with it since it has additional optimizations that make it the recommended OS for the feature. Manufacturers also optimize their hardware to work better with Windows 11 systems.
Nvidia, Intel, and AMD also announced support for DirectStorage 1.1 earlier this week. The feature should work best with the latest driver updates from hardware makers.
