Combined with SSD PCI Express 5.0, could DirectStorage technology finally deploy its full potential?
Introduced by Microsoft on its Xbox Series X, DirectStorage technology is currently struggling to justify itself on Windows, but recent optimizations already seem to be at work, on the latest NVIDIA drivers in particular.
New in NVIDIA Drivers
Integrated into Windows several months ago, and notably present in the game ForspokenDirectStorage technology should theoretically lighten the load on the main processor of our PCs while accelerating access to graphics data for GPUs.
Alas, we cannot say that at present, things are really convincing, and the games exploiting this technology of direct access to data do not constitute irrefutable proof of its effectiveness. However, on a strictly theoretical level, no ambiguity is possible. Limiting intermediaries by avoiding having data destined for the GPU pass through the CPU should have a positive impact.
Maybe the technology just isn’t mature yet, and maybe game developers just need a little more time to exploit it properly? It is also interesting to note that, without fanfare, NVIDIA addressed the issue.
Bandwidth gains of around 18%
Relayed by Tom’s HardwareYouTube channel Compusemble has thus highlighted optimizations present first in the 535.03 beta drivers, then in the final version (535.98) released to accompany Diablo IV.
These optimizations should significantly speed up data access by boosting data compression. Compusemble points out that on the Avocado measurement software, she noticed gains close to 18%, going from 28.09 to 33.12 GB / s of bandwidth using an NVMe PCIe Gen 5.0 SSD, the Crucial T700.
This material precision is important. With a PCIe 4 SSD, our colleague could not reproduce such a gain. Bandwidth improved from 22.26 GB/s to 22.80, a marginal increase. In addition, the loading time measured by Compusemble on the Crucial T700 only improved by 0.04 seconds.
If this gain may seem marginal, it is actually 17% (0.20 seconds against 0.24), therefore in line with the gain in bandwidth. Still, this does not prove real improvements for players, and nothing says that the developers will exploit the thing. In addition, if it is necessary to have a PCIe 5 SSD, the public will be limited for a while longer.
Sources: Compusemble, Tom’s Hardware
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