DirectStorage 1.1 improves the decompression of graphical assets in Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA, but the blue team comes out slightly better
The recent benchmark test, developed by the website Compusemble, showcases the power of the technology firsthand on the site’s YouTube channel. We have provided the video below for easy viewing.
The API allows the CPU to reduce the number of critical cycles needed for large tasks and decompresses game assets through “highly-parallel” graphics cards without the operating system taking over and using the processor on a higher level. DirectStorage 1.1 by Microsoft limits the load placed on the processor when the NVMe storage requests data. The algorithms used in the compression and decompression of assets through DirectStorage permit higher data levels to be moved above what the NVMe SSD would generally be expected to handle but can’t, and in large part, limits the time to load assets. PC Games Hardware took Compusemble’s benchmark test and pitted three of the top graphics cards on the market to see which handles the decompression of data the best. The three GPUs tested by the website were:
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT Intel Arc A770 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080
All three graphics cards were paired with the Intel Core i9-12900K processor from the Alder Lake generation. All three graphics cards processed decompression than the Intel processor by almost 2.5 times. The Intel Arc A770 GPU performed above AMD and NVIDIA regarding “asset decompression.” The results show that the Intel Arc A770 can transfer and decompress assets at 16.8 GB/s, while the AMD RX 7900 XT processed the same information at 14.6 GB/s or a difference of thirteen percent. However, since the loading times were reduced from five seconds to less than a second, all three cards decompressed assets similarly, meaning either configuration would still improve with DirectStorage 1.1. News Sources: Tom’s Hardware, Compusemble, PC Games Hardware (PCGH)
