Microsoft DirectStorage 11 with GPU Decompression: How does the feature improve game load times

Microsoft's DirectStorage 1.1 is releasing this week and is expected to reduce game load times significantly. DirectStorage came out earlier this year to minimise CPU overhead but did not include the feature that is supposed to help run games on modern PCs. However, the company has added the long-awaited feature with the latest DirectStorage 1.1. 

What is GPU Decompression and how does it work?

In a blog post dated October 13, 2022, Microsoft mentioned that it was in the final stages of development and would release Decompression for developers by the end of 2022. Adding to it, the company says that this is one of its most highly requested features. But what is GPU Decompression, after all? 

Computer games require vast amounts of data to build immersive, interactive worlds. Every video game's landscape, object and character have certain "assets" that describe its characteristics like shape, lighting and colour. 

Combined, all the assets add up to hundreds of gigabytes of data, which is compressed to reduce the overall size of a game. When players run a game, these assets containing data are transferred to system memory, where the processor decompresses and copies the data on the graphics processor, CPU Decompression—this decompression and transfer of data results in extended load times.

While DirectStorage 1.0 improved the data transfer aspect of the process, DirectStorage 1.1 moved the decompression of the assets directly to the GPU, eliminating the step where the CPU processes the data and then copies it to the GPU. This method of moving the decompression of the assets to the GPU is called GPU Decompression. 

DirectStorage 1.1 will improve the Windows gaming experience

Usually, graphics cards are more efficient in conducting repeated tasks and combined with the bandwidth of a high-speed NVMe drive, GPU Decompression on DirectStorage 1.1 reduces the time it takes to load an asset in the game, which improves overall playability. Microsoft showed that scenes can be loaded nearly three times faster with GPU Decompression than with CPU Decompression.

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