Xbox's DirectStorage API Will Speed Up Gaming PCs On Windows 11 Only (pcgamesn.com) 93
An anonymous reader quotes a report from PCGamesN: Microsoft has finally debuted Windows 11, and it's not just packing auto HDR and native Android apps. The long-teased DirectStorage API that's meant to cut down loading times on gaming PCs much in the same way the Xbox Velocity Architecture speeds things up on Microsoft's consoles is on its way, and it won't be coming to Windows 10 like we originally thought. The Windows 11 exclusive feature improves communication between your storage device and graphics card, allowing assets to load quicker without having to pass through the CPU first. Naturally, this means more time spent gaming and less time reading the same hints as you move from area to area.
It'll work best with systems that are dubbed 'DirectStorage Optimized', containing the right hardware and drivers for the job. If you're more of the DIY type that prefers to build the best gaming PC yourself, requirements demand an NVMe SSD with 1TB of storage or more. PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs and the latest GPUs from Nvidia and AMD will offer a better experience, but DirectStorage will still work with older standards like the third generation PCIe 3.0 -- you won't have much luck with 2.5-inch SATA drives, though. DirectStorage will only work with games built using DirectX 12, so there's no telling how many titles will support the feature when you upgrade to Windows 11 for free later this year.
It'll work best with systems that are dubbed 'DirectStorage Optimized', containing the right hardware and drivers for the job. If you're more of the DIY type that prefers to build the best gaming PC yourself, requirements demand an NVMe SSD with 1TB of storage or more. PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs and the latest GPUs from Nvidia and AMD will offer a better experience, but DirectStorage will still work with older standards like the third generation PCIe 3.0 -- you won't have much luck with 2.5-inch SATA drives, though. DirectStorage will only work with games built using DirectX 12, so there's no telling how many titles will support the feature when you upgrade to Windows 11 for free later this year.
What's in a will. (Score:2)
DirectStorage will only work with games built using DirectX 12, so there's no telling how many titles will support the feature when you upgrade to Windows 11 for free later this year.
*blink* I will?
Re: (Score:2)
Glad to know Microsoft are offering Windows 11 for free to Linux and Mac users.
Re:What's in a will. (Score:4)
DirectStorage will only work with games built using DirectX 12, so there's no telling how many titles will support the feature when you upgrade to Windows 11 for free later this year.
*blink* I will?
I'm sure Windows Update can make it compulsory for you.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
While that's probably a low percentage, it's disproportionately high amongst PC gamers
Hardly. I don't know a single PC gamer who dual boots. I know programmers and engineers who do, but not gamers. They are overwhelmingly running just Windows.
Re: (Score:2)
Once again, a power user speaking for joe 6 pack users.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not a power user. I'm definitely joe 6 pack in the gaming world.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Plus, in this day and age, gamer doesn't mean power user, so most won't care and will buy a new laptop anyways.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't think dual boot is unusually high among gamers.
Now, gaming is unusually high among dual booters- people who are really into tech and like to geek out are most likely going to want to run Linux and also run games. But this is only a notable number of people when looking at people who run Linux. When looking at gamers in general, the field is super vast- I doubt the percent of gamers who dual boot is much different from the overall percentage of computer users who dual boot, and this would be a smal
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Any modern Intel or AMD CPU have a TPM built in. It just has to be turned on. I think that is the case with all Ryzen and all Intel since 4000 series or so.
Re: (Score:2)
It's likely going to fail because very few machines sold to consumer to this day come with activated TPM 2.0.
Unless they change the requirements.
Re: (Score:2)
If it is a hard requirement, I can see Windows 10 sticking around. Else, most will 'upgrade' to 11.
You can check the Steam usage charts. Almost none of the systems are running 7 any more.
Re: (Score:2)
It first has to find the internet then.
Re: (Score:2)
*blink* I will?
Yes, you will. Or do you think you'll be given a choice?
Re: (Score:3)
My 3 year old PC does not have a TPM, so I'm not going to get Windows 11
Re: (Score:2)
My 3 year old PC does not have a TPM, so I'm not going to get Windows 11
Yes it does, you just seemingly disabled it in BIOS. Every Intel CPU since 2013 and every AMD CPU since 2016 has a fTPM integrated.
Hint hint people, if you want to specifically avoid a forced update, and you don't already use hardware security (for some strange reason) then simply disable the CPU's fTPM in the BIOS.
Re: (Score:1)
The leaked build refuses to install or upgrade on metal without TPM 2.0.
I'm also shocked that Win11 is being released this year. I don't see how that leaked build is going to be release-ready in what, 3 months? I would've bet money the target was Q4 2022 after playing with it in a VM (where it ironically doesn't care about TPM).
Re: (Score:2)
I'm also shocked that Win11 is being released this year.
Good point. It's Microsoft, we'll have at least another five years of "it'll be released in a few months" before it's actually released. And it'll be nothing like what was promised, or leaked.
Re: (Score:2)
The leaked build refuses to install or upgrade on metal without TPM 2.0.
fTPM meeting Microsoft's specification (which all CPU implementations do) is TPM 2.0 compliant. Windows does not handle the CPU integrated fTPMs *any* differently than physical hardware chips installed on motherboards.
And think about that for a moment. MS published the fTPM spec to ensure all device makers would implement something similar and compliant. MS is heavily pushing the idea of Windows on everything and judges success largely but the number of installs (which is why this is front and centre at eve
Re: (Score:2)
I'm safe then, I think mine is 8 years old. I just upgraded some parts this year, no way am I throwing it out just because a Windows digit changed.
Re: (Score:2)
You may actually be more safer than you though. MS updated the CPU support list and TPM isn't what is going to hold people back. Minimum Gen 8 Intel or Ryzen Zen+ (i.e if your computer is more than 3 years old, you're not getting Windows 11)
Re: (Score:2)
If vulkan supports the hardware on Windows 10, most devs will probably just use it.
Directstorage API is Dead. (Score:4)
Considering that most Gaming PCs as configured won't run Windows 11 out of the box anyway, it's not going to be supported much in games.
I'll make a solid bet that most Home built PC's out there don't have Secure Boot UEFI enabled and the TPM turned off
And good luck explaining to 12 year old Jimmy over Discord how to turn all of that on especially with the multitudes of BIOS'es out there, and how to reinstall windows because the BIOS Windows won't boot anymore once you switch over to UEFI. Or that he's screwed because his PC is over 4 years old.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
For real. I know the majority of the posters here have to be 50+ now.
Re: (Score:2)
Us 50 year olds understand BIOS though. Jimmy only understands GUI's. Show him a BIOS with it's convoluted Layout and verbiage, even when it's GUI like, and his brain melts.
Re: (Score:2)
At 12 I knew how to get in my BIOS and change it.
Re: Directstorage API is Dead. (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
PC Gaming and DIY is HUGE. I am still in the community but have little time to game these days. Only in the past 2 years that Nvidia and bitcoin miners started price gouging the market.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Jesus Christ, get over yourself. There are clever kids today doing the same shit you think you were doing 30 years ago, familiar with BIOS and hacking and all that stuff.
I'm old (check the uid). But I'm not so stupid as to hold on to some 'good old days' bullshit that requires basically just refusing to get with the times out of stubborn misplaced pride. It's an embarrassing look on a sad number of /. users.
If TPM is off on so many PCs as you claim, then you're saying they do know how to use the BIOS. Your
Re: (Score:2)
I have to strongly agree, nothing get between a kid and playing video games.
I am sure a lot of us Old guys who were kids when we they were video games out there, had learned how to code in Basic or Assembly just to get the game to work, while our parents praised us for being super smart Computer Wiz kids, We were just determined to get that game to work.
Back in the day I had an XT without any Hard Drives but with Duel Double Density Floppies. They were games that said they needed a Hard Drive to play, whil
Re: (Score:1)
You have it backwards. It's 12 year old Jimmy who will be explaining it to slashdot users.
That trope made some sense in the 1970s and 1980s, when just to use PCs you tended to need some geek cred. It hasn't for a long, long time.
Yes, I'm sure little Jimmy knows the TikTok interface better than me. Not so much advanced software and hardware configuration, not on average.
Re: (Score:2)
Not really. The whole "digital natives" assumptions of early 2000s have been proven completely and utterly false at this point. Modern generation is about as ignorant about computers as they were back in 1990s on median. They're experts in usage of "monkey could use it" grade of apps and most popular apps. That's it.
A lot of young people today struggle even with basic things like sheets and documents because that's not what they use their "device" for, much less actual understanding of underlying hardware i
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I spoke of "digital natives", not a small subgroup of them that is "pc gamers".
Re: (Score:2)
I spoke of "digital natives", not a small subgroup of them that is "pc gamers".
Maybe pay attention to the context of the discussion you inject yourself into next time, yea?
Re: (Score:2)
Mirror mirror on the wall...
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
That's a very backwards-looking perspective. How new functionality works on already-existing hardware isn't usually very important to manufacturers. If anything they'd probably be happier if it does require buying new hardware.
I thought only Apple did that. /s
Re: (Score:2)
Windows 11 is Microsoft's kiss and make up gift basket to manufacturers for Windows 10. They want the Google Chromebook "5 years and dead" Model and were pissed that MS gave Windows 10 away for free to anyone on 7 or 8 and kept the Minimum requirements so low. Everybody upgraded, no one bought new computers and cue the PC recession.
Now that MS basically killed any PC over 4 years old, Either PC sales will skyrocket now or once 2025 hits.
Re: (Score:2)
And good luck explaining to 12 year old Jimmy
12 year old Jimmy has already enabled it. Seriously the idea that some younger generation isn't technically literate enough to change a BIOS setting is hilarious.
You want a real challenge try explaining how to change a BIOS setting to Jimmy's dad.
Considering that most Gaming PCs as configured won't run Windows 11 out of the box anyway
A gaming PC is precisely the PC that has all the necessary hardware in place. It's not some rusty old family beige box sitting in the corner of the room with a 10 year old CPU and spinning rust storage. Nearly all actual gamers have at least at some point gone into
Re: (Score:3)
Pop! OS (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
Enjoy your slow level loading.
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Pop! OS (Score:4, Insightful)
We haven't seen any performance testing of DirectStorage API yet. It may not make much difference. I have my doubts that it will be noticeable, but still have hope.
In the meantime, Linux' file I/O performance generally stomps Windows, like half-again the throughput, and it has been that way pretty much since Linux left Linus' loins.
Re: (Score:2)
It would be nice now that it's mentioned, if Microsoft focused on efficiency and performance. They don't have to give up on flashy customer features to do that, Apple managed to squeeze in some really good features reducing power consumption simultaneous with updating their silly built in apps. It's not like it's hard to use the same actual PC to compare Windows and Linux and notice the obvious differences in efficiency.
Re: (Score:2)
cool.
can it run call of duty
Lack of data (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
I was going to ask is this really a big deal? Will those extra few seconds make any significant difference in playing the game?
Re: (Score:3)
Loading screens are not a big deal to you playing a game, but their existence shows an underlying problem. The reason we have them is because different parts of the game world need to be ... well ... loaded. We are now getting to the point where the amount and speed at which we can load content is a bottleneck holding back not just game size but actual graphical performance. The goal here is to be able to load from the SSD to the GPU memory without any overhead the goal: no loading screen and far more detai
Re: (Score:2)
In other words PCI 4/5, and as many lanes as we can get. Bigger main memory and VRAM.
Seems we'll all be gaming on an HEDT system.
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe, maybe not. PCIe-3 is already pretty damn performant. The issue is the long round trip data needs to take as well as the processing overhead requesting it. Think of it like the amazing speed boost we got when we introduced Direct Memory Access without improving the performance of any individual link, except DMA between the GPU and the HDD. The action of copying memory from the GPU to the system RAM and back is a large bottleneck. If you can move the data directly between peripherals then you get a hug
Re: (Score:2)
They're still hand tweaking their test demo that proves how efficient it is. End result is that the demo will convince people that they need it, whereupon 13 gamers worldwide will proclaim it the best experience they have ever seen and another 100 million will say "huh, I don't see it."
Re: (Score:2)
Depends.
A lot of modern games hide loading in so-called "elevator" or "hallway" transitions, where you're forced to take an elevator to go somewhere. That whole elevator scene then plays out while in the background the game loads the next part of the level and assets. Or you might have seen it where you have to go through a narrow hallway, same thing.
The loading is hidden, which hel
Re:Lack of data (Score:4, Informative)
The summary and article are conspicuously lacking any quantitative data. How much does it improve loading times? Maybe the author hasn't noticed but with a decent PCIe4 NVMe drive loading times are already very fast.
What's a loading time?
I think you missed the point of the DirectStorage API. It's a method of directly streaming data from the HDD to GPU memory without the CPU's or system RAM's involvement. I.e. the same technology that underpins PS5's steaming system that has completely eliminated any loading screen on games which support it.
The problem is not I/O speed between the NVMe drive and the CPU. The problem is taking data from the NVMe drive to the CPU to the RAM to the GPU's RAM. That process is still slow because the APIs and system calls which do it are slow.
Re: (Score:2)
DirectStorage is not about making the loading screens go faster. It's about streaming the textures in from disk directly into video memory fast enough that you can do it during gameplay and eliminate most of the loading screens. You don't need to preload massive amounts of textures if you can near instantly load them as needed.
You're not seeing data because DirectStorage is about changing how you approach loading data. It lets you quickly do things you wouldn't even think about trying to do without it.
Re: Lack of data (Score:2)
If you are smart you can make a game without loading screens today, as long as you fetch the data a little bit before it is needed instead of right when you do.
Basically no games do this though, so I see no reason why this new tech would be used for anything except faster loading screens, given their unwillingness to go further here.
Re: (Score:2)
If you are smart you can make a game without loading screens today, as long as you fetch the data a little bit before it is needed instead of right when you do. Basically no games do this though
There's plenty of games that do so. In fact most open world games have done this for years. The problem is that limits the complexity of graphics and we've reached the point where streaming rather than GPU performance is the actual bottleneck which is precisely why NVIDIA, AMD, Sony, MS, and Epic games have been working on this problem the past 2 years.
Also we only recently saw with the release of Cyberpunk 2077 how very wrong this can go if you are unable to stream at the required speed to maintain quality
Re: (Score:2)
You still need time to load into the initial scene. This isn't about streaming world data as the player moves about. This is about being able to teleport them from one corner of the map to the other. You can't do that in advance, because you don't know where the player is going to go until he hits "go" (or "start" if we're coming from the start screen.)
No amount of brilliant engine architecture gets you around the fact that storage -> cpu -> gpu is slow. Technically you're not *eliminating* the time f
Re: (Score:2)
You still need time to load into the initial scene. This isn't about streaming world data as the player moves about.
No amount of brilliant engine architecture gets you around the fact that storage -> cpu -> gpu is slow.
And this is where you're wrong. This is about getting the CPU out of the loop. It's using PCIe 4.0 to send the data directly from the NVMe storage to GPU memory without going through the CPU. Combine that with a toolchain designed to store your data on disk so that it can be loaded into GPU memory without further processing and you eliminate a ton of load latency.
Ultimately what you're getting here is 1 frame latency to request a texture from disk and get it into GPU memory. And you can have a lot of reque
Paradigm Shift (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
When has ms promised that the next version of something would be so much better and failed to deliver?
They're just up to their old tricks; claiming to support interoperability, but with the caveat that "It'll run better on Windows"
Their next step is inserting malware into the Linux kernel, just like they added code in their kernel to hobble any competing products
Windows "11" (Score:2)
There's nothing special in Windows 11 except for a few moved icons. Everytime you hear "Windows 11 exclusive, won't be coming to Windows 10" instead read it as: "Will be rolled out with the next Windows 10 update which for some reason has a funny number".
There's no rewritten kernel, no new networking stack, as far as I can tell it's an iterative update with a slightly different UI. It seemingly lacks all significance that made previous windows version updates relevant.
Re: (Score:2)
a slightly different UI
Its more than slightly different.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, someone hit the centre justify button for the first time ever ;-)
Re: (Score:2)
Since when are rewritten kernels and new networking stacks required for a new version of an OS?
Re: (Score:2)
They aren't. However such large changes are precisely what made previous versions of Windows significant enough to warrant a major version change. Let me flip your question on its head:
Since when is a new version of an OS required for a window dressing updated (pun intended)?
Re: (Score:2)
Like all software, sometimes you just increment the major version number because enough time has passed since you did it last and it feels like enough has changed in aggregate. The end. I understand why people get so wrapped up in this - it's a business decision to make a big deal out of it, and why wouldn't you if you're trying to spur adoption and interest, but like you said, it often doesn't really *mean* anything.
Re: (Score:2)
The funny part is that most of the "windows 10 only" stuff works fine on windows 7 as well. Almost all of the "it's totally not compatible" games that have a horde of microsoft fanboys are fixed by simply... copying your xinput1_3.dll to the same folder and renaming it xinput1_4.dll. Or just putting it in the same directory as game executable. Because pretty much all games that have a directx 12 rendering path also have a directx 11 one. There's just no reason not to have it.
There are almost no actual win 1
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed, but while you can get things to run as you already noted you don't get DX12 support. Most people would rather simply apply a free upgrade than cripple their gaming experience.
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed. And as dx12 is usually the worse performing, less stable of the two, you would be crippling your gaming experience by moving to dx12.
So unless you are in desperate need of a small handful of extra features that dx 12 enables that the game you're playing AND your hardware actually supports, it's very much a downgrade from dx11.
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed. And as dx12 is usually the worse performing, less stable of the two, you would be crippling your gaming experience by moving to dx12.
Absolutely. Every single development which has enhanced visual styles has been worse performing. That's kind of how it works. I also play games which support RTX with RTX on because "performance" is only partially a criteria for for playing a game.
it's very much a downgrade from dx11.
Something you can say about every version of direct3d ever released including the first one. Enhanced visual features cost performance. That's how it works. Now as I have the hardware capacity to spare and have zero performance issues currently I can't wait to see
Re: (Score:2)
I see that you don't know the difference between dx12 and dx11, and think the main difference is "additional features".
I recommend googling the actual difference. Those are very different beasts under the hood even when using the exact same featureset. Dx12 was rebuilt with specific focus of going "closer to the metal" during the openGL progressing to vulkan and MS trying to compensate by dramatically altering how dx12 would do things compared to previous versions. Problem with "going closer to the metal" i
Re: (Score:2)
Of course the main difference is additional features. The feature being more closely being able to interact with the hardware. You're right, very different under the hood.
It is that feature which also provides the ability do more and provide better visual features. I'm not sure why you think providing a DX11 render path in addition if people happen to experience problems with DX12 is any way relevant. What's your point, we should never have adopted 3D acceleration in the first place because games released a
Re: (Score:2)
It's highly relevant. Gamers don't want their games to be unstable. If game is unstable but otherwise excellent, you'll usually find a lot of negative reviews on store fronts like steam stating a variant of "I like this game and want to give it a positive review, but it's too unstable so it's a negative until they fix it".
As for the rest, you appear to continue to confuse "potential" with "what is". There is a lot of potential with almost everything in this world. And this potential is wasted far more often
so pci/pci-e DMA? will this kill mods? and make ga (Score:2)
so pci/pci-e DMA? will this kill mods? and make game files be some kind of block device file?
Re: (Score:2)
This has nothing to do with mods. But yes effectively it's PCI-e DMA with a supporting implementation. PC users have had capable hardware for years, but no software APIs have actually allowed this kind of access.
This is an Xbox / GamePass move (Score:2)
Games on the new Xbox "Series" consoles can take advantage of this new API, and I believe many will over the next couple of years. (This is why next gen games cannot be run from the USB, btw).
So, basically Microsoft is trying to bring the Xbox brand to Windows, maybe for the third time (or fourth? lost count to be honest). They will also have "cloud" support for running the games from their data-centers.
There is also a new AMD lead API (with practically no current users) for texture streaming (SFS). Basical
Vista 2. (Score:1)