NVIDIA BETA driver provides significant performance boost for SSDs in DirectStorage 1.2, Gen5 up to 50% faster than Gen4

Compusemble recently released a new video using the DirectStorage GPU Decompression benchmark. This video highlights the benefits of a Gen5 SSD compared to a Gen4 SSD and shows how current performance is optimized by the latest version of the API, which is used in conjunction with optimized NVIDIA GPU drivers. The NVIDIA driver, version 535.50 BETA, is an updated version of the driver specifically designed to support the Microsoft DirectStorage 1.2 API.

This API allows for improved use of SSD hard drives and provides a number of optimizations that should significantly improve SSD performance. The optimizations included in this driver are aimed at improving the data throughput and response time of SSDs, especially when processing large amounts of data. Implementing these optimizations will enable faster transfer of data between the SSD and the system, resulting in improved performance overall.

Microsoft DirectStorage 1.2 performance with Gen5 & Gen4 SSD (NVIDIA 532.03 driver):

Microsoft DirectStorage 1.2 performance with Gen5 & Gen4 SSD (NVIDIA 535.50 driver):

The DirectStorage API of version 1.2 already leads to a significant performance increase by moving the copy directly into the compute queue after GPU decompression. A clear difference in bandwidth between the Gen5 and Gen4 SSDs could be seen. The Gen4 SSD achieved a maximum bandwidth of 22.26 GB/s, while the Gen5 SSD had a maximum bandwidth of 28.09 GB/s. This difference shows that the Gen5-SSD has a higher bandwidth and can thus transfer data faster than the Gen4-SSD. This is an important aspect because faster transfer rates can lead to shorter load times and overall better performance in games.

NVIDIA’s new drivers have been noted to further improve performance. These new drivers have helped to reduce load times even further and improve overall system performance. A significant improvement in FPS (frames per second) rates in various games was noted here, indicating that graphics processing is faster and smoother. Without the new drivers, the scene loading time was 0.24 seconds. With the updated drivers, it only took 0.20 seconds. This illustrates the enormous potential of the new Gen5 SSDs in conjunction with optimized drivers and updated versions of the DirectStorage API.

The Microsoft DirectStorage 1.2 API was released in April of this year, but it will be several years before it is fully implemented in major applications such as games. Currently, there is only one game, Forspoken, that supports the DirectStorage API, and it has not been particularly well received. However, the game did offer a taste of the fast loading times we can expect in future PC ports and AAA titles. Still, the technology has yet to become widespread. One can only hope that NVIDIA and AMD will work with developers to implement this technology in future joint titles.

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