DirectStorage: What It Does and Which SSD You Need

What is DirectStorage?

DirectStorage is a DirectX interface that lets a game send many small read requests to the SSD at once. Microsoft released it for Windows games on March 14, 2022. Since version 1.1 from November 7, 2022, the graphics card unpacks compressed data itself, which takes load off the CPU.

Games store textures and models compressed so they take up less space. Without DirectStorage, the CPU reads this data, unpacks it and then pushes it to the graphics card. With DirectStorage 1.1, Microsoft says the compressed data goes straight to graphics card memory and is unpacked there on a compute queue. Only then does it land in its final place.

Microsoft uses the GDeflate format for this. It splits each data stream into 64 KiB tiles that are compressed separately, so the graphics card can unpack many tiles in parallel. If the graphics card vendor's driver has no optimized path, DirectStorage uses a general DirectCompute fallback. If that fails too, the CPU unpacks the data again, according to Microsoft.

The versions at a glance, each per Microsoft's DirectX developer blog:

What are the DirectStorage requirements?

According to Microsoft, DirectStorage works on Windows 10, and Windows 11 is recommended for its extra optimizations. GPU decompression needs a graphics card with DirectX 12 and Shader Model 6.0. For significant gains Microsoft names an NVMe SSD, and the game itself has to build DirectStorage in.

The requirements in detail:

On Windows 10, Microsoft says the gain mainly comes from the graphics card taking over work. Windows 11 adds improvements in the operating system's IO stack. Windows has no DirectStorage switch. Whether a game uses it is up to the developer. To make sure the graphics card has enough memory for the unpacked data, see the guide VRAM, and for CPU access to the full video memory, the guide Resizable BAR.

How much faster does a game load with DirectStorage?

For DirectStorage 1.0 on NVMe SSDs, Microsoft cites load times up to 40% shorter. With GPU decompression, a Microsoft sample scene loaded in 0.8 seconds instead of 2.36 seconds, nearly 3 times as fast, and Microsoft says the CPU was almost entirely freed up.

These figures come from Microsoft samples. Microsoft itself notes that results vary with workload and hardware. If the CPU is faster than the graphics card, Microsoft says it can even make sense to turn GPU decompression off. ratioDB does not measure anything itself. To check how fast your own SSD is, use the guide SSD speed test.

Which games use DirectStorage?

At the DirectStorage launch, Microsoft names Forspoken by Luminous Productions as an example of an integration. According to the PlayStation Blog, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart uses DirectStorage 1.2 with GPU decompression to stream assets in the background at high graphics settings.

Examples with a source:

Ratchet & Clank shows well what DirectStorage means in practice: per its requirements the game also starts from a hard drive, but from the recommended tier up it asks for an SSD. All tiers require 64-bit Windows 10, version 1909 or later. To move an existing game to a faster SSD, the guide how to move Steam games shows how.

Does DirectStorage help on a SATA SSD or hard drive?

According to Microsoft, DirectStorage can bring benefits on any kind of storage device, but an NVMe SSD gives the best performance. For older hard drives, Microsoft added a buffered mode in version 1.2 that is meant to mask the long seek times of a hard drive.

At launch in March 2022, Microsoft wrote that players may see benefits on any storage device and that an NVMe SSD maximizes IO performance. For version 1.1 it says more plainly: you need an NVMe SSD for significant gains. Microsoft does not name SATA SSDs specifically in these posts.

The buffered mode from version 1.2 uses the Windows file cache (buffered IO). According to Microsoft, older hard drives need this mode to mask their long seek times. The game has to turn it on itself, and Microsoft advises using it only for slow hard drives. How SATA and NVMe differ is explained in the guide NVMe vs SATA.

Storage types on amazon.com, as of Oct 30, 2026 at 1:17 PM UTC

The TB index is the median of the 10 cheapest new offers in a list. A SATA SSD currently costs $123.73 per TB in the index, a 3.5-inch hard drive $36.25. For DirectStorage, Microsoft recommends the NVMe SSD, at $133.85 per TB in the index.

How is DirectStorage related to the Xbox Velocity Architecture?

DirectStorage is part of the Xbox Velocity Architecture of the Xbox Series X and came to PC in 2022. According to Xbox Wire, the architecture has 4 parts: a custom NVMe SSD, hardware decompression, the new DirectStorage API and Sampler Feedback Streaming. The SSD delivers 2.4 GB/s raw.

What Xbox Wire said on July 14, 2020, at a glance:

On PC, the graphics card has handled the unpacking since DirectStorage 1.1, a job dedicated hardware does on the Xbox. Which expansion cards and drives work on the Xbox is explained in the guide Xbox storage, and for the PlayStation 5 in the guide PS5 SSD.

What SSD size makes sense for DirectStorage games?

According to the PlayStation Blog, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart needs 75 GB. By calculation, a 1 TB SSD holds 13 games of that size, 2 TB holds 26. If you keep several big games installed, 2 TB gives you more room. The cheapest 2 TB NVMe SSD on PCIe 4.0 or newer costs $249.99 right now (as of Oct 30, 2026 at 1:17 PM UTC).

Plan for the space Windows, updates and save files need on top. The cheapest M.2 NVMe SSDs on PCIe 4.0 or newer on amazon.com right now, the cheapest single drive from a known brand per size:

• 1 TB: Patriot P400 Lite 1 TB for $149.99
• 2 TB: Crucial E100 2 TB for $249.99
• 4 TB: Crucial P3 Plus 4 TB for $669.77

The PCIe generation comes from the listing title. Tips on picking an SSD for games are in the guide gaming SSD. All models are listed under M.2 NVMe SSD.

How does ratioDB help you buy an SSD for gaming?

ratioDB compares SSDs and hard drives per TB. amazon.com prices are pulled regularly, and the TB index is the median of the 10 cheapest new offers in a list. For M.2 NVMe SSDs it is currently $133.85 per TB. ratioDB does not test hardware or games itself.

Used offers are labeled and never count toward the index. All rules are on the methodology page. You will find all SSDs under SSD prices per TB, SATA SSDs under 2.5-inch SATA SSD and hard drives under 3.5-inch hard drives.