There is no doubt that SSDs are undoubtedly the hardware that will be adopted the most in the years to come, not least because of the benefits they bring to games and which the next generation consoles have already implemented. What is clear is that the PC as a leading platform in terms of technology cannot be left behind in this regard and the transition to using SSD is happening at high speed.
But, in consoles and especially in the Xbox Series X and Series S from Microsoft, we not only have the implementation of the SSD at the hardware level, but also the DirectStorage API, an extension of DirectX 12 which allows the GPU to access directly to the contents of the SSD bypassing the processor. Unfortunately, Microsoft decided that it was necessary to have Windows 11 installed on our computer to use it and a sizable SSD.
Microsoft reduces requirements for DirectStorage
A few days ago, Microsoft said that a 1TB SSD is required to be able to use DirectStorage on our PC
Too, Microsoft has withdrawn and now on the requirements of DirectStorage they just ask a GPU supporting Shader Model 6.0 and compatible with DirectX 12. Which is a logical change given the nonsense of the original technical requirements. So now desktops and laptops with NVMe SSDs less than 1TB can take advantage of Microsoft’s API.
On the other hand, we have to remember that despite the fact that Microsoft claims that any GPU that is compatible with DirectX 12 can be used with DirectStorage. Only those who are compatible with DirectX 12 Ultimate are able to use DirectStorage in all its glory, with dedicated disks in the GPU.
DirectStorage is the end for NVIDIA RTX IO
The DirectStorage API works the same as the proprietary NVIDIA RTX IO API, except that it is intended to be used for all types of GPUs and not just for GeForce. It is therefore expected that it will eventually replace the use of RTX IO in games and that the NVIDIA API will become a holdover from the past, although it is very likely that we will see the two APIs being used together. , especially if we have Note that RTX IO does not require updating the user’s operating system among its usage requirements.
In any case, we are still in the transition from games to SSD, since even for consoles games from the previous generation continue to come out, based on the use of the hard disk as a storage unit and with games suitable for their technical limitations. Partly because of the lack of a universal API for using SSD in games.
