DirectStorage is one of the most significant changes to PC gaming storage architecture in years. Originally an Xbox Series X feature, Microsoft brought it to Windows as part of the DirectX 12 ecosystem. If you have an NVMe SSD and a DirectX 12 GPU, this guide covers everything you need to know to take advantage of it.

What Is DirectStorage?

Traditionally, when a game needs to load a compressed texture or 3D asset from storage, the data travels this path:

NVMe SSD → CPU (decompression) → System RAM → GPU VRAM

DirectStorage changes that pipeline. Compressed data is sent directly from the NVMe drive to the GPU, where it’s decompressed in parallel using dedicated hardware on the GPU itself:

NVMe SSD → GPU VRAM (GPU decompression)

The CPU is almost entirely removed from the asset loading loop. The practical result is dramatically faster load times, near-zero load screens in supported games, and more CPU headroom for game logic and AI.

GPU Decompression vs. CPU Decompression

DirectStorage operates in two modes:

Mode	Decompression Location	Requirement
CPU mode	CPU	Any DirectX 12 GPU
GPU mode	GPU hardware	DirectX 12 GPU with GDeflate support

GPU mode is the one that delivers the big gains. It uses GDeflate, a GPU-optimized compression algorithm Microsoft developed specifically for this use case. NVIDIA RTX 2000+ and AMD RX 6000+ cards support GPU decompression. Intel Arc cards also support it.

System Requirements

To use DirectStorage in its full GPU-decompression mode, you need:

OS: Windows 11 (or Windows 10 with DirectStorage 1.0 in CPU-only mode)
GPU: DirectX 12 Ultimate compatible (NVIDIA RTX 2060+, AMD RX 6600+, Intel Arc)
Storage: NVMe SSD (SATA SSDs work but won’t reach the full speed potential)
GPU Driver: NVIDIA 522.25+ or AMD Adrenalin 22.9.1+
Game: Must be developed with DirectStorage API support

Important: DirectStorage is a developer API. The game itself must be built to use it. Having all the hardware and software in place does nothing unless the game calls the DirectStorage API.

Games That Support DirectStorage (2026)

As of mid-2026, DirectStorage-enabled titles include:

Forspoken — one of the first PC titles to ship with it
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart — showcases near-instant rift traversal loads
Cyberpunk 2077 (patch 2.0+) — uses it for open-world streaming
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
Remnant II

The list is growing steadily as more developers adopt the API in new titles and patch existing ones.

How to Check if DirectStorage Is Active

Step 1 — Verify Windows Version

Open Settings > System > About and confirm your Windows build. DirectStorage requires Windows 11 (build 22000 or later) for the best experience.

Step 2 — Check GPU Driver Version

NVIDIA:

Right-click Desktop → NVIDIA Control Panel → Help → System Information

Confirm the driver version is 522.25 or higher.

AMD:

AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition → Help → System Information

Confirm version 22.9.1 or higher (any 2024–2026 driver is fine).

Step 3 — Check DirectStorage Runtime

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

Get-AppxPackage -Name Microsoft.DirectXRuntime

If it returns a result, DirectStorage runtime is installed. If not, install the latest DirectX runtime via Windows Update or the Visual C++ Redistributable package from Microsoft.

Step 4 — Enable Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS)

HAGS is not strictly required, but Microsoft and GPU vendors recommend enabling it alongside DirectStorage for best performance.

Open Settings > System > Display > Graphics
Click Change default graphics settings
Toggle Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling to On
Reboot

Step 5 — Keep Your NVMe Driver Updated

Windows 11 uses a generic NVMe driver by default. Your drive vendor likely offers a faster one:

Samsung: Samsung NVMe Driver (via Samsung Magician)
WD/SanDisk: Available through WD Dashboard
Seagate: SeaTools includes driver management

Open Device Manager > Disk drives, right-click your NVMe drive, and check driver version. Compare against the vendor’s latest.

Optimizing Your NVMe for DirectStorage

Disable Write Caching Wisely

Write cache is already enabled by default in Windows 11 for NVMe drives. Leave it on:

Open Device Manager
Expand Disk drives, right-click your NVMe
Properties > Policies tab
Confirm Enable write caching on the device is checked

Check Drive Health

A degraded NVMe will bottleneck DirectStorage regardless of other settings. Open CrystalDiskInfo and confirm your drive shows Good health with no reallocated sectors.

What Not to Expect

DirectStorage does not:

Speed up non-supported games
Fix FPS drops or GPU-bound performance issues
Replace the need for RAM (system RAM is still used for other data)
Make a SATA SSD perform like an NVMe

The technology is genuinely impressive in supported titles, but it’s a developer-side implementation. As a user, your job is simply to have the right hardware, keep drivers current, and install games on your NVMe.

Conclusion

DirectStorage represents a real architectural leap for PC gaming storage. With the right hardware, an updated driver, HAGS enabled, and a supported game, load times that used to take 20–30 seconds can drop to under 5. The ecosystem is still growing, but the setup on your end is mostly a matter of having a modern NVMe, a DirectX 12 Ultimate GPU, and Windows 11 up to date.