According to Microsoft, DirectStorage will save CPUs a significant amount of time, 20-40 percent even. Microsoft's new API appears to be exactly what developers have been looking for, especially as games get more graphically rich and resource-intensive.

Microsoft publicly introduced the DirectStorage API in early March to overcome input/output (I/O) problems that the Win32 API faces with the current games. Cooper Partin, a Microsoft software developer, spoke on improving input/output efficiency using DirectStorage on Windows at GDC 2022. He said that this is not a straight transfer of the DirectStorage API available for the Xbox Series S|X; rather, this version has been adapted to the PC system's specific demands.

Partin estimates that the API can yield 20-40% CPU savings in its current state, as long as it's operating on Windows 11 with an NVMe SSD. The CPU cycles might then be used by game creators to accomplish something else, such as processing considerably more complicated AI behaviors.

DirectStorage is also available in Windows 10 (19H1+), however, it's a fallback implementation that employs an optimized file I/O layer developed on top of the Win32 API on the older OS. Although you will use patterns such as asynchronous I/O and completion ports to improve performance on Windows 10, it will not be the same as on Windows 11.

In the future version, you will be able to use DirectStorage to decompress assets using that GPU and this means more CPU savings for you, where you can do more additional work on your title.” – he finally added, referring to the advantages that developers will have with this API.

Microsoft DirectStorage can save 20-40% CPU load