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Windows 11's best gaming feature now being enabled in Windows 10

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


PC gaming has been synonymous with Microsoft Windows almost since the very beginning, with the operating system serving as a gateway for all kinds of experiences. Microsoft's support for PC gaming has seen its ups and downs through history. However, it's undergone a resurgence in recent years with the return of several key IPs like Microsoft Flight Simulator and Age of Empires, the introduction of Game Pass and closer integration with the company's Xbox consoles.

It's now looking to take the next big step in its PC support with Windows 11, its latest operating system that features several exclusive features aimed at gaming.

The OS is out later this year and there's still quite a lot to be showcased. Nevertheless, let's take a look at all of its gaming-related features revealed till now.
 

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
Good. I don't have my main drive set up for all that secure boot shit and I am really not feeling like reformatting.
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
DirectStorage doesnt require an RTX card.
You are thinking of RTXIO which leverages DirectStorage.
Well you need to supported GPU as far as I know, and I am not sure that AMD stated that their card will support it. Or am I imagine things, you still needs something to decompress the data, so it's not just a DMA to GPU VRAM....
 

reksveks

Member
Well you need to supported GPU as far as I know, and I am not sure that AMD stated that their card will support it. Or am I imagine things, you still needs something to decompress the data, so it's not just a DMA to GPU VRAM....
Systems must also include a DirectX 12 Ultimate supporting GPU, like an AMD Radeon RX 6000 series, or Nvidia GeForce RTX20 or RTX30 series GPU.


So it should be supported. I am still trying to figure out if the 1tb requirement exists.
 
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Black_Stride

do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
Well you need to supported GPU as far as I know, and I am not sure that AMD stated that their card will support it. Or am I imagine things, you still needs something to decompress the data, so it's not just a DMA to GPU VRAM....
MS themselves said DX12U compatible cards such as RX6000, RTX20 and RTX30.....Intel DX12U cards are also likely going to be supported.
 

Md Ray

Member
I am still trying to figure out if the 1tb requirement exists.
It doesn't. Not anymore.

Black_Stride Black_Stride , M1chl M1chl

As for the DirectStorage GPU requirement - any GPU with shader model 6.0 support will work according to MS, it's not specific to DX12U compatible GPUs. This means even if you have something like a GTX 970 in your PC and an NVMe SSD, you will be able to take advantage of DStorage in supported games.
 
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reksveks

Member
It doesn't. Not anymore.

As for the DirectStorage GPU requirement - any GPU with shader model 6.0 support will work according to MS. Meaning even if you have something like a GTX 970 in your PC and an NVMe SSD, you will be able to take advantage of DStorage in supported games.
I only found the one quote but is a GTX 970 dx12u compatible? In which case, we do have two differing statements.

You got an official link?
 

Md Ray

Member
I only found the one quote but is a GTX 970 dx12u compatible? In which case, we do have two differing statements.

You got an official link?
GTX 970 isn't, but you don't need a DX12U capable GPU for DirectStorage.

Windows 11/DirectStorage Requirements | microsoft.com

  • DirectStorage requires an NVMe SSD to store and run games that use the "Standard NVM Express Controller" driver and a DirectX12 GPU with Shader Model 6.0 support.
GTX 970 supports shader model 6.4.
 
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Kenpachii

Member
Making it only support the 6000/2000/3000 series is absolute idiotic.

Also not sure if AMD will care for DX12 to start with, they could very well make a updated version of vulkan with there own requirements. i highly doubt directstorage will only work through DX12 to start with.

Here's what microsoft stated.

“DirectStorage requires an NVME SSD to store and play games that use the 'Standard NVM Express Controller' and DirectX12 GPU with support for Shader Model 6.0.

Pretty sure AMD gpu's up from 200 series will support it, and Nvidia gpu's up from 900 series.
 
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Black_Stride

do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
Getting an error page but think i clocked onto the requirements changed to DX12 agility.
Yeah looks like its just DX12 and Shader model 6 from that newer requirements page.
Which is good more GPUs can get access though I wonder how worth while it would be on say a GTX 1050.
Making it only support the 6000/2000/3000 series is absolute idiotic.

Also not sure if AMD will care for DX12 to start with, they could very well make a updated version of vulkan with there own requirements. i highly doubt directstorage will only work through DX12 to start with.

Here's what microsoft stated.
You dont think Microsoft DirectStorage will only work through Microsoft DirectX 12?

Im sure games that use Vulkan as their API and need fast loading will have some other way "ported" version of DirectStorage, but it wont be DirectStorage as thats a DirectX feature.
 

PaintTinJr

Member
How are you planning to play games on a system that has neither? Or are you one of those 2500k forever folks?
This 2nd Gen CPU (iirc) is from 2011, and going by core count/speed/ memory bandwidth and cache sizes should easily play games, as would any of the Xeon 8 or 10 core variants from the same time period or newer, and none of them had motherboards with TPM 2.0 and are too old to have Intel® Trusted Execution Technology.

Intel® Core™ i7-3960X Processor Extreme Edition (15M Cache, up to 3.90 GHz)

I know these are minority consumer setups, but the cut off should be based on performance, not based on time lines by tying them to a TPM technology - without offering an aftermarket solution for all systems that would meet or surpass the performance requirements. And the win11 requirements aren't for gaming, anyway as weak Atom and Celeron systems(from OEMs IIRC) have made the hardware requirements for the OS, so a 2500k most definitely should be in IMHO.
 
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Kenpachii

Member
Yeah looks like its just DX12 and Shader model 6 from that newer requirements page.
Which is good more GPUs can get access though I wonder how worth while it would be on say a GTX 1050.

You dont think Microsoft DirectStorage will only work through Microsoft DirectX 12?

Im sure games that use Vulkan as their API and need fast loading will have some other way "ported" version of DirectStorage, but it wont be DirectStorage as thats a DirectX feature.

Doesn't matter what microsoft considers or wants. If the gpu vendors are not going to support it and users don't have the hardware or upgrade towards it, game developers will not use it and the tech is a dud.


direct-storage-DS-asset-flow.png



Directstorage is nothing but a name for a more optimized OS for a certain task, the demands and requirements at the end of the day gpu wise is completely set by amd and nvidia and what the market has. If AMD demands directstorage to work with vulkan to work with all there gpu's as they will use 10% of there gpu's for compression through software then microsoft will have to work with them and provide. The same way as nvidia most likely is going to drop on there next gpu's a dedicated chip that will take care of it like nvenc and leaves all the other gpu's with overhead through a software solution in order to create support.

We could very well see at the next amd gpu announcements, that they will drop vulkan ultimate the api that will be used for every next generation game and when every game on the planet is builded for consoles ( well from 3rd party's ) and they have a hand into that. vendors will soon follow and nvidia with it even if they do support dx12ultimate.

So far we know nothing of AMD's plans and they are dead silence on it. it could very well mean they are busy with console manufacturers etc to create there own solution. The same way what they are doing with FSR. They are not opting towards nvidia's DLSS solution they opt for a solution that caters to all there consumers.
 
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I'm excited for PC users to be able to finally use their SSD to it's true potential. Welcome to the club guys!
wow these console peasants are getting uppity....

i've been using an SSD since 2008 and these console crackpots have an SSD in their console for a few months....yeah welcome to the club :rolleyes:

face the truth: when Windows 10/11 gets DirectStorage it'll make your little toy consoles severely outdated. you think a 5.5GB/s SSD is good? HAHAHAHAHA....we're on 7.1GB/s now and next year will be going to 14.2GB/s. the PS5 is already struggling to keep up with PC gaming.
 

Armorian

Banned
wow these console peasants are getting uppity....

i've been using an SSD since 2008 and these console crackpots have an SSD in their console for a few months....yeah welcome to the club :rolleyes:

face the truth: when Windows 10/11 gets DirectStorage it'll make your little toy consoles severely outdated. you think a 5.5GB/s SSD is good? HAHAHAHAHA....we're on 7.1GB/s now and next year will be going to 14.2GB/s. the PS5 is already struggling to keep up with PC gaming.

Games won't use that bandwidth... Everything will have to be "fine" on ~2GB\s drive like one in Xbox series consoles.
 

Hypno285

Banned
I don't have a 1TB Nvme SSD but I do get 11GB/s read and write speeds anyway. Hell Let Loose loads a map in like 5 seconds.
 
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elliot5

Member
I can't imagine the 1 TB nvme requirement is real and it sounds more like a recommendation. Series S works with DirectStorage and runs off 512 gb. Granted, it's an Xbox and not a Windows PC, but still. Same underlying tech.
 

poodaddy

Gold Member
DirectStorage specifically avoids relying on your CPU.

P.S The 9700K as in a top CPU from a generation ago?
Yeah, that's the one. I know the point is to utilize the GPU over CPU for faster storage decompression, but I remember seeing somewhere, probably erroneously, that for some reason support started at the gen directly after mine for it, but I remember thinking that that didn't make sense if it was a GPU focused technology for NVME SSD's, but I swear I saw something like that. Don't know how or why, but just wanted to clarify. I have an RTX 2080 and a 2 tb 970 Samsung Evo as well, so I assume the rest of the configuration should be fine. Anyway, thanks for your time and answers.
 
wow these console peasants are getting uppity....

i've been using an SSD since 2008 and these console crackpots have an SSD in their console for a few months....yeah welcome to the club :rolleyes:

face the truth: when Windows 10/11 gets DirectStorage it'll make your little toy consoles severely outdated. you think a 5.5GB/s SSD is good? HAHAHAHAHA....we're on 7.1GB/s now and next year will be going to 14.2GB/s. the PS5 is already struggling to keep up with PC gaming.
Oh weird. I thought direct storage was new. Right now, PC games can't make use of that 7.1GB/s drive yet, but PS5 sure can since last year. So yeah, consoles have the advantage right now and PC WILL surpass it soon enough. So I say it again... welcome to the club guys!
 

CitizenZ

Banned
Windows is so great Im pretty sure im moving to Linux when I get my new GC in the fall. And it got me to thinking, if the Deck does great it will open others curiosity to the platform. LTT did a video today showing how easy it is to install and the benefits. Also looking at how things that have been standard to everyone for decades is slowing fading to newer things.
 

rodrigolfp

Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
Oh weird. I thought direct storage was new. Right now, PC games can't make use of that 7.1GB/s drive yet, but PS5 sure can since last year. So yeah, consoles have the advantage right now and PC WILL surpass it soon enough. So I say it again... welcome to the club guys!
Cool, but welcome to the club with outdated zen 2 CPU, outdated GDDR6 and weak RDNA2 GPU.
Control-PS5-settings-1030x585.jpg
 
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Sounds like DirectStorage will still be better on the updated Windows 11 operating system due to an upgraded storage stack, whereas windows 10 still uses the legacy stuff.
 

Hypno285

Banned
I'm excited for PC users to be able to finally use their SSD to it's true potential. Welcome to the club guys!
wow these console peasants are getting uppity....

i've been using an SSD since 2008 and these console crackpots have an SSD in their console for a few months....yeah welcome to the club :rolleyes:

face the truth: when Windows 10/11 gets DirectStorage it'll make your little toy consoles severely outdated. you think a 5.5GB/s SSD is good? HAHAHAHAHA....we're on 7.1GB/s now and next year will be going to 14.2GB/s. the PS5 is already struggling to keep up with PC gaming.

I already get 10-14GB/s read and writes using a cache software called PrimoCache.

I got 4x2TB(8TB) of HDD storage running in RAID0, 512GB of nvme SSD cache, and 2GB's of RAM cache. Hell Let Loose loads maps in like 5 seconds. The same with Battlefield 4 which has notoriously incredibly long loading times. It literally takes 2 minutes for a map to load on a single WD Black.

It only cost me $350 btw.
 
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Kenpachii

Member
DirectStorage specifically avoids relying on your CPU.

P.S The 9700K as in a top CPU from a generation ago?

Directstorage starts with the 8000 desktop cpu's for intel. So 9000 is supported.

What u probably are thinking about is SAM. Which is 10k+
 
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01011001

Banned
Good then, more or less what I expect.

People seem to think its some sort of a major change, its just a solid service pack with a lot of visual changes, which are needed.

yeah exactly. as they promised, Windows 10 will be the last Windows... this Windows 11 naming is really just A: PR stuff and B: to easily get across which version of windows will be supported on newer hardware.

I mean try to tell a normie PC user that he will need a Zen+ CPU or enable TPM if he wants to use Windows 10 version 21H2-21201. it's way easier to just say that Windows 11 needs this instead of a certain Windows 10 version.

I think they really didn't think this through back when they came up with the brilliant idea to have Windows 10 be the only windows going forward, since it is way harder to actually get across big version differences and hardware compatibility if they are all called Windows 10... and they must have known that at some point newer Windows 10 version will no longer support old hardware that originally ran early Windows 10 versions
 
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twilo99

Member
yeah exactly. as they promised, Windows 10 will be the last Windows... this Windows 11 naming is really just A: PR stuff and B: to easily get across which version of windows will be supported on newer hardware.

I mean try to tell a normie PC user that he will need a Zen+ CPU or enable TPM if he wants to use Windows 10 version 21H2-21201. it's way easier to just say that Windows 11 needs this instead of a certain Windows 10 version.

I think they really didn't think this through back when they came up with the brilliant idea to have Windows 10 be the only windows going forward, since it is way harder to actually get across big version differences and hardware compatibility if they are all called Windows 10... and they must have known that at some point newer Windows 10 version will no longer support old hardware that originally ran early Windows 10 versions

They didn't think it trough but that's nothing new lol

Ultimately it will work out, there will be some push back, like always, but give it a year or two and most people will be running it. Like you say, it will be extremely difficult to get non techy people to understand all this, so pushing it as a new version is the way. Its also a good way to clear out old hardware to be honest.. I always look at what Apple have done with iOS, its a perfect example as to how things should be done when it comes to upgrades, and yes, I know they have full control of the hardware, and even in that case, they have to eventually phase out older hardware. I'm not sure, but I think they finally cut off the iphone 6.

Microsoft have done a pretty good job at supporting older hardware in the past 20 years or so, it has to be said, and now maybe its time to move the bar up a little bit and using windows 11 to do it might not be such a bad idea.
 

01011001

Banned
They didn't think it trough but that's nothing new lol

Ultimately it will work out, there will be some push back, like always, but give it a year or two and most people will be running it. Like you say, it will be extremely difficult to get non techy people to understand all this, so pushing it as a new version is the way. Its also a good way to clear out old hardware to be honest.. I always look at what Apple have done with iOS, its a perfect example as to how things should be done when it comes to upgrades, and yes, I know they have full control of the hardware, and even in that case, they have to eventually phase out older hardware. I'm not sure, but I think they finally cut off the iphone 6.

Microsoft have done a pretty good job at supporting older hardware in the past 20 years or so, it has to be said, and now maybe its time to move the bar up a little bit and using windows 11 to do it might not be such a bad idea.

well talking about Apple, they can absolutely call their OS simply OSX (OS 10) for 20 years and it's totally fine because they are a closed garden... you can't get the wrong CPU to use the newest OSX version. you buy a Mac and have the OS that Apple decides will run on it and that's that.

I think Microsoft was like "we can do this too! Windows 10 will be just Windows now, this is our OSX!" but didn't really realize that they aren't Apple lol, they don't control hardware lol
 
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Md Ray

Member
It's just stupid W11 requirements. And this system works even on Core 2 Duo, I believe Linus tested this...

No clue, its what there requirement lists ssays.

most likely safety reasons. they want to make sure they rid themselves from old issues to have a clean slate going forward
DStorage is coming to Windows 10 too, this thread is literally about that... So I don't see how 7th gen Intel and below aren't supported or am I missing something? :messenger_grinning_sweat:
 
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