GeForce 535.98 Game Ready driver improves DirectStorage performance, PCI-E 5.0 SSD load time reduced by 17%
NVIDIA’s inaugural GeForce 535.98 Game Ready driver not only offers support for “Diablo IV” but also significantly enhances GPU compression/decompression capabilities, improving DirectStorage performance in PCI-E 5.0 SSDs.
DirectStorage can dramatically reduce game load times by allowing the GPU to bypass the CPU and memory, accessing storage devices directly, and decompressing game materials independently. This can drastically reduce game load times and alleviate CPU burden. SSDs are not a prerequisite for DirectStorage use; it can also be activated on HDDs, although SSDs accentuate the performance advantages of DirectStorage more markedly.
In comparing the earlier GeForce 535.03 and 535.50 beta drivers, Compusemble found that the new driver has enhanced GPU compression/decompression performance, an optimization that has been integrated into the earliest 535.98 drivers.
They utilized a Crucial T700 PCI-E 5.0 SSD and another undisclosed PCI-E 4.0 SSD for comparison, running DirectStorage benchmark performance tests. After using the 535.05 beta driver, the T700 bandwidth increased from 28.09GB/S to 33.12GB/s, an impressive enhancement of 18%, while the bandwidth change for the PCI-E 4.0 SSD was minimal. As for load times, the T700 load time was reduced from 0.24 seconds to 0.2 seconds. The perceptible difference may be minimal, but the load time was indeed reduced by a substantial 17%, whereas the PCI-E 4.0 SSD load time was reduced from 0.3 seconds to 0.29 seconds, with a negligible difference.
From the testing, it appears that PCI-E 4.0 SSD has reached its performance limit, and driver optimization may not bring significant improvements, whereas PCI-E 5.0 SSD has substantial development potential in the future. DirectStorage technology appears promising, although currently, the number of supported games remains limited.
