Highlighting the DirectStorage on the Feature-specific requirements for Windows 11 web page.
With a DirectStorage capable PC and a DirectStorage enabled game, you can look forward to vastly reduced load times and virtual worlds that are more expansive and detailed than ever.
The Windows 11 Requirements Check Tool determines if your PC has an NVMe SSD that uses the "Standard NVM Express Controller". In addition the tool checks if your graphics card supports DirectX 12 Shader Model 6.0 (or newer).
Note: DirectStorage is not a requirement in order to upgrade to Windows 11.
Check out this video showcasing DirectStorage on Xbox Series X. Microsoft is bringing this feature to Windows PCs!
Microsoft recently announced that it will also bring DirectStorage to Windows 10 version 1909 (or newer).
In the diagram below you can see that the DirectStorage API skips the CPU for the decompression function, offloading the CPU, and establishes an I/O data flow from the NVMe SSD device straight to the GPU's memory.
DirectStorage Diagram