While a separate API, DirectStorage is part of the modern DirectX ecosystem on Windows 10. It allows game assets to be loaded directly from the NVMe SSD to the GPU memory (VRAM), bypassing the CPU bottleneck, drastically reducing load times in DX12 applications.
The core value proposition of DirectX 12 lies in its restructuring of how the CPU and GPU communicate.
| Title | DX11 vs DX12 (on same hardware) | |-------|----------------------------------| | Shadow of the Tomb Raider | DX12 ~8‑12% faster on AMD, negligible on NVIDIA | | Fortnite | DX12 more consistent frame times but longer shader compilation stutter | | Cyberpunk 2077 (patch 2.0) | DX12 (only option) – smooth on 6‑core+ CPUs | | Red Dead Redemption 2 | DX12 slightly slower than Vulkan, but better than DX11 |
