Question Direct Storage Questions

[Dave3000]

1. Will Direct Storage only work on the physical drive that that Windows is installed on?
2. Will Direct Storage require the M.2 slot that uses CPU lanes to the NMVe drive?
3. Will Direct Storage work with M.2 slot that uses chipset lanes to the NVMe drive?
4. Will non-gaming disk functions benefit from Direct Storage or is it just for certain games that have to be programmed to support Direct Storage?
5. Will games that use the Vulkan and OpenGL API support Direct Storage, for example, X-Plane 11, or is it just specific to games that support DirectX?

 

[igor_kavinski]

1. Will Direct Storage only work on the physical drive that that Windows is installed on?

I don't think so. It shouldn't matter which physical drive it is as long as it meets the minimum requirements.

2. Will Direct Storage require the M.2 slot that uses CPU lanes to the NMVe drive?
3. Will Direct Storage work with M.2 slot that uses chipset lanes to the NVMe drive?

Direct Storage needs guaranteed minimum bandwidth. It doesn't care how that bandwidth is provided.

Phison I/O+ Technology Preview - DirectStorage Gaming Companion | TweakTown

We are told that game developers and Microsoft have asked for guaranteed bandwidth. The current but still evolving specification for DirectStorage is 2.5GB/s of guaranteed bandwidth. This is the minimum for low-detailed gameplay. When the end-user turns up the graphics detail, the guaranteed bandwidth requirements increase proportionately.

4. Will non-gaming disk functions benefit from Direct Storage or is it just for certain games that have to be programmed to support Direct Storage?

Games that use the Direct Storage API. I suppose non-gaming applications requiring fast data streams could also benefit.

5. Will games that use the Vulkan and OpenGL API support Direct Storage, for example, X-Plane 11, or is it just specific to games that support DirectX?

Direct Storage is part of DirectX. Not sure if Vulkan/OpenGL APIs will be updated to offer similar functionality.