Samsung 980 PRO enables next-gen gaming performance in Windows 11

[Anonymous]

The Windows 11 operating system from Microsoft debuted earlier today, and one of the new technologies it brings is DirectStorage. It’s a new set of storage APIs designed to boost performance, especially when running large and visually demanding video games. DirectStorage requires an NVMe SSD to work, and of course, Samsung is taking this opportunity to promote its powerful 980 PRO SSD.

The 980 PRO SSD is one of the fastest NVMe PCIe 4.0 storage solutions on the market, and it’s without a doubt one of the best SSDs overall. It can top 7,000MB/s read speeds, which means it’s 2x faster than PICe 3.0 solution and a whopping 12.7x faster than SATA SSDs.

With these specs in mind, the Samsung 980 PRO is not only a great choice for the Sony PS5 (PlayStation 5) but for PC owners who want to utilize DirectStorage technology in Windows 11.

What is DirectStorage, and why should you care?

DirectStorage technology was first used by Microsoft in the new Xbox Series S/X consoles, and thanks to its success, it’s now becoming available for PC users through Windows 11. Eventually, it will be added to Windows 10, though it will have some limitations.

As to how it works, in short, DirectStorage leverages the NVMe SSD’s fast transfer rates to speed up processing by eliminating the need for the CPU to decompress data before sending it to the system memory and the GPU VRAM.

With DirectStorage, compressed data can be sent by an optimized app/game to the system memory, which then sends it to the GPU memory for decompression, thus eliminating the need for the CPU to do decompression work and slow the system down as a result.

Evidently, in order for DirectStorage to be effective, Windows 11 requires a fast NVMe SSD. Samsung recommends the 980 PRO, and we do too. If you’re planning on building a new PC for Windows 11 with DirectStorage capabilities for next-gen gaming, the Samsung 980 PRO is one of the best storage options you have. And thankfully, Samsung is selling the 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB variants at discounts of up to $290 — at least in the USA.