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Replacing DLL files in an existing game does not magically enable the new features.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"2954eec7f8\",\"type\":\"tableOfContents\",\"data\":{\"title\":\"Contents\",\"minLevel\":2,\"maxLevel\":3},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"980168054a\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The simplest way to understand the asset path\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"99210cf7a2\",\"type\":\"processFlow\",\"data\":{\"title\":\"What happens when a game loads compressed assets\",\"orientation\":\"auto\",\"steps\":[{\"label\":\"1. Game asset is stored compressed\",\"description\":\"Textures, geometry or other data are packaged in compressed form on the SSD.\"},{\"label\":\"2. SSD reads the compressed bytes\",\"description\":\"The NVMe drive moves those bytes quickly from storage into the system's I\u002FO path.\"},{\"label\":\"3. DirectStorage schedules the request\",\"description\":\"DirectStorage coordinates high-throughput reads and where the resulting data should go.\"},{\"label\":\"4. CPU or GPU decompresses\",\"description\":\"The compressed stream is expanded into the form needed by the game.\"},{\"label\":\"5. Asset becomes usable\",\"description\":\"The decompressed texture, buffer or other resource can then be consumed by the renderer or game systems.\"}]},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"d375ebe60b\",\"type\":\"callout\",\"data\":{\"variant\":\"success\",\"title\":\"The mental model\",\"body\":\"\u003Cstrong>SSD = moves compressed data.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cbr>\u003Cstrong>DirectStorage = coordinates the transfer.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cbr>\u003Cstrong>CPU\u002FGPU = decompresses.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cbr>\u003Cstrong>Game engine = uses the result.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"dbcc92fffe\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Why compress game assets at all?\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"fa9fc5a6fc\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Modern games contain enormous amounts of texture, geometry, audio and other data.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"375587179a\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Storing every asset uncompressed would increase installation size and force the storage device to read more bytes for the same content.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"6f00b8cbff\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Compression reduces how much data must be stored and transferred. The trade-off is that the data has to be decompressed before the game can use it.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"1c00bf96d8\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"DirectStorage moves the bottleneck problem, it does not remove it\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"2fd37b24a2\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"A fast NVMe drive can deliver compressed data much faster than older storage pipelines, but faster reads only help if the rest of the path can keep up.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"d68045b6ad\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"If the CPU has to decompress thousands of small asset chunks while also running game logic, physics and draw submission, decompression itself can become expensive.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"a16eb295ca\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"That is why DirectStorage supports GPU decompression: some of the work can move away from the CPU and onto massively parallel GPU compute.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"b4937d330d\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"What DirectStorage 1.4 adds\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"15fbbac723\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"DirectStorage 1.4 adds Zstandard, usually written Zstd, as a supported compression format.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"9c19185ae4\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Microsoft chose Zstd because it combines strong compression ratios, good decompression performance, broad software and hardware availability, and widespread adoption.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"431523b335\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The important change is that Zstd is integrated into DirectStorage's decompression framework with both CPU and GPU paths.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"940098d2af\",\"type\":\"comparison\",\"data\":{\"title\":\"CPU vs GPU decompression\",\"layout\":\"table\",\"columns\":[{\"id\":\"cpu\",\"label\":\"CPU decompression\"},{\"id\":\"gpu\",\"label\":\"GPU decompression\"}],\"rows\":[{\"id\":\"execution\",\"label\":\"Where it runs\",\"values\":[\"\",\"\"]},{\"id\":\"advantage\",\"label\":\"Potential advantage\",\"values\":[\"\",\"\"]},{\"id\":\"cost\",\"label\":\"Main cost\",\"values\":[\"\",\"\"]},{\"id\":\"best\",\"label\":\"Best choice\",\"values\":[\"\",\"\"]}]},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"c6262b2b30\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"GPU decompression still costs GPU resources\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"b4cde1abf8\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"GPU decompression is not free.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"9a58b4b286\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"DirectStorage uses staging buffers in VRAM to coordinate compressed input and decompressed output. Microsoft warns that an oversized staging buffer can take memory away from rendering, while one that is too small can reduce throughput because requests have to wait.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"4a44c060ae\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"So GPU decompression creates another balancing problem: reduce CPU work without stealing too much GPU memory or compute from rendering.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"3f3babfc82\",\"type\":\"referralArticle\",\"data\":{\"url\":\"https:\u002F\u002Ffigure.rocks\u002Fblog\u002Fvram-usage-is-not-vram-requirement-why-a-full-memory-meter-does-not-tell-the-whole-story\",\"title\":\"VRAM Usage Is Not VRAM Requirement: Why a Full Memory Meter Does Not Tell the Whole Story\",\"excerpt\":\"Why VRAM capacity, residency budgets and working sets matter more than one memory-usage number.\",\"ctaLabel\":\"Read the VRAM guide\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"a942fbe973\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Why Zstd matters compared with older DirectStorage compression\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"ef8a3b3ba5\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"DirectStorage already supported GDeflate, a compression format designed for parallel GPU decompression.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"84da708009\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Zstd adds a different option: a broadly used open compression standard with strong compression ratios and extensive tooling.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"e402caab8b\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Microsoft is also publishing an open-source GPU Zstd decompression compute shader as a baseline that GPU vendors can optimize further.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"6ff4e34bf6\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The initial shader is optimized around chunks of 256 KB or smaller, which matches common streaming-oriented game packaging patterns.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"4328a25e36\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The Asset Streaming Cost Triangle\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"3a792d45ba\",\"type\":\"comparison\",\"data\":{\"title\":\"Compression changes three different costs\",\"layout\":\"table\",\"columns\":[{\"id\":\"benefit\",\"label\":\"What compression can reduce\"},{\"id\":\"cost\",\"label\":\"What it can increase\"}],\"rows\":[{\"id\":\"storage\",\"label\":\"Installation size\",\"values\":[\"\",\"\"]},{\"id\":\"io\",\"label\":\"Storage I\u002FO\",\"values\":[\"\",\"\"]},{\"id\":\"runtime\",\"label\":\"Runtime CPU\u002FGPU work\",\"values\":[\"\",\"\"]}]},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"5d30690c89\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"What the Game Asset Conditioning Library does\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"25b7db1be9\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Microsoft introduced the Game Asset Conditioning Library, or GACL, alongside DirectStorage 1.4.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"c68144d961\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"GACL does not replace Zstd. It prepares certain game assets so Zstd can compress them more effectively.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"4a4b7bfc11\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Texture data is a major target because textures often make up a large share of modern game-package size.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"7fe0a2d504\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"What “conditioning” means in plain English\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"96a5e493d3\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Conditioning means rearranging or slightly modifying the data before compression so the compressor can find more useful patterns.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"cb4a8a997c\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"For block-compressed textures, GACL can shuffle the byte layout before Zstd compression. DirectStorage reverses that transform after decompression.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"55267a13ca\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"GACL also includes entropy-reduction techniques that can deliberately simplify some texture information to make it compress better.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"540deb670e\",\"type\":\"callout\",\"data\":{\"variant\":\"warning\",\"title\":\"Not every conditioning mode is lossless\",\"body\":\"GACL includes both \u003Cstrong>lossless transforms\u003C\u002Fstrong> and \u003Cstrong>lossy texture optimization\u003C\u002Fstrong>. Better compression can sometimes come from accepting a controlled amount of visual error.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"9836ed86ae\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Where machine learning enters GACL\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"4d663da4d4\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Microsoft's Component-Level Entropy Reduction, or CLER, uses machine learning as part of the process for reducing texture entropy.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"79c4cad150\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The purpose is not to generate textures at runtime. The ML work is part of preparing texture data so the final compressed representation can become smaller while keeping acceptable visual quality.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"99085e4c77\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"That makes GACL a content-pipeline optimization rather than an in-game generative AI system.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"14d13e675d\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Up to 50% better compression does not mean every game becomes 50% smaller\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"aaeb908807\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Microsoft says GACL can deliver up to a 50% improvement in Zstd compression ratios for suitable assets.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"57085743b1\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"That is not the same as saying an entire game installation shrinks by 50%.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"8e4feee49d\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The real impact depends on which assets are conditioned, how compressible they are, what proportion of the game they represent and whether lossy techniques are acceptable.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"2cd6a2b721\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The Compression Claim Test\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"5537c18816\",\"type\":\"processFlow\",\"data\":{\"title\":\"How to read a game-compression claim correctly\",\"orientation\":\"auto\",\"steps\":[{\"label\":\"1. Ask what is being compressed\",\"description\":\"Textures only, all assets, or the complete installation?\"},{\"label\":\"2. Ask what the comparison baseline is\",\"description\":\"Uncompressed data, GDeflate, old Zstd settings or another packaged format?\"},{\"label\":\"3. Check whether the technique is lossless\",\"description\":\"A smaller result may include controlled quality loss.\"},{\"label\":\"4. Separate file size from load performance\",\"description\":\"Better compression reduces bytes read but decompression still costs time.\"},{\"label\":\"5. Check CPU\u002FGPU path\",\"description\":\"The same compressed data can behave differently depending on where decompression executes.\"},{\"label\":\"6. Measure the complete pipeline\",\"description\":\"Storage throughput, decompression time, staging-memory use and final asset readiness all matter.\"}]},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"0ada530e08\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Why replacing DirectStorage DLLs in a game does not enable Zstd\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"4da8a4e81a\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"This is an especially important misunderstanding.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"2e03f9f3b4\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Microsoft explicitly answered this after the DirectStorage 1.4 announcement: replacing DirectStorage DLL files in an existing game does not activate the new preview features.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"f62e4bf14a\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The game's assets have to be authored and compressed with Zstd during the build process, optional GACL conditioning has to happen before shipping, and the game itself has to call the relevant DirectStorage APIs.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"0eb0a84749\",\"type\":\"callout\",\"data\":{\"variant\":\"success\",\"title\":\"A runtime DLL cannot rewrite the game's asset pipeline\",\"body\":\"The files on disk, their compression format and the engine integration must already be designed for DirectStorage 1.4.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"acb0fb0c0e\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Why faster SSDs do not remove decompression cost\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"17a8cecdd3\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"An extremely fast SSD can reduce the time needed to read compressed bytes, but it does not eliminate the time required to turn those bytes into usable assets.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"b4fa0ab639\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"As storage becomes faster, the relative importance of decompression, asset preparation, GPU upload and engine-side processing becomes larger.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"8e24a111c3\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"That is exactly why DirectStorage has evolved beyond raw I\u002FO.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"06446ca61f\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The Load-Time Pipeline Test\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"79ccb70f4a\",\"type\":\"processFlow\",\"data\":{\"title\":\"How to diagnose whether storage is really the bottleneck\",\"orientation\":\"auto\",\"steps\":[{\"label\":\"1. Measure storage read time\",\"description\":\"How long does it take to deliver the compressed asset bytes?\"},{\"label\":\"2. Measure decompression\",\"description\":\"How much CPU or GPU time is spent expanding the data?\"},{\"label\":\"3. Measure queueing and staging\",\"description\":\"Are requests waiting because staging buffers or GPU queues are saturated?\"},{\"label\":\"4. Measure upload and resource creation\",\"description\":\"How long before the decompressed data becomes a usable GPU resource?\"},{\"label\":\"5. Measure engine-side work\",\"description\":\"Shaders, object creation, world setup and asset registration may still dominate loading.\"},{\"label\":\"6. Fix the slowest stage\",\"description\":\"A faster SSD only helps when storage I\u002FO is actually the limiting part.\"}]},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"571576014a\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Why this matters for open-world streaming\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"806314e0fe\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Open-world games continuously move asset data as the player crosses the map.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"7bb8a063e0\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"That means asset streaming is not only about reducing a loading screen. The pipeline has to deliver, decompress and prepare data while gameplay continues.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"012c8cf647\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"A codec with a strong compression ratio can reduce the number of bytes pulled from storage, while fast GPU decompression can help keep CPU time available for simulation.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"f978c83ceb\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"But if the GPU itself is already saturated, moving decompression work there may need careful scheduling.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"ba6e748605\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"DirectStorage 1.4 also improves GPU scheduling visibility\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"d858b01445\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"DirectStorage 1.4 adds D3D12 CreatorID support for the internal command queues it manages.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"34afe0ff59\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The purpose is to help DirectStorage workloads participate more predictably in D3D12 queue grouping and GPU execution scheduling.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"37941fcc6e\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"This matters because decompression is now competing for the same GPU ecosystem as rendering and other compute work.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"b48d791481\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"What GPU vendors are doing next\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"8e92b40d82\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Microsoft says AMD, Intel, NVIDIA and Qualcomm are working on hardware- and driver-specific Zstd optimizations.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"fe70c63125\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"AMD and NVIDIA publicly indicated optimized support targeted for the second half of 2026, while Intel and Qualcomm also described ongoing platform work.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"b32885f619\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"That means the public DirectStorage GPU shader is a baseline, not necessarily the final performance path for future hardware.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"5bdd394fbe\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"What would change this answer?\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"df440ec666\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"DirectStorage 1.4 is still a public preview. The final API, Zstd shader performance, GACL support and vendor-optimized driver paths can all change.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"032ea5afdc\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"If future storage devices add standardized hardware decompression integrated into the PC asset pipeline, the clean separation between “SSD reads” and “CPU\u002FGPU decompresses” could become less absolute. That is not the normal DirectStorage 1.4 model today.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"76422e49b2\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Limitations\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"014e638d31\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"This article explains Microsoft's current public DirectStorage 1.4 preview architecture. It does not claim that every game using DirectStorage will use Zstd, GPU decompression or GACL.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"7dd689e651\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Microsoft's compression-ratio and performance statements are technology claims from the platform vendor. Real game results depend on the asset mix, compression settings, hardware, drivers and engine integration.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"b7bbbdd494\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Conclusion\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"6c07e0bffd\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"DirectStorage 1.4 is easier to understand once the jobs are separated.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"325ad9669f\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The SSD moves compressed bytes. DirectStorage schedules the transfer. Zstd defines how the data is compressed. The CPU or GPU decompresses it. GACL can prepare some assets so Zstd compresses them more effectively. The game engine then consumes the finished asset.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"0a7990db5b\",\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"A faster SSD is only one part of that chain.\"},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"b9347644f5\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"FAQ\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"4453ce2f6c\",\"type\":\"faq\",\"data\":{\"title\":\"DirectStorage 1.4 and Zstd in plain English\",\"items\":[{\"id\":\"faq1\",\"question\":\"Does DirectStorage make the SSD decompress game assets?\",\"answer\":\"No. The SSD reads compressed data. DirectStorage coordinates the I\u002FO, while the CPU or GPU performs decompression.\"},{\"id\":\"faq2\",\"question\":\"What is new in DirectStorage 1.4?\",\"answer\":\"The public preview adds Zstandard compression, CPU\u002FGPU decompression support, Game Asset Conditioning Library integration and improved D3D12 queue identification.\"},{\"id\":\"faq3\",\"question\":\"Can I replace a game's DirectStorage DLL to enable Zstd?\",\"answer\":\"No. Microsoft says the assets must be built with Zstd\u002FGACL and the game must explicitly use the new APIs.\"},{\"id\":\"faq4\",\"question\":\"Is GPU decompression free?\",\"answer\":\"No. It uses GPU compute, bandwidth and staging buffers, although it can reduce CPU load.\"},{\"id\":\"faq5\",\"question\":\"What does GACL do?\",\"answer\":\"It conditions game assets, especially textures, so Zstd can compress them more effectively. Some methods are lossless and some are lossy.\"},{\"id\":\"faq6\",\"question\":\"Does up to 50% better compression mean a game becomes 50% smaller?\",\"answer\":\"No. The figure applies to suitable conditioned assets, not automatically to the entire game installation.\"}]},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"578cca7c13\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Glossary\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"314ad428b8\",\"type\":\"glossary\",\"data\":{\"title\":\"Key DirectStorage 1.4 terms\",\"entries\":[{\"term\":\"DirectStorage\",\"definition\":\"Microsoft's DirectX-family API for high-throughput game-asset I\u002FO and decompression on Windows.\",\"anchor\":\"directstorage\"},{\"term\":\"Zstandard (Zstd)\",\"definition\":\"An open compression format added to DirectStorage 1.4 for game assets.\",\"anchor\":\"zstd\"},{\"term\":\"GPU decompression\",\"definition\":\"Expanding compressed data using GPU compute instead of doing all decompression on the CPU.\",\"anchor\":\"gpu-decompression\"},{\"term\":\"Staging buffer\",\"definition\":\"Temporary GPU memory used by DirectStorage to coordinate compressed and decompressed data flows.\",\"anchor\":\"staging-buffer\"},{\"term\":\"GACL\",\"definition\":\"Microsoft's Game Asset Conditioning Library, which prepares assets to improve compression efficiency.\",\"anchor\":\"gacl\"},{\"term\":\"Asset Streaming Cost Triangle\",\"definition\":\"A Figure Rocks model separating storage size, I\u002FO traffic and runtime decompression cost.\",\"anchor\":\"asset-streaming-cost-triangle\"},{\"term\":\"Compression Claim Test\",\"definition\":\"A Figure Rocks checklist for interpreting compression claims by checking the asset scope, baseline, quality loss and runtime cost.\",\"anchor\":\"compression-claim-test\"}]},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"ba9a367e9e\",\"type\":\"header\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Primary sources\",\"level\":2},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"5b0ee9645d\",\"type\":\"linkTool\",\"data\":{\"link\":\"https:\u002F\u002Fdevblogs.microsoft.com\u002Fdirectx\u002Fdirectstorage-1-4-release-adds-support-for-zstandard\u002F\",\"meta\":{\"title\":\"Microsoft DirectX — DirectStorage 1.4 Adds Zstandard\",\"description\":\"Official March 2026 announcement covering Zstd, CPU\u002FGPU decompression, GACL, GPU-vendor optimization plans and the DirectStorage 1.4 preview.\",\"image\":{\"url\":\"\"}}},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"99d1c9ab00\",\"type\":\"linkTool\",\"data\":{\"link\":\"https:\u002F\u002Fdevblogs.microsoft.com\u002Fdirectx\u002Fdirectstorage-api-downloads\u002F\",\"meta\":{\"title\":\"Microsoft DirectX — DirectStorage SDK & API\",\"description\":\"Official release page listing DirectStorage 1.4 preview features and package status.\",\"image\":{\"url\":\"\"}}},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"c6911b09dc\",\"type\":\"linkTool\",\"data\":{\"link\":\"https:\u002F\u002Fgithub.com\u002Fmicrosoft\u002FDirectStorage\",\"meta\":{\"title\":\"Microsoft — DirectStorage GitHub\",\"description\":\"Official repository containing samples, GPU decompression benchmarks and DirectStorage implementation guidance.\",\"image\":{\"url\":\"\"}}},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"01eb196732\",\"type\":\"linkTool\",\"data\":{\"link\":\"https:\u002F\u002Fgithub.com\u002Fmicrosoft\u002FDirectStorage\u002Fblob\u002Fmain\u002FDocs\u002FDeveloperGuidance.md\",\"meta\":{\"title\":\"Microsoft — DirectStorage Developer Guidance\",\"description\":\"Official guidance explaining compressed-data flow, GPU decompression, staging buffers and memory trade-offs.\",\"image\":{\"url\":\"\"}}},\"tunes\":{}},{\"id\":\"77679e7133\",\"type\":\"linkTool\",\"data\":{\"link\":\"https:\u002F\u002Fgithub.com\u002Fmicrosoft\u002FGame-Asset-Conditioning-Library\u002Fblob\u002Fmain\u002FREADME.md\",\"meta\":{\"title\":\"Microsoft — Game Asset Conditioning Library\",\"description\":\"Official documentation covering texture conditioning, Zstd, shuffle transforms and entropy-reduction techniques.\",\"image\":{\"url\":\"\"}}},\"tunes\":{}}],\"version\":\"2.31.6\"}",{"time":537,"blocks":538,"version":1209},1790405876557,[539,545,553,560,567,573,596,603,608,613,618,623,628,633,638,643,648,653,658,663,694,699,704,709,714,723,728,733,738,743,748,753,777,782,787,792,797,802,807,812,817,824,829,834,839,844,849,854,859,864,869,893,898,903,908,913,919,924,929,934,939,944,968,973,978,983,988,993,998,1003,1008,1013,1018,1023,1028,1033,1038,1043,1048,1053,1058,1063,1068,1073,1078,1083,1088,1119,1124,1158,1163,1173,1182,1191,1200],{"id":540,"data":541,"type":543,"tunes":544},"7b461210c1",{"text":542},"DirectStorage 1.4 adds Zstandard compression and GPU decompression support for game assets, but that does not mean your SSD is suddenly decompressing textures and models by itself. The storage drive moves compressed data. The CPU or GPU still performs the decompression work.","paragraph",{},{"id":546,"data":547,"type":551,"tunes":552},"2f0f63271c",{"body":548,"title":549,"variant":550},"\u003Cstrong>Your SSD reads compressed game data. It does not normally decompress that data itself.\u003C\u002Fstrong> DirectStorage coordinates the path from storage to memory, while the CPU or GPU can handle decompression. DirectStorage 1.4 adds Zstandard as a new codec option and lets developers choose CPU or GPU decompression.","Direct answer","info","callout",{},{"id":554,"data":555,"type":551,"tunes":559},"48a120727f",{"body":556,"title":557,"variant":558},"DirectStorage 1.4 is currently a \u003Cstrong>public preview\u003C\u002Fstrong>. Its Zstandard support and the Game Asset Conditioning Library are developer technologies that must be integrated into a game's build and runtime pipeline. Replacing DLL files in an existing game does not magically enable the new features.","Current status","note",{},{"id":561,"data":562,"type":565,"tunes":566},"2954eec7f8",{"title":563,"maxLevel":564,"minLevel":46},"Contents",3,"tableOfContents",{},{"id":568,"data":569,"type":571,"tunes":572},"980168054a",{"text":570,"level":46},"The simplest way to understand the asset path","header",{},{"id":574,"data":575,"type":594,"tunes":595},"99210cf7a2",{"steps":576,"title":592,"orientation":593},[577,580,583,586,589],{"label":578,"description":579},"1. Game asset is stored compressed","Textures, geometry or other data are packaged in compressed form on the SSD.",{"label":581,"description":582},"2. SSD reads the compressed bytes","The NVMe drive moves those bytes quickly from storage into the system's I\u002FO path.",{"label":584,"description":585},"3. DirectStorage schedules the request","DirectStorage coordinates high-throughput reads and where the resulting data should go.",{"label":587,"description":588},"4. CPU or GPU decompresses","The compressed stream is expanded into the form needed by the game.",{"label":590,"description":591},"5. Asset becomes usable","The decompressed texture, buffer or other resource can then be consumed by the renderer or game systems.","What happens when a game loads compressed assets","auto","processFlow",{},{"id":597,"data":598,"type":551,"tunes":602},"d375ebe60b",{"body":599,"title":600,"variant":601},"\u003Cstrong>SSD = moves compressed data.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cbr>\u003Cstrong>DirectStorage = coordinates the transfer.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cbr>\u003Cstrong>CPU\u002FGPU = decompresses.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cbr>\u003Cstrong>Game engine = uses the result.\u003C\u002Fstrong>","The mental model","success",{},{"id":604,"data":605,"type":571,"tunes":607},"dbcc92fffe",{"text":606,"level":46},"Why compress game assets at all?",{},{"id":609,"data":610,"type":543,"tunes":612},"fa9fc5a6fc",{"text":611},"Modern games contain enormous amounts of texture, geometry, audio and other data.",{},{"id":614,"data":615,"type":543,"tunes":617},"375587179a",{"text":616},"Storing every asset uncompressed would increase installation size and force the storage device to read more bytes for the same content.",{},{"id":619,"data":620,"type":543,"tunes":622},"6f00b8cbff",{"text":621},"Compression reduces how much data must be stored and transferred. The trade-off is that the data has to be decompressed before the game can use it.",{},{"id":624,"data":625,"type":571,"tunes":627},"1c00bf96d8",{"text":626,"level":46},"DirectStorage moves the bottleneck problem, it does not remove it",{},{"id":629,"data":630,"type":543,"tunes":632},"2fd37b24a2",{"text":631},"A fast NVMe drive can deliver compressed data much faster than older storage pipelines, but faster reads only help if the rest of the path can keep up.",{},{"id":634,"data":635,"type":543,"tunes":637},"d68045b6ad",{"text":636},"If the CPU has to decompress thousands of small asset chunks while also running game logic, physics and draw submission, decompression itself can become expensive.",{},{"id":639,"data":640,"type":543,"tunes":642},"a16eb295ca",{"text":641},"That is why DirectStorage supports GPU decompression: some of the work can move away from the CPU and onto massively parallel GPU compute.",{},{"id":644,"data":645,"type":571,"tunes":647},"b4937d330d",{"text":646,"level":46},"What DirectStorage 1.4 adds",{},{"id":649,"data":650,"type":543,"tunes":652},"15fbbac723",{"text":651},"DirectStorage 1.4 adds Zstandard, usually written Zstd, as a supported compression format.",{},{"id":654,"data":655,"type":543,"tunes":657},"9c19185ae4",{"text":656},"Microsoft chose Zstd because it combines strong compression ratios, good decompression performance, broad software and hardware availability, and widespread adoption.",{},{"id":659,"data":660,"type":543,"tunes":662},"431523b335",{"text":661},"The important change is that Zstd is integrated into DirectStorage's decompression framework with both CPU and GPU paths.",{},{"id":664,"data":665,"type":692,"tunes":693},"940098d2af",{"rows":666,"title":683,"layout":684,"columns":685},[667,671,675,679],{"id":668,"label":669,"values":670},"execution","Where it runs",[12,12],{"id":672,"label":673,"values":674},"advantage","Potential advantage",[12,12],{"id":676,"label":677,"values":678},"cost","Main cost",[12,12],{"id":680,"label":681,"values":682},"best","Best choice",[12,12],"CPU vs GPU decompression","table",[686,689],{"id":687,"label":688},"cpu","CPU decompression",{"id":690,"label":691},"gpu","GPU decompression","comparison",{},{"id":695,"data":696,"type":571,"tunes":698},"c6262b2b30",{"text":697,"level":46},"GPU decompression still costs GPU resources",{},{"id":700,"data":701,"type":543,"tunes":703},"b4cde1abf8",{"text":702},"GPU decompression is not free.",{},{"id":705,"data":706,"type":543,"tunes":708},"9a58b4b286",{"text":707},"DirectStorage uses staging buffers in VRAM to coordinate compressed input and decompressed output. Microsoft warns that an oversized staging buffer can take memory away from rendering, while one that is too small can reduce throughput because requests have to wait.",{},{"id":710,"data":711,"type":543,"tunes":713},"4a44c060ae",{"text":712},"So GPU decompression creates another balancing problem: reduce CPU work without stealing too much GPU memory or compute from rendering.",{},{"id":715,"data":716,"type":721,"tunes":722},"3f3babfc82",{"url":717,"title":718,"excerpt":719,"ctaLabel":720},"https:\u002F\u002Ffigure.rocks\u002Fblog\u002Fvram-usage-is-not-vram-requirement-why-a-full-memory-meter-does-not-tell-the-whole-story","VRAM Usage Is Not VRAM Requirement: Why a Full Memory Meter Does Not Tell the Whole Story","Why VRAM capacity, residency budgets and working sets matter more than one memory-usage number.","Read the VRAM guide","referralArticle",{},{"id":724,"data":725,"type":571,"tunes":727},"a942fbe973",{"text":726,"level":46},"Why Zstd matters compared with older DirectStorage compression",{},{"id":729,"data":730,"type":543,"tunes":732},"ef8a3b3ba5",{"text":731},"DirectStorage already supported GDeflate, a compression format designed for parallel GPU decompression.",{},{"id":734,"data":735,"type":543,"tunes":737},"84da708009",{"text":736},"Zstd adds a different option: a broadly used open compression standard with strong compression ratios and extensive tooling.",{},{"id":739,"data":740,"type":543,"tunes":742},"e402caab8b",{"text":741},"Microsoft is also publishing an open-source GPU Zstd decompression compute shader as a baseline that GPU vendors can optimize further.",{},{"id":744,"data":745,"type":543,"tunes":747},"6ff4e34bf6",{"text":746},"The initial shader is optimized around chunks of 256 KB or smaller, which matches common streaming-oriented game packaging patterns.",{},{"id":749,"data":750,"type":571,"tunes":752},"4328a25e36",{"text":751,"level":46},"The Asset Streaming Cost Triangle",{},{"id":754,"data":755,"type":692,"tunes":776},"3a792d45ba",{"rows":756,"title":769,"layout":684,"columns":770},[757,761,765],{"id":758,"label":759,"values":760},"storage","Installation size",[12,12],{"id":762,"label":763,"values":764},"io","Storage I\u002FO",[12,12],{"id":766,"label":767,"values":768},"runtime","Runtime CPU\u002FGPU work",[12,12],"Compression changes three different costs",[771,774],{"id":772,"label":773},"benefit","What compression can reduce",{"id":676,"label":775},"What it can increase",{},{"id":778,"data":779,"type":571,"tunes":781},"5d30690c89",{"text":780,"level":46},"What the Game Asset Conditioning Library does",{},{"id":783,"data":784,"type":543,"tunes":786},"25b7db1be9",{"text":785},"Microsoft introduced the Game Asset Conditioning Library, or GACL, alongside DirectStorage 1.4.",{},{"id":788,"data":789,"type":543,"tunes":791},"c68144d961",{"text":790},"GACL does not replace Zstd. It prepares certain game assets so Zstd can compress them more effectively.",{},{"id":793,"data":794,"type":543,"tunes":796},"4a4b7bfc11",{"text":795},"Texture data is a major target because textures often make up a large share of modern game-package size.",{},{"id":798,"data":799,"type":571,"tunes":801},"7fe0a2d504",{"text":800,"level":46},"What “conditioning” means in plain English",{},{"id":803,"data":804,"type":543,"tunes":806},"96a5e493d3",{"text":805},"Conditioning means rearranging or slightly modifying the data before compression so the compressor can find more useful patterns.",{},{"id":808,"data":809,"type":543,"tunes":811},"cb4a8a997c",{"text":810},"For block-compressed textures, GACL can shuffle the byte layout before Zstd compression. DirectStorage reverses that transform after decompression.",{},{"id":813,"data":814,"type":543,"tunes":816},"55267a13ca",{"text":815},"GACL also includes entropy-reduction techniques that can deliberately simplify some texture information to make it compress better.",{},{"id":818,"data":819,"type":551,"tunes":823},"540deb670e",{"body":820,"title":821,"variant":822},"GACL includes both \u003Cstrong>lossless transforms\u003C\u002Fstrong> and \u003Cstrong>lossy texture optimization\u003C\u002Fstrong>. Better compression can sometimes come from accepting a controlled amount of visual error.","Not every conditioning mode is lossless","warning",{},{"id":825,"data":826,"type":571,"tunes":828},"9836ed86ae",{"text":827,"level":46},"Where machine learning enters GACL",{},{"id":830,"data":831,"type":543,"tunes":833},"4d663da4d4",{"text":832},"Microsoft's Component-Level Entropy Reduction, or CLER, uses machine learning as part of the process for reducing texture entropy.",{},{"id":835,"data":836,"type":543,"tunes":838},"79c4cad150",{"text":837},"The purpose is not to generate textures at runtime. The ML work is part of preparing texture data so the final compressed representation can become smaller while keeping acceptable visual quality.",{},{"id":840,"data":841,"type":543,"tunes":843},"99085e4c77",{"text":842},"That makes GACL a content-pipeline optimization rather than an in-game generative AI system.",{},{"id":845,"data":846,"type":571,"tunes":848},"14d13e675d",{"text":847,"level":46},"Up to 50% better compression does not mean every game becomes 50% smaller",{},{"id":850,"data":851,"type":543,"tunes":853},"aaeb908807",{"text":852},"Microsoft says GACL can deliver up to a 50% improvement in Zstd compression ratios for suitable assets.",{},{"id":855,"data":856,"type":543,"tunes":858},"57085743b1",{"text":857},"That is not the same as saying an entire game installation shrinks by 50%.",{},{"id":860,"data":861,"type":543,"tunes":863},"8e4feee49d",{"text":862},"The real impact depends on which assets are conditioned, how compressible they are, what proportion of the game they represent and whether lossy techniques are acceptable.",{},{"id":865,"data":866,"type":571,"tunes":868},"2cd6a2b721",{"text":867,"level":46},"The Compression Claim Test",{},{"id":870,"data":871,"type":594,"tunes":892},"5537c18816",{"steps":872,"title":891,"orientation":593},[873,876,879,882,885,888],{"label":874,"description":875},"1. Ask what is being compressed","Textures only, all assets, or the complete installation?",{"label":877,"description":878},"2. Ask what the comparison baseline is","Uncompressed data, GDeflate, old Zstd settings or another packaged format?",{"label":880,"description":881},"3. Check whether the technique is lossless","A smaller result may include controlled quality loss.",{"label":883,"description":884},"4. Separate file size from load performance","Better compression reduces bytes read but decompression still costs time.",{"label":886,"description":887},"5. Check CPU\u002FGPU path","The same compressed data can behave differently depending on where decompression executes.",{"label":889,"description":890},"6. Measure the complete pipeline","Storage throughput, decompression time, staging-memory use and final asset readiness all matter.","How to read a game-compression claim correctly",{},{"id":894,"data":895,"type":571,"tunes":897},"0ada530e08",{"text":896,"level":46},"Why replacing DirectStorage DLLs in a game does not enable Zstd",{},{"id":899,"data":900,"type":543,"tunes":902},"4da8a4e81a",{"text":901},"This is an especially important misunderstanding.",{},{"id":904,"data":905,"type":543,"tunes":907},"2e03f9f3b4",{"text":906},"Microsoft explicitly answered this after the DirectStorage 1.4 announcement: replacing DirectStorage DLL files in an existing game does not activate the new preview features.",{},{"id":909,"data":910,"type":543,"tunes":912},"f62e4bf14a",{"text":911},"The game's assets have to be authored and compressed with Zstd during the build process, optional GACL conditioning has to happen before shipping, and the game itself has to call the relevant DirectStorage APIs.",{},{"id":914,"data":915,"type":551,"tunes":918},"0eb0a84749",{"body":916,"title":917,"variant":601},"The files on disk, their compression format and the engine integration must already be designed for DirectStorage 1.4.","A runtime DLL cannot rewrite the game's asset pipeline",{},{"id":920,"data":921,"type":571,"tunes":923},"acb0fb0c0e",{"text":922,"level":46},"Why faster SSDs do not remove decompression cost",{},{"id":925,"data":926,"type":543,"tunes":928},"17a8cecdd3",{"text":927},"An extremely fast SSD can reduce the time needed to read compressed bytes, but it does not eliminate the time required to turn those bytes into usable assets.",{},{"id":930,"data":931,"type":543,"tunes":933},"b4fa0ab639",{"text":932},"As storage becomes faster, the relative importance of decompression, asset preparation, GPU upload and engine-side processing becomes larger.",{},{"id":935,"data":936,"type":543,"tunes":938},"8e24a111c3",{"text":937},"That is exactly why DirectStorage has evolved beyond raw I\u002FO.",{},{"id":940,"data":941,"type":571,"tunes":943},"06446ca61f",{"text":942,"level":46},"The Load-Time Pipeline Test",{},{"id":945,"data":946,"type":594,"tunes":967},"79ccb70f4a",{"steps":947,"title":966,"orientation":593},[948,951,954,957,960,963],{"label":949,"description":950},"1. Measure storage read time","How long does it take to deliver the compressed asset bytes?",{"label":952,"description":953},"2. Measure decompression","How much CPU or GPU time is spent expanding the data?",{"label":955,"description":956},"3. Measure queueing and staging","Are requests waiting because staging buffers or GPU queues are saturated?",{"label":958,"description":959},"4. Measure upload and resource creation","How long before the decompressed data becomes a usable GPU resource?",{"label":961,"description":962},"5. Measure engine-side work","Shaders, object creation, world setup and asset registration may still dominate loading.",{"label":964,"description":965},"6. Fix the slowest stage","A faster SSD only helps when storage I\u002FO is actually the limiting part.","How to diagnose whether storage is really the bottleneck",{},{"id":969,"data":970,"type":571,"tunes":972},"571576014a",{"text":971,"level":46},"Why this matters for open-world streaming",{},{"id":974,"data":975,"type":543,"tunes":977},"806314e0fe",{"text":976},"Open-world games continuously move asset data as the player crosses the map.",{},{"id":979,"data":980,"type":543,"tunes":982},"7bb8a063e0",{"text":981},"That means asset streaming is not only about reducing a loading screen. The pipeline has to deliver, decompress and prepare data while gameplay continues.",{},{"id":984,"data":985,"type":543,"tunes":987},"012c8cf647",{"text":986},"A codec with a strong compression ratio can reduce the number of bytes pulled from storage, while fast GPU decompression can help keep CPU time available for simulation.",{},{"id":989,"data":990,"type":543,"tunes":992},"f978c83ceb",{"text":991},"But if the GPU itself is already saturated, moving decompression work there may need careful scheduling.",{},{"id":994,"data":995,"type":571,"tunes":997},"ba6e748605",{"text":996,"level":46},"DirectStorage 1.4 also improves GPU scheduling visibility",{},{"id":999,"data":1000,"type":543,"tunes":1002},"d858b01445",{"text":1001},"DirectStorage 1.4 adds D3D12 CreatorID support for the internal command queues it manages.",{},{"id":1004,"data":1005,"type":543,"tunes":1007},"34afe0ff59",{"text":1006},"The purpose is to help DirectStorage workloads participate more predictably in D3D12 queue grouping and GPU execution scheduling.",{},{"id":1009,"data":1010,"type":543,"tunes":1012},"37941fcc6e",{"text":1011},"This matters because decompression is now competing for the same GPU ecosystem as rendering and other compute work.",{},{"id":1014,"data":1015,"type":571,"tunes":1017},"b48d791481",{"text":1016,"level":46},"What GPU vendors are doing next",{},{"id":1019,"data":1020,"type":543,"tunes":1022},"8e92b40d82",{"text":1021},"Microsoft says AMD, Intel, NVIDIA and Qualcomm are working on hardware- and driver-specific Zstd optimizations.",{},{"id":1024,"data":1025,"type":543,"tunes":1027},"fe70c63125",{"text":1026},"AMD and NVIDIA publicly indicated optimized support targeted for the second half of 2026, while Intel and Qualcomm also described ongoing platform work.",{},{"id":1029,"data":1030,"type":543,"tunes":1032},"b32885f619",{"text":1031},"That means the public DirectStorage GPU shader is a baseline, not necessarily the final performance path for future hardware.",{},{"id":1034,"data":1035,"type":571,"tunes":1037},"5bdd394fbe",{"text":1036,"level":46},"What would change this answer?",{},{"id":1039,"data":1040,"type":543,"tunes":1042},"df440ec666",{"text":1041},"DirectStorage 1.4 is still a public preview. The final API, Zstd shader performance, GACL support and vendor-optimized driver paths can all change.",{},{"id":1044,"data":1045,"type":543,"tunes":1047},"032ea5afdc",{"text":1046},"If future storage devices add standardized hardware decompression integrated into the PC asset pipeline, the clean separation between “SSD reads” and “CPU\u002FGPU decompresses” could become less absolute. That is not the normal DirectStorage 1.4 model today.",{},{"id":1049,"data":1050,"type":571,"tunes":1052},"76422e49b2",{"text":1051,"level":46},"Limitations",{},{"id":1054,"data":1055,"type":543,"tunes":1057},"014e638d31",{"text":1056},"This article explains Microsoft's current public DirectStorage 1.4 preview architecture. It does not claim that every game using DirectStorage will use Zstd, GPU decompression or GACL.",{},{"id":1059,"data":1060,"type":543,"tunes":1062},"7dd689e651",{"text":1061},"Microsoft's compression-ratio and performance statements are technology claims from the platform vendor. Real game results depend on the asset mix, compression settings, hardware, drivers and engine integration.",{},{"id":1064,"data":1065,"type":571,"tunes":1067},"b7bbbdd494",{"text":1066,"level":46},"Conclusion",{},{"id":1069,"data":1070,"type":543,"tunes":1072},"6c07e0bffd",{"text":1071},"DirectStorage 1.4 is easier to understand once the jobs are separated.",{},{"id":1074,"data":1075,"type":543,"tunes":1077},"325ad9669f",{"text":1076},"The SSD moves compressed bytes. DirectStorage schedules the transfer. Zstd defines how the data is compressed. The CPU or GPU decompresses it. GACL can prepare some assets so Zstd compresses them more effectively. The game engine then consumes the finished asset.",{},{"id":1079,"data":1080,"type":543,"tunes":1082},"0a7990db5b",{"text":1081},"A faster SSD is only one part of that chain.",{},{"id":1084,"data":1085,"type":571,"tunes":1087},"b9347644f5",{"text":1086,"level":46},"FAQ",{},{"id":1089,"data":1090,"type":1117,"tunes":1118},"4453ce2f6c",{"items":1091,"title":1116},[1092,1096,1100,1104,1108,1112],{"id":1093,"answer":1094,"question":1095},"faq1","No. The SSD reads compressed data. 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