Game Load Time Performance
Horizon Forbidden West (DirectStorage)
We are using the full retail game Horizon Forbidden West, with patch 1.0.43.0. This game supports DirectStorage for saved game load times. We are using an AMD Radeon RX 6800 16GB video card for testing and all components are shown to support DirectStorage. We enable the highest graphics settings in the game at 4K for testing. We will show loading a saved game file and how long it takes to load into the game. All results are performed manually with a stopwatch.
In the graph above, we are testing the time it takes to load a saved game, this directly tests DirectStorage on the SSD. We can see that all the SSDs were very close, with only a .2 second difference between them, but the Lexar NM790 2TB SSD with Heatsink clearly is technically the fastest, or at least competitive with the Teamgroup MP44 for game loading, which coincides with all of our other SSD testing in this review. The Lexar NM710 is the slowest with a .2-second longer load time. DirectStorage works well in this game, and with a 7-second load time from hitting Load, to the level being fully loaded with HUD fully on-screen, shows how great DirectStorage can be with an NVMe SSD for loading saved games.
Forspoken (DirectStorage)
We are using the full retail game Forspoken, which supports DirectStorage to test game loading time. Forspoken was released on January 24th, 2023, on the PC and uses the Luminous Engine. We are using an AMD Radeon RX 6800 16GB video card. We enable the highest graphics settings, including Ultra High Texture Memory, and run at 4K. We use the built-in benchmark and report the scene load times. We add the sum of all seven scene load times and run the benchmark three times. We then take the average of the three sums from each run. We graph the average result.
In Forspoken, we are also testing DirectStorage, which this game supports, it provides more accurate timed results per-scene. We can clearly see that the Lexar NM790 2TB SSD with Heatsink and Teamgroup MP44 are neck-and-neck in-game load times and the fastest drives for that here. There is an advantage compared to the NM790, and especially the NM800 PRO for gaming loading times with the NM790.
Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker Benchmark
We use the Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker Benchmark which benchmarks the load times of several game scenes. The benchmark calculates the sum load time of the scenes and reports the number. We run the benchmark three times, and take the average of the load times. This provides consistent, objective game load testing data we can use for comparison in a game scenario outside of DirectStorage. This game uses DX11.
This game does not use DirectStorage and offers a unique perspective on pure game loading performance, and also uses accurate timers to provide more accurate results. Once again, we find the Lexar NM790 2TB SSD with Heatsink at the top in terms of game loading time, with the fastest loading time. It is again competitive with the Teamgroup MP44 and shows a notable improvement in loading times compared to the Lexar NM710 and Lexar NM800 PRO.