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 find that the Samsung 990 PRO 1TB SSD is at the top of the charts, with the fastest load time of just 7.156 seconds to load the level. This beats the Lexar NM790 by 1% in load times. Compared to the slowest SSD, the Samsung 990 PRO 1TB SSD is 4% faster in load time.
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. The Samsung 990 PRO 1TB SSD is the middle of the pack in this game, but still well ahead of the Lexar NM710 and Lexar Professional NM800 PRO. The Samsung 990 PRO 1TB SSD is 3.4% faster than the Lexar NM800 PRO.
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. In this one, the Samsung 990 PRO 1TB SSD fell behind the pack with the slowest game load time. We re-ran the results several times to confirm, and this was always the result. It’s not a bad time ultimately, but it is a full second behind the fastest SSD here on this graph.