Game Load Time Performance
Horizon Forbidden West (DirectStorage)
We are using the full retail game Horizon Forbidden West. 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 and how long it takes to load a saved game. The TEAMGROUP T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Lite 2TB SSD is performing very well in this saved game loading test, at 7.216 seconds, it is the third highest on the graph, on par with the A440 Pro in loading times. This means it outperforms the Teamgroup MP44, and every other SSD besides the A440 Pro and Samsung 990 Pro, this is a great result.
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, the TEAMGROUP T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Lite 2TB SSD is actually performing a bit faster than the A440 Pro here, which surprisingly has the next to slowest load times. The A440 Pro Lite is faster, but still outpaced by the Teamgroup MP44 and some other SSDs in this particular game.
Starfield
We are using the full game of Starfield, patched to the latest version. Starfield does not support DirectStorage, so this is the raw load time of a game without DirectStorage as a factor on the SSD. Starfield typically has longer load times, and thus is a great test to see how long it takes to load a saved game. We are using an AMD Radeon RX 6800 16GB video card and we enable the highest graphics settings at 4K. 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 Starfield, the TEAMGROUP T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Lite 2TB SSD does quite well and ranks as the third fastest SSD in load times on this graph. The TEAMGROUP T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Lite 2TB SSD is actually faster than the A440 Pro by a smidge, which again was the second slowest load times in this game. The TEAMGROUP T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Lite 2TB SSD is competitive for game load times.
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Benchmark
We are now including the Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Benchmark as well which benchmarks the load times of several game scenes. This new and updated benchmarks utilizes a new updated engine with updated and improved graphics textures and fidelity. 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 benchmark uses DX11.
In Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail benchmark the TEAMGROUP T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Lite 2TB SSD shows that it is the third slowest load time, but is a note-worthy amount faster than the A440 Pro for load times in this benchmark. The TEAMGROUP T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Lite 2TB SSD is slower than the Teamgroup MP44 here, but not the slowest.