How Microsoft and Nvidia plan to kill game-loading times on PCs

A game-changer, literally.

- BRAD CHACOS

That blisteringly fast storage technology found in the next-gen consoles is coming to PCs too, debuting first with the RTX IO technology in Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards (go.pcworld. com/8090). Microsoft just pulled back the curtain a bit more on how it works.

Yes, the creator of Windows is explaining how SSD technology works in a graphics card. No, it’s not as bizarre as it sounds.

Both the Xbox Series X (go.pcworld.com/ xbsx) and Nvidia’s RTX IO tap into Microsoft’s DirectStorage, a new DirectX API. Microsoft teased that it would be coming to PCs (go. pcworld.com/c2pc) after the Xbox Series X announcement.

This week, the company revealed (go. pcworld.com/dcst) a bit more about how the technology helps your SSD and GPU work more closely together to reduce (and possibly eliminate) loading times—though you’ll need a speedy NVMe drive to take advantage of it.

“With Nvidia RTX IO, vast worlds will load instantly. Picking up where you left off will be instant. This is a very big deal for next-generation gaming,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said while introducing the technology. Instantaneous loading is also a key selling point for the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 (go.pcworld.com/spl5) launching later this year.

HOW MICROSOFT DIRECTSTORAGE AND RTX IO WORK