Windows 11 Directstorage is an undeniable gaming PC boon, and an SSD range optimised for the API has arrived. Cooked up by Sabrent, the Rocket Plus G Gen 4 drives will unlock speedy console-like loading abilities to Microsoft machines, helping you get ahead of the performance curve.
Designed to embrace Windows 11 Directstorage, Sabrent’s Rocket Plus G Gen 4 lineup includes the company’s next best SSD for gaming, and it arrives ahead of games that’ll utilise the API, like the upcoming Square Enix RPG Forspoken. The company claims the new loading method and its optimised firmware will take storage drive performance to “unprecedented heights,” and it’ll also allegedly curb “glitchy playback.”
Forspoken will be the first game to arrive with Windows 11 Directstorage support, but we’ll have to wait till 2023 to see the tech in action. By cutting out the CPU as a middle man, the API can enable your graphics card to pull everything it needs straight from RAM, ultimately speeding up the process of getting stuff onto that big fancy gaming monitor of yours.
Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus G SSD prices start at $169.99 for 1TB, and capacities stretch all the way up to 4TB. The latter option will set you back a whopping $699.99, so it’s safe to say this isn’t a gaming PC investment for the faint-hearted. Naturally, it’s possible to pick up an ordinary Gen 4 SSD for much cheaper, but if you’re planning a future-proof rig that’ll eventually feature an RTX 4000 GPU and other expensive PC bobbins, it might be worth a look.
Directstorage is just one of Windows 11’s selling points, with additional features like auto HDR helping to sweeten the operating system deal. That said, you might feel hesitant to join the new OS fold if you’re afraid of change, as Microsoft is preparing to send the Windows Control Panel to the same retirement home as Internet Explorer. Even the latest edition of the gaming PC platform’s cards are marked, as Windows 12 will seemingly become the company’s focus in 2024.