Forspoken in the test: The PC premiere of DirectStorage analyzed

0
69

Square Enix is ​​trying something new with the fantasy action role-playing game Forspoken. ComputerBase took a close look at the technology. In addition to the usual graphics card benchmarks, the focus is on the DirectStorage premiere, ray tracing and the upsampling techniques AMD FSR 2 and Nvidia DLSS 2.

Table of contents

  1. 1 The PC premiere of DirectStorage analyzed
    1. The first PC game with DirectStorage
    2. DirectStorage with NVMe and SATA tested
  2. 2 Graphics menu and graphics presets
    1. The graphics menu has something to offer
    2. Graphics presets in detail
  3. 3 Raytracing and AMD FSR and Nvidia DLSS in detail
    1. Raytracing in the analysis
    2. AMD FSR 2.1 and Nvidia DLSS 2.4.12.0 in the analysis
  4. 4 Benchmarks (FHD, WQHD & UHD), frame times and VRAM
    1. The test system and the benchmark scene
    2. Benchmarks in Full HD, WQHD and Ultra HD
    3. Benchmarks in Full HD, WQHD and Ultra HD with RT
    4. Benchmarks in native Ultra HD resolution
    5. The frame times do not show any major outliers
    6. The developer recommends 12 GB VRAM – not just for fun?
  5. 5 game review and conclusion
    1. How good is Forspoken?
    2. Conclusion

The first PC game with DirectStorage

Serial parts, remakes and remasters are the order of the day these days. Square Enix fishes outside of this norm and instead created a whole new fantasy world with Forspoken. However, this article is not about the game itself. As usual, the editors primarily take a look at the technology of the PC version and in this respect Forspoken wants to offer quite a bit.

For example, Forspoken is the very first PC game to use DirectStorage (DS). According to the developer, DS officially runs exclusively under Windows 11, but according to Microsoft, the technology should also work under Windows 10, but then less effectively. According to Microsoft, in addition to NVMe, SATA SSDs and theoretically even SATA HDDs are also supported. A first analysis of DirectStorage can be found at the end of this page.

Recommended external content

YouTube

At this point there is external content from YouTube that complements the article and from the editors is recommended. It can be loaded and hidden again with one click.

Load YouTube embeds I consent to YouTube embeds being loaded. In doing so, personal data can be transmitted to YouTube. More on this in the data protection declaration.

Load YouTube embeds Privacy Policy

Forspoken has something Final Fantasy XV in it

The developers of Luminous Productions rely on the in-house Luminous engine, which was last used in Final Fanatsy XV (test). In the meantime, the technology has of course been further developed. Raytracing is now used for the shadows and the surrounding occlusion. In addition, the game masters modern temporal upsampling in the form of AMD FSR 2.1 and Nvidia DLSS 2.4.12.0. The title requires DirectX 12_1, so it only runs under Windows 10 and 11 and leaves out older AMD Polaris graphics cards whose drivers can handle DirectX 12, but whose GPU does not support feature level 12_1.

The graphics themselves are mixed. Forspoken can look really pretty. In particular, the many particle effects in fights are quite impressive, and the main character's animations are also well-done. The game manages to create a good atmosphere in places and conjures up really pretty landscapes on the screen from time to time. But there are also weaknesses: The lighting is sometimes really bad and the facial animations in the cutscenes are definitely not up to date. So Forspoken is far from offering “next-gen graphics”.

Testing DirectStorage with NVMe and SATA

Forspoken is the first PC game to use the API DirectStorage (details) supported.

On compatible systems (Square Enix calls Windows 11, but according to Microsoft Windows 10 should also work) the GPU can use this API to load and decompress the necessary data from mass storage itself without having to go through the processor and RAM. This should not only significantly reduce the loading times between two scenes, but can also potentially speed up streaming from the drive to the GPU memory within a scene or make it possible in the first place with larger amounts of data.

Loading times with and without DirectStorage

Forspoken doesn't officially allow you to turn DirectStorage on or off, but you can still do it with the start parameter “-noDirectStorage” (thanks to @Dachsjaeger for the tip). ComputerBase has tested both.

The loading times of different drives can be easily compared using the integrated benchmark, which also outputs the loading times for the seven scene changes. However, the game should be restarted after each run, since the second benchmark run is much better.

According to Microsoft, in order to noticeably benefit from DirectStorage, an NVMe SSD with high throughput should be used. In principle, it also works (with minor advantages) with SATA SSDs or even SATA HDDs. This is also the case in Forspoken. The assumption that DirectStorage will not be enabled when using a SATA SSD is incorrect. This is shown not only by the later benchmarks, but also by the subsequent courses of the CPU and GPU load on a system with NVMe and SATA SSD including active DirectStorage.

CPU and GPU load

CPU and GPU usage (NVMe SSD) 020406080100 percent 150100150200250300350400 seconds

  • CPU load, NVMe (4.0), DS on
  • GPU load, NVMe (4.0), DS on

CPU and GPU load (SATA SSD) 020406080100percent 150100150200250300350400seconds

  • CPU load, SATA, DS on < /li>
  • GPU load, SATA DS on

When looking at the loading times determined by the benchmark, it is noticeable: With a fast NVMe SSD (in the test system, the XPG Gammix S70 Blade with PCIe 4.0 x4) the loading times are extremely short, with the SATA SSD (Crucial MX500) they are much longer . At first glance, this supports Microsoft's statement that you need a very fast NVMe SSD to see big differences.

The fact that both the NVMe and the SATA platform with the start parameter have slightly longer loading times shows that the reason for this is not that DirectStorage is not used with SATA.

But it is interesting: Both platforms load longer, but the difference between the NVMe and the SATA SSD remains the same. This in turn shows that Forspoken does not achieve the extremely good loading times exclusively or only indirectly via DirectStorage.

Loading times in the integrated benchmark

  • Scene 1:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti1.0< /li>
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage off
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti1,2
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti3,7
    • SATA, DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti4,3
  • Scene 2:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti2,1
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti2,3
    • SATA, DirectStorage to
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti7 ,9
    • SATA, DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti9,1
  • Scene 3:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti2.0
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti2 ,3
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti10,3
    • SATA, DirectStorage off
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti11.4
  • Scene 4:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti1,2
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti1,9
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti8,9
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti10,2
  • Scene 5:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti1,1
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti1,5
    • SATA, DirectStorage to
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti7,3< /li>
    • SATA, DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti10,7
  • Scene 6 :
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti0.9
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage off
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti1,3
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti7,5
    • SATA, DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti8,3
  • Scene 7:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti1,1
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage off
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti1,7
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti10.5
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti11.5

Unit: seconds

FPS losses not through, but without DirectStorage

In the past few days, it has been said that the fast loading times through DirectStorage have a disadvantage: they would significantly reduce the FPS in the benchmark. That didn't sound implausible in that streaming and decoding the data within a scene might require GPU power. In this case it was assumed that SATA excludes DirectStorage (which is incorrect), higher FPS on the SATA system went with it. But the message turned out to be an error.

The reason for the misjudgment, which was picked up worldwide, was that the integrated benchmark was recorded with the CapFrameX tool and thus also the loading sequences, which run with high FPS – and are significantly longer on a SATA SSD. In the editorial office, too, the SATA SSD came out better with this approach: the result was 76 to 70 FPS, supported by the long loading times with FPS beyond 100. DirectStorage had a negative impact on the system with NVMe SSD but not that.

It doesn't matter whether it's NVMe or SATA: With DS on, the FPS are the same

The integrated benchmark correctly does not take these loading sequences into account and spits out the same FPS on both systems. And even if the seven scenes of the benchmark are recorded manually without loading breaks, the result is clear: With active DirectStorage, it makes no difference whether Forspoken runs on a SATA or NVMe SSD.

Performance in the integrated benchmark

Performance in built-in benchmark – FPS

  • Scene 1:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti77,0< /li>
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage off
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti59,7
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti76,9
    • SATA, DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti61,0
  • Scene 2:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti67,9
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti61,6
    • SATA, DirectStorage to
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti67 ,9
    • SATA, DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti60,0
  • Scene 3:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti53,9
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti53 ,6
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti54,9
    • SATA, DirectStorage off
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti53,9
  • Scene 4:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti72,1
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti59,1
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti71,8
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti67,5
  • Scene 5:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti59.8
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti58.5
    • SATA, DirectStorage to
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti59.6< /li>
    • SATA, DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti56,9
  • Scene 6 :
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti62,5
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage off
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti61,0
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti62,2
    • SATA, DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti60.5
  • Scene 7:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti77,7
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage off
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti63,7
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti76,9
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti62,8

Unit: frames per second (FPS) Performance in the integrated benchmark – frame times

  • Scene 1:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti63,3
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti23,6
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS , 5600CL32, 3090 Ti63,0
    • SATA, DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti23,6
  • Scene 2:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti62.0
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti45,1
    • SATA, DirectStorage to
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti62,2< /li>
    • SATA, DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti24,1
  • Scene 3 :
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti44,7
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage off
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti42,8
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti45,3
    • SATA, DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti43,6
  • Scene 4:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti63.0
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage off
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti34.0
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti63,8
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti42,3
  • Scene 5:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS , 5600CL32, 3090 Ti51,4
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti42,5
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti51,2
    • SATA, DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti39,2
  • Scene 6:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti57.0
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage off
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti46,1
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti56.4
    • SATA, DirectStorage from
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti47,5
  • Scene 7:
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti69,3
    • NVMe (4.0), DirectStorage off
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti40,9
    • SATA, DirectStorage on
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti67,8
    • SATA, DirectStorage off
      Z790, 13900KS, 5600CL32, 3090 Ti40,4

Unit: frames per second (FPS)

ComputerBase does have the benchmarks though also performed with “-noDirectStorage” and here both the NVMe and the SATA drive in the integrated benchmark show partly serious performance losses, the cause of which could not be determined so far.

How strong the effect is depends on the scene. In the editors' GPU benchmark sequence, DirectStorage on or off has no effect at all, but it does in another scene that demands more of the CPU. This coincides with the different performance losses of the seven scenes in the integrated benchmark. However, there are also reports on the internet that the omission of DirectStorage is said to have had a positive effect.

DirectStorage, 3,840 × 2,160 + DLSS Quality, “Zu Silas Burg”

DirectStorage, 3,840 × 2,160 + DLSS Quality, “To Silas Castle” – FPS

  • FPS, Average:
    • i9-12900K, RTX 4080 @ DS On77,9CPU load: 54%, GPU load: 97%
    • i9-12900K , RTX 4080 @ DS Off69.5CPU load: 48%, GPU load: 88%
  • FPS, 1% percentile:
    • i9-12900K, RTX 4080 @ DS On60.8
    • i9-12900K, RTX 4080 @ DS Off34.8

Unit: frames per second (FPS) DirectStorage, 3,840 × 2,160 + DLSS Quality, ” Zu Silas Burg” – frame times 010203040milliseconds 012345678910111213141516171819202122232425seconds

  • i9-12900K, RTX 4080 @ DS On

For players, this is not relevant at first. DirectStorage is officially always active and since Forspoken requires DirectX 12 and thus Windows 10 or 11, it will always be used on a system that supports the storage API.

Page 1/5 Next page
Graphics menu and graphics presets