Documentation / Optimizations / Storage Optimization

Storage Optimization

Reduce game loading times and improve asset streaming by optimizing NTFS filesystem settings and configuring drive caching. Auto-detects SSD, HDD, and NVMe drives.

Optimization Overview

Storage optimization focuses on reducing disk access latency and maximizing throughput for game asset loading. Frameshift automatically detects your drive type and applies appropriate optimizations.

Metric Value
Expected FPS Impact +5 FPS (from reduced asset streaming stutter)
Load Time Improvement 10-25% faster game/level loading
Restart Required No
Reversible Yes (one-click revert)
Risk Level Very Low

Automatic Drive Detection

Frameshift detects whether your games are installed on an SSD, HDD, or NVMe drive and applies optimizations accordingly.

NVMe SSD (PCIe)

Ultra-fast drives that bypass SATA. Optimization focuses on minimizing driver overhead and maximizing queue depth.

SATA SSD

Standard solid-state drives. Optimization disables unnecessary features like TRIM scheduling during gameplay.

HDD (Mechanical)

Traditional hard drives. Optimization focuses on reducing seek times and improving cache hit rates.

What Gets Modified

NTFS Filesystem Optimizations

Setting Modification Effect
8dot3 Name Creation
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem		 Disabled (2) Reduces filesystem overhead by not generating legacy DOS filenames
Last Access Time Updates Disabled Prevents write operations on every file read, improving read performance
Filesystem Cache Size Optimized for gaming Increases cache for frequently accessed game assets

Write Caching Configuration

Different settings applied based on drive type:

Drive Type Write Cache Setting Reasoning
NVMe SSD Aggressive write caching enabled NVMe has power loss protection, can safely cache writes
SATA SSD Moderate write caching Balances performance with data safety
HDD Conservative write caching HDDs more vulnerable to corruption from power loss

Storage Power Management

Disables power-saving features that cause latency:

  • Drive Sleep Timer: Disabled (prevents drive from spinning down during gaming)
  • Link Power Management: Disabled for SSDs (prevents SATA link from entering low-power states)
  • HIPM/DIPM: Disabled (prevents aggressive power state transitions)

Registry Location: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\EnergyEstimation\Storage

Expected Results

Load Time Improvements

Drive Type Game Launch Improvement Level Load Improvement
NVMe SSD 5-10% faster 10-15% faster
SATA SSD 10-15% faster 15-20% faster
HDD 15-25% faster 20-30% faster

In-Game Asset Streaming

Games that stream assets during gameplay (open-world titles) benefit most from storage optimization:

  • Reduced pop-in: Faster asset loading means less texture/object pop-in
  • Smoother traversal: Less stuttering when moving quickly through environments
  • Fewer frame drops: Reduces FPS drops during asset loading
Best For
Open-world games (GTA, Cyberpunk, Elden Ring), games with frequent loading screens, and players still using HDDs will see the most benefit from storage optimization.

SSD vs HDD: Upgrade Recommendation

If you're still gaming on an HDD, storage optimization helps but won't match SSD performance. Consider upgrading:

Metric HDD (Optimized) SATA SSD NVMe SSD
Game Launch Time 45-60 seconds 10-15 seconds 5-8 seconds
Level Load Time 30-45 seconds 5-10 seconds 2-5 seconds
Asset Streaming Stutters Frequent Rare None
Upgrade Path
For the best gaming experience: NVMe SSD for OS and frequently played games, SATA SSD for secondary games, HDD for archives and less-played titles.

How to Apply

  1. Test Current Load Times

    Time how long it takes to launch a game and load into a level. Note these times for comparison.

  2. Apply Storage Optimization

    Navigate to Optimizations tab, click "Apply" on Storage Optimization. Frameshift will auto-detect your drive type and apply appropriate tweaks.

  3. Test Improvements

    No restart required. Immediately test game launch and level loading times to measure improvement.

Reverting Optimizations
To revert storage optimization, click the "Revert" button in the Storage Optimization section. Frameshift automatically creates a system restore point before applying each optimization category, so you can also use Windows System Restore if needed.

Troubleshooting

No Noticeable Improvement

If you don't see improvement after storage optimization:

  • Already on NVMe: High-end NVMe drives are already optimized and may not see improvement
  • Game on different drive: Ensure game is installed on the drive where you applied optimization
  • System RAM shortage: If RAM is maxed out, system may not be able to cache assets effectively

Games Still Load Slowly

If games still load slowly after optimization, the bottleneck may be elsewhere:

  • CPU bottleneck: Slow CPU may be limiting decompression of game assets
  • RAM shortage: Insufficient RAM forces excessive disk paging
  • Drive health: Run disk health check (SMART data) to ensure drive isn't failing
Drive Fragmentation (HDD Only)
If you're using an HDD, fragmentation significantly hurts performance. Run Windows defragmentation tool monthly. SSDs and NVMe drives do not need defragmentation and should never be defragmented.
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