Latest - SW/HW - Notes

Windows:
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Advanced Shader Delivery
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Native NVMe > New trade-offs and risks:

users issues. I've been running it for over a week without problems, but some users have reported issues with disk managers not recognizing their NVMe storage correctly, and others have reported applications crashing entirely. Others have also said that it doesn't seem to work with DirectStorage-enabled games just yet, in turn causing high CPU usage and lag spikes, thanks to a lack of BypassIO support.

As well, it can make drives disappear entirely, or make them be detected twice, and some drives aren't supported at all. For example, my Crucial P3 Plus 4TB still shows up as a "regular" NVMe drive (this is likely because Crucial supplies their own drivers, according to Microsoft), whereas my Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB NVMe now uses the new driver.


Windows 11 25H2

ENABLE
reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Policies\Microsoft\FeatureManagement\Overrides /v 1853569164 /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Policies\Microsoft\FeatureManagement\Overrides /v 156965516 /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Policies\Microsoft\FeatureManagement\Overrides /v 3244671118 /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Minimal\nvmedisk" /ve /t REG_SZ /d "Service" /f
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Network\nvmedisk" /ve /t REG_SZ /d "Service" /f

DISABLE
reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Policies\Microsoft\FeatureManagement\Overrides" /v 1853569164 /f
reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Policies\Microsoft\FeatureManagement\Overrides" /v 156965516 /f
reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Policies\Microsoft\FeatureManagement\Overrides" /v 3244671118 /f
reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Minimal\nvmedisk" /f
reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Network\nvmedisk" /f

to check if system still supports the "BypassIO" path after applying the registry tweak, run the following command in an Administrative Command Prompt: "fsutil bypassio state C:" if the result shows "Storage Driver: Not BypassIo Compatible," DirectStorage performance may actually be worse despite the higher synthetic benchmarks

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Hardware Accelerated BitLocker > trade-offs and risks:

Trust moves to SoC vendors and firmware. Security now depends on correct, vetted implementations in the silicon vendor ecosystem. Bugs or design flaws in hardware crypto engines could be catastrophic because the OS assumes the hardware is both correct and honest.
Certification and verification matter. Microsoft ties hardware-accelerated BitLocker to FIPS reporting from SoC vendors; but enterprise compliance teams will need strong evidence (vendor attestations, independent testing) that the hardware key wrapping and crypto engine implementations meet required standards.
Forensic and recovery handling change. When DEKs are sealed to silicon, usual forensic strategies (move drive, attach to another host) no longer work. Enterprises will need new recovery and escrow processes to handle device replacement, CPU failure, or end-of-life scenarios.
Supply chain and firmware update risk: a malicious or buggy firmware update at the SoC or UEFI level could undermine the sealed-key model. Change control and firmware provenance become more important.

Reddit

"Q: So what happens when someone changes the hardware or a company rolls at a firmware update that change the hardware?

A: Same thing that always happens?

A: Tons of users, losing their data and getting pissed off at a company they already hate? With no recourse of action, customer support, or help from microsoft?

Q: Come to think of it, they ever fix that recovery environment issue?"

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for ReFS v3.15+ cloning use Macrium Reflect v8+ > trade-offs and risks vs NTFS:

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MOTHERBOARD:
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AMD Smart Access Storage SAS

using EXPO AM5 RAM and if board loses power completely like unplugged from wall or clear CMOS it will do 10+ loops 40+ seconds RAM training

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CPU:
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X3D multi CCD should use Windows Balanced power plan

AMD Smart Access Storage SAS

!!! Zen 4+ Integrated Microsoft Pluton processor !!!

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Laptop APU:
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Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite

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CPU COOLER:
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MSI MPG CoreFrozr AP15 and AP17

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RAM:
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!!!   CUDIMM/CSODIMM

using EXPO AM5 RAM and if board loses power completely like unplugged from wall or clear CMOS it will do 10+ loops 40+ seconds RAM training

XMP = AMD EXPO

QVL - DS = Dual Rank

https://benzhaomin.github.io/bdiefinder/

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GPU:
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DXR 1.2

FSR Redstone

Work Graphs

AMD Smart Access Storage SAS

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Nvidia EXCLUSIVE 3rd Party:

Gainward
Colorful
Inno3D
Palit
Zotac
Galax
PNY
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SSD/HDD:
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18TB
Western Digital Purple Pro WD181PURP
Western Digital My Book WDBBGB0180HBK


    !!! DirectStorage API - conflicting requirements information !!!


Microsoft Official Requirements:

Gen3 M.2 Nvme ALL SIZES + GPU's with support for Shader 6.0+ ( shader model 6.0+ = GPU's from 2017 will be supported ) Standard NVM Express Controller driver AKA Windows default driver
( 3rd party drivers like Samsung 3.3 for 970 EVO Plus don't support DS however upcoming "AMD Smart Access Storage" > AKA DirectStorage might support DS with AMD driver )


3rd party claims Requirements:

Gen3 M.2 Nvme Minimum 1TB + GPU's with support for Direct X 12 Ultimate = Nvidia 3000 Series and AMD 6000 Series
WD_Black + Battlefield 2042 promo offered on 500GB so it could be supported on less than 1TB

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HW DIRECT - STORAGE > GPU

Physical Path: On consumer motherboards, the primary M.2 slot is wired directly to the CPU's integrated PCIe controller. Data must pass through these lanes to reach the GPU, which is also wired to the CPU.

NVIDIA GPUDirect Storage (GDS): True hardware-level bypass (avoiding the CPU entirely) is currently a feature of "NVIDIA Magnum IO" on Linux for enterprise setups. It is not yet supported for Windows 11 consumer gaming.

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PSU:
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ATX v3.1

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PC CASE FANS:

https://noctua.at/en/product-roadmap

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MONITOR:
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https://www.displayspecifications.com/en

!!!!!!!!! - IS SCREEN R.G.B. SEPARATE CHANNEL COLOR CALIBRATION ( MAYBE UNDER COLOR TEMPERATURE )
AND CONTRAST/BRIGHTNESS/GAMMA ARE AVAILABLE ???  - !!!!!!!!!

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KEYBOARD:
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...
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MOUSE:
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...
MOUSE PAD:
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...
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HEADPHONES:
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...
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WEB CAM:
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Logitech ...