Microsoft's new native NVMe driver, initially for Windows Server 2025 but accessible on Windows 11, delivers major performance improvements. Benchmark tests show dramatic gains in random read speeds (up to 64.89%) and significantly reduced random read latency.
The driver also substantially lowers CPU usage during sequential read and write operations, improving efficiency. However, results were mixed for sequential write latency, which increased notably under certain test conditions.
The main topics covered are the driver's performance enhancements in random read bandwidth/IOPS, reduced latency, lower CPU overhead, and specific benchmark results detailing these gains and trade-offs.
New Windows-native NVMe driver benchmarks reveal transformative performance gains, up to 64.89% — lightning-fast random reads and breakthrough CPU efficiency
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Microsoft's native NVMe driver will make the best SSDs even faster. Originally made available on Windows Server 2025, the performance gains also translate directly to consumer Windows 11 via simple registry hacks. News outlet StorageReview has put the new NVMe driver through its paces in its native habitats, yielding some very eye-popping results that will make any storage enthusiast's mouth water.
The native NVMe driver brings improvements in three key areas of storage performance. Firstly, the NVMe driver substantially improves the 4K and 64K random read bandwidth and IOPS. It leads to faster data access and operations when the system is under a heavy load or when executing multiple tasks simultaneously.
Secondly, the NVMe driver has shown a dramatic reduction in 4K and 64K random read latency. It enables faster response times across demanding workloads. By addressing bandwidth and latency, you can see the performance gains in latency-sensitive workloads.
Article continues belowThirdly, and equally important, the NVMe driver has demonstrated the ability to reduce processor usage during sequential read and write operations regardless of block size. Through data transfer optimization, the processor overhead is lower, freeing up resources for other demanding workloads or background tasks. One potential benefit is lower power consumption, which is impactful for both mainstream consumers and enterprises.
StorageReview's test bench consisted of two 128-core AMD EPYC 9754 (codenamed Bergamo) processors, 768GB of DDR5-4800 memory, and 16 Solidigm P5316 30.72TB PCIe 4.0 SSDs in a JBOD configuration. The publication showed FIO benchmarks on Windows Server 2025 (OS Build 26100.32370).
Microsoft Native NVMe Driver Performance
According to StorageReview’s benchmarks, random read performance saw the most significant gains, with 4K and 64K read speeds increasing by 64.89% and 22.71%, respectively. Sequential 64K reads remained within the margin of error. Notably, increasing the block size from 64K to 128K resulted in a further 6.65% performance boost.
In terms of sequential write performance, using a 64K block size delivered a notable 12.13% increase. However, raising the block size to 128K provided no additional benefit, as results remained virtually unchanged.
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Latency testing yielded mixed results. Random read latency improved significantly, with 4K and 64K read times dropping by as much as 38.46% and 13.39%, respectively.
In contrast, sequential write latency worsened. The 64K write latency increased sharply by 39.85%. However, it seems that you can mitigate the performance by switching to a 128K block size, where latency rose by only 12.43%. It's about one-third of the increase seen at 64K.
One area where the NVMe driver delivered equal performance gains was in processor usage, regardless of whether the operation was sequential read or write.
For sequential reads, 64K and 128K operations reduced processor activity by 7.78% and 12%, respectively. Sequential writes reflected similar gains, with 64K and 128K writes requiring 12.66% and 11.1% fewer processor resources.
Microsoft’s highly-awaited NVMe driver is a crucial update that the company should have arguably launched years ago. For almost a decade and a half, Windows users have been limited by Microsoft’s outdated storage stack, and it has been evident that it has struggled to keep pace with advances in SSD technology. With PCIe 5.0 SSDs delivering unprecedented performance and PCIe 6.0 drives on the horizon, the demand for a modern storage stack has never been greater.
The native NVMe driver (nvmedisk.sys) is in both Windows Server 2025 and Windows 11 25H2. Despite its presence, Microsoft doesn't enable the driver by default. Instead, it operates as an opt-in feature that Windows users need to enable via specific registry changes. The need for broader compatibility and support from third-party vendors influences Microsoft’s decision to keep the native NVMe driver as opt-in for now.
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Zhiye Liu is a news editor, memory reviewer, and SSD tester at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.
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