Credit: Nvidia
The new version of the Nvidia app now features shader precompilation. This feature is disabled by default and must be manually enabled in the app settings.
Typically, when launching a game, you have to wait for all resources to load and shaders to compile before you can start playing. However, with ASC, Nvidia aims to shorten this process by pre-compiling shaders to reduce loading times and, importantly, reduce stuttering that can occur when shaders don’t load correctly. The company states that this feature is optional. You can enable it by going to the “Graphics” tab → “Global Settings” → “Shader Cache.”
To use ASC, users must allocate a dedicated folder and sufficient disk space to store the shaders that ASC will access. In the Nvidia app, gamers can select the “Compile Now” option to immediately precompile all game shaders. Alternatively, they can wait for the system to do this automatically when it enters idle mode. Because shader compilation requires processing power, system usage management settings are available for this feature. The default setting is medium. The Nvidia app will also display the date of the last compilation.
Games will still need to generate shaders on first launch, but precompilation will speed up the process. Precompilation will also recompile shaders when upgrading to a new driver.