Microsoft Cuts Shader Compilation Times By 95% With Advanced Delivery Technology
Microsoft's Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD) technology has made significant strides in reducing shader compilation times for PC gamers. The feature, which is now available to users with Windows 11 version 24H2 or newer, can shorten first-launch compilation times by as much as 95%. This is particularly evident in games like Gears of War: E-Day, where the process takes mere seconds compared to several minutes without ASD.
The technology works by precompiling shaders and delivering them alongside game downloads. This reduces the burden on the user's CPU during gameplay, eliminating stuttering caused by shader compilation. Currently, support for AMD GPUs covers RDNA 1, RDNA 2, RDNA 3, RDNA 3.5, and RDNA 4 architectures with Adrenalin 26.6.1 or later.
NVIDIA support will expand to all RTX GPUs, including RTX Spark, later this month, while Intel Arc B570 and B580 GPUs as well as Core Ultra Series 2 and Series 3 integrated graphics chips are also set to receive the update. This will make ASD available across a broader range of Windows 11 systems.