Microsoft Brings Advanced Shader Delivery Technology to Nvidia and Intel GPUs

Microsoft is bringing its Advanced Shader Delivery technology to Nvidia and Intel GPUs, reducing shader compilation times in games by up to .

The long waiting times that PC gamers encounter when starting a new game ends with a new solution developed by Microsoft. The answer to the question of what Advanced Shader Delivery is, stands out as a technology that reduces the visual preparation process in games from minutes to seconds.

Microsoft initially offered this technology only for AMD Radeon graphics cards. The company is preparing to expand this support to Nvidia, Intel and Qualcomm GPUs later in October.

Technology That Speeds Up the Shader Compilation Process

Today, the shader compilation process ensures that lighting, surfaces, effects and other visual elements in games are prepared in accordance with the graphics card. This process usually happens on the first run of a game.

In some productions, this process may continue while new regions or graphic elements are loaded during the game. This installation process may take a few minutes, especially in games with large budgets and advanced graphics.

Even on computers with high hardware levels, delays due to shader compilation and lags during the game can be observed. The technology developed by Microsoft takes a significant part of this load from the player's computer.

The company sends shader data precompiled over the cloud rather than compiling it from scratch on the player's system. It is stated that with this method, the shader process can be reduced from a few minutes to just a few seconds.

Microsoft states that with this system, a reduction of up to 95 percent in total processing time can be achieved. Thus, it is aimed to prevent players from waiting for a long time, especially when the games are first opened.

The shader compilation process uses hardware resources intensively, which can temporarily limit the performance of the system. This cloud-based approach from Microsoft aims to provide a smoother startup experience by alleviating this burden on local hardware.

Expanding Hardware Support and Game Integration

Microsoft DirectX program manager Wendy Ho announced in the company's blog post that Advanced Shader Delivery will soon be available on additional Windows devices supported by Intel, Nvidia, and Qualcomm. This development will significantly expand the use of technology.

One of the first applications of the technology was Gears of War: E-Day. While there is a serious shader compilation process in the PC version of the game, Microsoft aims to reduce this waiting time with ASD.

The next game to support the technology was announced as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. However, Advanced Shader Delivery is not expected to work automatically in all PC games.

Developers need to integrate technology into their games. For this reason, some games will continue to compile shaders natively or use different caching methods.

With the addition of Nvidia, Intel and Qualcomm support, ASD's influence in PC gaming may increase. If the technology becomes widespread, Microsoft can offer an important solution for long shader waiting times, which is one of the most common problems faced by gamers.

How much do you think the shortening of shader compilation times in games will affect your gaming experience?