Shader compilation stutter is one of the most familiar annoyances in PC gaming. Nvidia's latest GPU driver is meant to cut it out of two big releases by having Microsoft’s cloud do the compiling before you press play.
The driver is version 621.01, and Nvidia is rolling it out today. It turns on Microsoft’s new Advanced Shader Delivery technology, which is designed to make games launch faster. It also removes the “just-in-time” shader compilation that happens mid-game, which reduces stuttering and CPU spikes.
Microsoft’s cloud handles the compiling
Your PC normally compiles shaders for its own GPU and driver, either on a loading screen or partway through a match. Advanced Shader Delivery moves that work to the cloud and does it in advance for many different hardware combinations.
“Using DirectX 12, Windows 11, and the Microsoft Agility SDK, developers capture shaders into a State Object Database (SODB), allowing Microsoft’s cloud network to precompile shaders for hundreds of thousands of hardware and driver combinations,” said Andrew Burnes of Nvidia.
That means developers have to do the capture work themselves. Your new driver can’t help a game whose studio hasn’t built a database.
Two games support it today
Gears of War: E-Day and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 both support Advanced Shader Delivery, as long as you download them through the Xbox PC app. Burnes said the store you bought the game from doesn’t matter.
“This system is storefront-agnostic, meaning you benefit even when playing games purchased on Steam, as long as the Xbox PC app is installed on your PC,” Burnes said.
Steam players still need Microsoft’s app installed. Some people will be fine with that, and some will find it one more launcher too many.
Fewer waits and fewer hitches
In Call of Duty, the most obvious change is that you get to skip the shader compilation screen. The technology should also improve overall performance in supported games.
Burnes said: “With a near-100 percent cache hit rate, it eliminates mid-game ‘just-in-time’ shader compilation, wiping out CPU spikes and frame stutters in titles like Gears of War: E-Day, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.
A near-100 percent hit rate is Nvidia’s own figure. With only two supported games, it’s too soon to know how well that claim holds across a larger library.
AMD and Qualcomm support it too
Nvidia doesn’t have this to itself. Advanced Shader Delivery also works on AMD GPUs running Adrenalin 26.6.1 or higher and on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 series with driver version 2026.08.3 or higher.
If you have an Nvidia card and play either game, install driver 621.01 and the Xbox PC app before your next session. Then check whether Call of Duty skips its compilation screen.
