Microsoft introduces Advanced Shader Delivery

Worked with AMD.

So Nvidia, the gpu manufacturer of choice for the vast majority of PC owners, has nothing to do with this?
Does this mean the shader delivery wont work for people with Nvidia GPUs then? AFAIK the way each company computes shaders is different. Doesn't this mean the bulk of customers cant use this feature?

Read the OP. This is being announced in context of handheld gaming PCs, specifically starting with the Xbox Ally handhelds. No PC handhelds use Nvidia at this time, and it'll probably stay that way for years.
 
Is it like Amazon Prime for shaders?

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If MS wants to get people to use the Xbox app they need to do more of this, add features and capabilities that are a genuine value add. That is what Steam does and why Steam is so popular.
 
Ridiculous:

" We have partnered with teams across Xbox and at AMD to precompile this data and distribute it at download time for key titles via the Xbox PC app
Our initial launch of advanced shader delivery requires no work from game studios to integrate. As we expand support across more games and devices, we will collaborate with game developers to integrate the capability directly into game engines — ensuring games can take advantage of advanced shader delivery on launch day."


DirectX technology should always be OS and hardware independent, but MS has repeatedly tied new DirectX releases with new versions of Windows in the past. Now they tie this new feature to their own despised app and one specific hardware manufacturer (probably to to give their upcoming Xbox branded handheld consoles a competitive edge against Steamdeck) and will at some later, unannounced date in the future make it possible for others (Nvidia and devs) to reap those benefits.
 
If MS wants to get people to use the Xbox app they need to do more of this, add features and capabilities that are a genuine value add. That is what Steam does and why Steam is so popular.
Or, they can just make the Xbox app redirect to your steam.exe file so our kind of retarded PC Bros get the proper experience.
 
Seems like they're trying to do that with the Ally X push.

They claim they're able to pull up to 2GB of memory just based on the OS level tweaks they've made for the Ally X, which will roll into other devices next year too.

Here's hoping it also rolls into the desktop versions.

Sounds like Windows 11 is too bloated.
 
Wake me when it works on STALKER 2. A 4 minute shader compilation the first time I launch a game doesn't really bother me. Not something worth putting resources into when there are so many bad things with the Xbox app. Cool, but cmon guys, lets get basic functionality first. STALKER 2 on the other hand loads shaders on every launch, and there's no rhyme or reason to how long it will take. 8 minutes? Maybe. 50 seconds? Also possible. Anytime you plan for a 5 minute install, it's guaranteed you'll get a quick one.
 
So instead of generating shaders for a minute we're downloading them. This doesn't really solve the problem with shader stuttering!?
If it downloads all the shaders then yes it does. It would be basically like consoles. If it downloads the subset of shaders that are made in the 'compiling shaders' then you would still see some stutter.
 
Wake me when it works on STALKER 2. A 4 minute shader compilation the first time I launch a game doesn't really bother me. Not something worth putting resources into when there are so many bad things with the Xbox app. Cool, but cmon guys, lets get basic functionality first. STALKER 2 on the other hand loads shaders on every launch, and there's no rhyme or reason to how long it will take. 8 minutes? Maybe. 50 seconds? Also possible. Anytime you plan for a 5 minute install, it's guaranteed you'll get a quick one.
Stalker 2 is especially egregious. For me it was about 10 minutes first boot, and like 2 minutes every single boot there after.
 
What I read sounds like what I've wanted for a while, where they separate out the compilation from the graphics driver. So games can similar to single SKU devices like a console or Steam Deck just download a shader database cache with the game, both avoiding the initial compilation step at launch, and automatically adjusting when a new driver update hits so you don't have to go through a stutter session again.

Will be cool when the feature expands outside their storefront, and even more so when it inevitably gets translated to work with Vulkan.
 
You decide what consoles need? It's all basically the same tech these days with varying degrees of power. My guess is it's in ps6/series next

Yes, I decided that since devs know what hardware consoles have they can compile the shaders ahead of time and so this is unneeded. You're welcome
 
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Ridiculous:

" We have partnered with teams across Xbox and at AMD to precompile this data and distribute it at download time for key titles via the Xbox PC app
Our initial launch of advanced shader delivery requires no work from game studios to integrate. As we expand support across more games and devices, we will collaborate with game developers to integrate the capability directly into game engines — ensuring games can take advantage of advanced shader delivery on launch day."


DirectX technology should always be OS and hardware independent, but MS has repeatedly tied new DirectX releases with new versions of Windows in the past. Now they tie this new feature to their own despised app and one specific hardware manufacturer (probably to to give their upcoming Xbox branded handheld consoles a competitive edge against Steamdeck) and will at some later, unannounced date in the future make it possible for others (Nvidia and devs) to reap those benefits.

new DX is also available on Windows 10.
The 'One specific hardware manufacturer' is the sole company behind PC handhelds. There aren't any Nvidia PC handhelds.
Why would it be a 'competitive edge against Steamdecks' when the Deck already has a version of this?

We've entered tinfoil hat territory now?
 
new DX is also available on Windows 10.
The 'One specific hardware manufacturer' is the sole company behind PC handhelds. There aren't any Nvidia PC handhelds.
Why would it be a 'competitive edge against Steamdecks' when the Deck already has a version of this?

We've entered tinfoil hat territory now?

I'm not following. How is there a sole company behind PC handhelds?
 
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I imagine with launch of Magnus, this will be a thing of the past. PCs with magnus will have fixed hardware that devs could aim for.

PC players with other hardware would still be in trouble though.
 
Seems like they're trying to do that with the Ally X push.

They claim they're able to pull up to 2GB of memory just based on the OS level tweaks they've made for the Ally X, which will roll into other devices next year too.

Here's hoping it also rolls into the desktop versions.
Agreed and also to have it solidified for the upcoming Xbox "console." The Xbox Ally is likely the beta test platform for these features.
 
I'm not following. How is there a sole company behind PC handhelds?

Referring to AMD. The fellow i was responding to was carpeting MS for not working with Nvidia, even when the press release says this is fully focused on PC handhelds. 100% of PC handhelds are powered by AMD since they're the only ones with fit for purpose APUs. Nvidia's not in that space.

I can see how 'company' in that context could have been ambiguous
 
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Referring to AMD. The fellow i was responding to was carpeting MS for not working with Nvidia, even when the press release says this is fully focused on PC handhelds. 100% of PC handhelds are powered by AMD since they're the only ones with fit for purpose APUs. Nvidia's not in that space.

I can see how 'company' in that context could have been ambiguous

Thanks. I missed the Nvidia reference in his post.
 
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I imagine with launch of Magnus, this will be a thing of the past. PCs with magnus will have fixed hardware that devs could aim for.

PC players with other hardware would still be in trouble though.
So this won't work for 80% - 90% of PC gaming audience you mean. Nvidia market share is well beyond AMD in PC space.

And then there is the whole Xbox app / store thing which most folks on PC side don't use.

Edit: This seems really targeting handhelds and upcoming MS hardware (most likely).
 
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So this won't work for 80% - 90% of PC gaming audience you mean. Nvidia market share is well beyond AMD in PC space.

And then there is the whole Xbox app / store thing which most folks on PC side don't use.

Edit: This seems really targeting handhelds and upcoming MS hardware (most likely).
If Magnus is being put in pcs, along with xbox consoles, I can see it as being a propped up configuration from MS.

Thats what I have been reading in the threads here, from the leakers.
 
That would make sense. MS would mainly care about their handheld(s), and console targeted hardware.
As per threads here, Magnus will be used in 5 different types of hardware, console, desktop, laptop, handheld, cloud.

Not sure how it all will work though. Apparently there are 2 configurations with different size of gpus.
 
As per threads here, Magnus will be used in 5 different types of hardware, console, desktop, laptop, handheld, cloud.

Not sure how it all will work though. Apparently there are 2 configurations with different size of gpus.
Either way it's going to be interesting to see how it plays out. I can't see it being inexpensive though considering AMD's AI 395+ Pro Max Super (or whatever they call this nonsense) APU pricing.
 
I imagine with launch of Magnus, this will be a thing of the past. PCs with Magnus will have fixed hardware that devs could aim for.
If Magnus is being put in pcs, along with xbox consoles, I can see it as being a propped up configuration from MS.
How is Magnus going to fix my PC from within?

I would not trust him with that, i do not want my PC to be corrupted by the immaterium through the hands of Magnus the Red or any other Magnus for that matter.
 
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So this is just a fancy name for pre-compiling shaders for a fixed piece of hardware and shipping the shaders with the game. It doesnt appear to be some new novel approach that can be applied beyond fixed hardware.

Can someone explain how specific shaders are? Like specific to a model of GPU or is it more specific than that?
 
We have partnered with teams across Xbox and at AMD to precompile this data and distribute it at download time for key titles via the Xbox PC app This approach not only gets you into your games faster, but it also prevents most instances of stutter that cause performance issues.

What has any of this to do with the XBox PC app? Obviously this kind of shader predelivery would work with any distribution platform. Microsoft ...
 
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