PC players know shader compilation stutter well. Nvidia's latest GPU driver aims to remove it from two major releases by letting Microsoft’s cloud compile shaders before a game even starts.
Nvidia is rolling out the driver, version 621.01, today. It switches on Advanced Shader Delivery, a new Microsoft technology built to make games launch faster. It also gets rid of the “just-in-time” shader compilation that kicks in during play, so you should see less stuttering and fewer CPU spikes.
The compiling moves to Microsoft’s cloud
Normally your PC builds shaders for its specific GPU and driver, either while a loading screen sits there or in the middle of a match. Advanced Shader Delivery hands that job to the cloud and completes it ahead of time across a wide range of hardware setups.
Nvidia’s Andrew Burnes explained the process: “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.”
So the capture step falls to developers. If a studio hasn’t built that database, the new driver can’t do anything for its game.
Two games work with it now
Gears of War: E-Day and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 both support Advanced Shader Delivery when downloaded through the Xbox PC app. According to Burnes, it doesn’t matter which store sold you the game.
“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.
That still leaves Steam users needing Microsoft’s app on their machine. Plenty won’t mind. Others will see it as yet another launcher they didn’t want.
Shorter waits, fewer hitches
The clearest difference in Call of Duty is that the shader compilation screen gets skipped. Supported games should also run better overall.
Burnes put it this way: “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.”
The near-100 percent hit rate comes from Nvidia itself. Only two games support the feature so far, so it’s too early to say whether that number will hold up across a bigger catalog.
AMD and Qualcomm are on board as well
This isn’t an Nvidia exclusive. Advanced Shader Delivery also runs on AMD GPUs using Adrenalin 26.6.1 or later, and on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 series with driver version 2026.08.3 or later.
Nvidia owners who play either game should install driver 621.01 and the Xbox PC app before their next session, then see whether Call of Duty skips its compilation screen.