Repeating Updates

[benkenobi1996]

Anyone else having issues with Steam downloading the same update over and over? I routinely get excited when I see an game have an update pending, only to find out that its the same exact update I've already downloaded half a dozen times

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

Yes I know what is causing this. If you go in to steam settings -> Downloads -> Scroll to the bottom you will see the "SHADER PRE-CACHING" section. What is happening is there is not actually an update for any of the games you are referring to. It's just steam downloading shaders to pre-cache the game.

This feature makes it so when you do want to play a game it starts faster next time. It is NOT a requirement to start or stop games. If you do not like this behavior you can disable shader pre-caching and this won't happen any more. With shader pre-caching disabled the only updates you see for games will be an actual update.

Also: If you are on a modern computer with any form of SSD then you don't need shader pre-caching as having it off won't make games load any faster. That is mainly for people who are still using mechanical hard drives as their main storage in their computer.

[Boblin the Goblin]

Originally posted by 🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊:

Yes I know what is causing this. If you go in to steam settings -> Downloads -> Scroll to the bottom you will see the "SHADER PRE-CACHING" section. What is happening is there is not actually an update for any of the games you are referring to. It's just steam downloading shaders to pre-cache the game.

This feature makes it so when you do want to play a game it starts faster next time. It is NOT a requirement to start or stop games. If you do not like this behavior you can disable shader pre-caching and this won't happen any more. With shader pre-caching disabled the only updates you see for games will be an actual update.

Also: If you are on a modern computer with any form of SSD then you don't need shader pre-caching as having it off won't make games load any faster. That is mainly for people who are still using mechanical hard drives as their main storage in their computer.

If that were true, it wouldn't be shown to prevent stuttering and such on the Steam Deck. Which does not have a mechanical drive.

[Boblin the Goblin]

You can leave those pre-caching updates if you have the storage. They can help with preventing stutters and games loading quicker.

[Globaltron]

I AM SO SORRY!! We are constantly updating to bug test / fix multiplayer components like Guild creation, party UI, and most recently the map / marker fixes. We will be pushing updates CONSTANTLY for the next few weeks as we draw closer to launch, so sorry about this inconvenience but its critical for development. You can disable auto update and rol la single player map if you do not want the build interrupted. Thank you so much for playing!

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

Originally posted by SlowMango:

If that were true, it wouldn't be shown to prevent stuttering and such on the Steam Deck. Which does not have a mechanical drive.

No one in this entire thread was ever discussing the steam deck. Where did you come up with that out of the blue for no reason? That has absolutely nothing what so ever to do with this discussion.

Originally posted by SlowMango:

You can leave those pre-caching updates if you have the storage. They can help with preventing stutters

Please provide us with proof and information as to your technical claim to prove what you just said is true.

[Ben Lubar]

Originally posted by SlowMango:

Originally posted by 🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊:

Yes I know what is causing this. If you go in to steam settings -> Downloads -> Scroll to the bottom you will see the "SHADER PRE-CACHING" section. What is happening is there is not actually an update for any of the games you are referring to. It's just steam downloading shaders to pre-cache the game.

This feature makes it so when you do want to play a game it starts faster next time. It is NOT a requirement to start or stop games. If you do not like this behavior you can disable shader pre-caching and this won't happen any more. With shader pre-caching disabled the only updates you see for games will be an actual update.

Also: If you are on a modern computer with any form of SSD then you don't need shader pre-caching as having it off won't make games load any faster. That is mainly for people who are still using mechanical hard drives as their main storage in their computer.

If that were true, it wouldn't be shown to prevent stuttering and such on the Steam Deck. Which does not have a mechanical drive.

If anything, an SSD will make shader caching have more of a benefit to performance.

[Boblin the Goblin]

Originally posted by 🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊:

Originally posted by SlowMango:

If that were true, it wouldn't be shown to prevent stuttering and such on the Steam Deck. Which does not have a mechanical drive.

No one in this entire thread was ever discussing the steam deck. Where did you come up with that out of the blue for no reason? That has absolutely nothing what so ever to do with this discussion.

You stated that it only benefits a mechanical drive.

Again, if that statement were true, it would not benefit games on the Steam Deck.

Originally posted by 🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊:

Originally posted by SlowMango:

You can leave those pre-caching updates if you have the storage. They can help with preventing stutters

Please provide us with proof and information as to your technical claim to prove what you just said is true.

It was literally the recommendation for Elden Ring when it was first released to prevent stutters. It also allows the game to no have to build the shaders while running which prevents stutters.

But, if you would like more, here is an article breaking it down.

https://www.gamersdirector.com/steam-deck/what-is-steam-deck-shader-pre-caching/

Before you say "We aren't talking about the Deck?". This same logic applies to desktops/laptops as well.

[Boblin the Goblin]

Originally posted by Ben Lubar:

Originally posted by SlowMango:

If that were true, it wouldn't be shown to prevent stuttering and such on the Steam Deck. Which does not have a mechanical drive.

If anything, an SSD will make shader caching have more of a benefit to performance.

Yep.

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

Originally posted by SlowMango:

It was literally the recommendation for Elden Ring

Thank you for that extra information. Which as I suspected before (and you confirmed it): Shader Pre-Caching is a RECOMENDATION, and not a REQUIREMENT.

It's just something that game developers suggest we do. It's not necessary at all.

So this goes back to my original suggestion being actually true after all: If the OP does not want frequent updates/downloads to appear in their steam client then they can turn off Shader Pre-Caching, if they want to. As I said above: It's not a requirement. Everything will still work with it off.

And yes: Before you came here in this thread no one discussed or mentioned the steam deck or stuttering. You just grabbed that literally out of no where and threw it into this thread as if you think we suddenly need to discuss that for some bizarre reason.

[Ben Lubar]

Originally posted by 🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊:

Originally posted by SlowMango:

It was literally the recommendation for Elden Ring

Thank you for that extra information. Which as I suspected before (and you confirmed it): Shader Pre-Caching is a RECOMENDATION, and not a REQUIREMENT.

It's just something that game developers suggest we do. It's not necessary at all.

So this goes back to my original suggestion being actually true after all: If the OP does not want frequent updates/downloads to appear in their steam client then they can turn off Shader Pre-Caching, if they want to. As I said above: It's not a requirement. Everything will still work with it off.

Your original suggestion was:

Originally posted by 🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊:

If you are on a modern computer with any form of SSD then you don't need shader pre-caching as having it off won't make games load any faster. That is mainly for people who are still using mechanical hard drives as their main storage in their computer.

Which is incorrect.

Shader pre-caching means that Steam downloads shader cache files from other players with similar hardware. If you don't do it, your computer will compile the shaders and store them in the local cache. A faster storage device means that shader caching is more effective at speeding up the loading time of a game.

Shader pre-caching only helps with cases where the shader hasn't been used on your system yet. If it has been, there will be a shader cache regardless of whether you got it from someone else or built it on your own computer. It just stops stuttering that happens the first time a game loads each individual shader.

[Boblin the Goblin]

Originally posted by 🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊:

Originally posted by SlowMango:

It was literally the recommendation for Elden Ring

Thank you for that extra information. Which as I suspected before (and you confirmed it): Shader Pre-Caching is a RECOMENDATION, and not a REQUIREMENT.

It's just something that game developers suggest we do. It's not necessary at all.

So this goes back to my original suggestion being actually true after all: If the OP does not want frequent updates/downloads to appear in their steam client then they can turn off Shader Pre-Caching, if they want to. As I said above: It's not a requirement. Everything will still work with it off.

And yes: Before you came here in this thread no one discussed or mentioned the steam deck or stuttering. You just grabbed that literally out of no where and threw it into this thread as if you think we suddenly need to discuss that for some bizarre reason.

No one said it was a requirement or that they need to leave them on. In fact, I only said they can if they have the space.

I gave it as an example of how your statement that it mainly benefits mechanical drives is wrong. I then provided an article going into detail about what it does(which I can tell was ignored) to give more examples.

Why are you making an argument over nothing?

[no154370]

here is one thing i manage to take note which your overlook

1) Steam Deck uses Micro SD Cards not SSD

and yet why got people mentioning about Steam Deck when OP's post never mention about Steam Deck at all.

as a result, "SlowMango" posts is "derailing the thread" completely.

------------------------------------------

to "SlowMango"

kindly provide concrete evidence that OP is referring to Steam Deck in his post.

-----------------------------------------

i went to look at OP's post history, it is clearly shown that he is not talking about Steam Deck at all in the first place.

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

Originally posted by Ben Lubar:

Your original suggestion was:

Originally posted by 🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊:

If you are on a modern computer with any form of SSD then you don't need shader pre-caching as having it off won't make games load any faster. That is mainly for people who are still using mechanical hard drives as their main storage in their computer.

Which is incorrect.

Shader pre-caching means that Steam downloads shader cache files from other players with similar hardware. If you don't do it, your computer will compile the shaders and store them in the local cache. A faster storage device means that shader caching is more effective at speeding up the loading time of a game.

Shader pre-caching only helps with cases where the shader hasn't been used on your system yet. If it has been, there will be a shader cache regardless of whether you got it from someone else or built it on your own computer. It just stops stuttering that happens the first time a game loads each individual shader.

Nope. What I wrote was completely correct: Shader Pre-Caching ONLY pre-loads parts of games for people with slow computers. If we already have any form of SSD in our computer then steam will automatically download all shaders when we first launch the game just as quickly as if someone had shader pre-caching on. It has nothing to do with "other people with similar hardware" at all. That's complete nonsense.

I have it disabled on every computer I own with steam on them (which all of them have NVME drives / SSD's) and there is literally zero difference between shader pre-caching on or off. No stuttering with it off. Games don't load any slower vs with it on, etc. For people with modern computers Shader Pre-Caching is mostly pointless. It can also lead to causing Steam to use extra ram too. In general it's best everyone leaves it off. It's usually on by default and most people don't even realize that they have it on.

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

Originally posted by SlowMango:

Why are you making an argument over nothing?

My main problem is you and your typical behavior: You just can't stand it that people try to help someone else. You have to butt in to almost every single damn thread in the steam forums and inject your opinion then turn around and state everyone else is wrong and you're always right every single time. It's a "Smart" way of trolling everyone without directly appearing like you're trolling us.

[Ben Lubar]

Originally posted by 🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊:

Originally posted by Ben Lubar:

Your original suggestion was:



Which is incorrect.

Shader pre-caching means that Steam downloads shader cache files from other players with similar hardware. If you don't do it, your computer will compile the shaders and store them in the local cache. A faster storage device means that shader caching is more effective at speeding up the loading time of a game.

Shader pre-caching only helps with cases where the shader hasn't been used on your system yet. If it has been, there will be a shader cache regardless of whether you got it from someone else or built it on your own computer. It just stops stuttering that happens the first time a game loads each individual shader.

Nope. What I wrote was completely correct: Shader Pre-Caching ONLY pre-loads parts of games for people with slow computers. If we already have any form of SSD in our computer then steam will automatically download all shaders when we first launch the game just as quickly as if someone had shader pre-caching on. It has nothing to do with "other people with similar hardware" at all. That's complete nonsense.

I have it disabled on every computer I own with steam on them (which all of them have NVME drives / SSD's) and there is literally zero difference between shader pre-caching on or off. No stuttering with it off. Games don't load any slower vs with it on, etc. For people with modern computers Shader Pre-Caching is mostly pointless. It can also lead to causing Steam to use extra ram too. In general it's best everyone leaves it off. It's usually on by default and most people don't even realize that they have it on.

If you have shader pre-caching disabled, Steam will not download shaders at all. Your computer will compile them. Which has nothing to do with the speed of your storage device because your storage device does not contain the hardware required to compile a shader.

If your graphics device (whether it's a discrete card or integrated in your CPU) has the same architecture as other players who have already run the game, you will receive their shader cache. If the setting is disabled, you won't.

If you want to see how much it helps, hit the windows key and type "cleanmgr", and tell it to delete your shader cache.