Nvidia shader cache

[pingvinator termoregulator]

I have a question regarding shader cache in NVIDIA control panel. I have a Crucial MX100 550mb/s read and 500mb/s write and 6gb/s data transfer. I also run a i7 6700k and RTX 2060. Is it better to use shader cache and read the shaders from the ssd or is it better to re-compile every time them since I have a good CPU also. I mainly play CSGO, GTA5, Assetto Corsa, PUBG.

[MancSoulja]

The cache is only used the first time a shader is built when running a game. The next time the game wants the same shader it will pull it from the cache rather than building it again. This can help reduce stutter on games where shader building happens a lot to prevent the stutter on shader generation. So the cache is only written to a few times, after that its just reads, reads and more reads which won't effect your SSD at all. The setting won't have any effect on frame rate except in some weird situations where games don't play well with a manual setting. Which I've never had happen myself. I leave it on.

Tldr; leave it on. It can help with stuttering on some games but only after the games been played for a while. If X game doesn't work well with it, it will usually be set to not function by nvidia in the games profile.

Stldr; leave on. Makes no difference. Modern SSD drives are tough as nails.
Edit: meant ON not auto.

Nvidia rep posted this on reddit.

[pingvinator termoregulator]

Thanks that helps clear up some things. However I have heard people recommend that you disable shader cache for games such as CSGO which is not graphically intensive, what should I do then? Leave it enabled and read from the SSD or re-compile the shaders knowing that CSGO is not demanding, which is faster in this case?

[Snapjak]

Honestly just leave it. There's very little downside.

[17]

Originally posted by BIG OUNCE:

Thanks that helps clear up some things. However I have heard people recommend that you disable shader cache for games such as CSGO which is not graphically intensive, what should I do then? Leave it enabled and read from the SSD or re-compile the shaders knowing that CSGO is not demanding, which is faster in this case?

:D

[Smaddeus]

Personally what I think is that

Originally posted by MancSoulja:

The cache is only used the first time a shader is built when running a game. The next time the game wants the same shader it will pull it from the cache rather than building it again. This can help reduce stutter on games where shader building happens a lot to prevent the stutter on shader generation. So the cache is only written to a few times, after that its just reads, reads and more reads which won't effect your SSD at all. The setting won't have any effect on frame rate except in some weird situations where games don't play well with a manual setting. Which I've never had happen myself. I leave it on.

Tldr; leave it on. It can help with stuttering on some games but only after the games been played for a while. If X game doesn't work well with it, it will usually be set to not function by nvidia in the games profile.

Stldr; leave on. Makes no difference. Modern SSD drives are tough as nails.
Edit: meant ON not auto.

Nvidia rep posted this on reddit.

I have problems with this response, especially on reddit when it has been archived and cannot post comments after. The thing is, like the OP here, the info about CPU. It is written in Control Panel that it reduces CPU usage, but in which scenarios, and why, it works better by having it off? For example, I have 2070 Super and Ryzen 3700X, it's a great CPU all around, so maybe I can just leave it on CPU to do the work and not my HDD...but like someone said, it requires to just write once and then it constantly reads and reads, which means stuttering in general is removed, but will it remove completely if it was on SSD, or maybe on a powerful CPU?

It's really hard to figure it out when there are games that are badly optimized and that aren't optimized to the max, and go figure if it's just the game engine, game optimization, hardware, or some software tweaking...

[Synt4x]

Originally posted by Smaddeus:

I have problems with this response, especially on reddit when it has been archived and cannot post comments after. The thing is, like the OP here, the info about CPU. It is written in Control Panel that it reduces CPU usage, but in which scenarios, and why, it works better by having it off? For example, I have 2070 Super and Ryzen 3700X, it's a great CPU all around, so maybe I can just leave it on CPU to do the work and not my HDD...but like someone said, it requires to just write once and then it constantly reads and reads, which means stuttering in general is removed, but will it remove completely if it was on SSD, or maybe on a powerful CPU?

It's really hard to figure it out when there are games that are badly optimized and that aren't optimized to the max, and go figure if it's just the game engine, game optimization, hardware, or some software tweaking...

Sorry to bump. Only enable shader cache if os is on ssd. Because the shaders will be compiled in a folder in c drive. If u have os in hdd, it's much faster to let cpu compile cache than to pull them off hdd because it's slow af.

[Smaddeus]

Originally posted by Meriadoc Brandybuck:

Sorry to bump. Only enable shader cache if os is on ssd. Because the shaders will be compiled in a folder in c drive. If u have os in hdd, it's much faster to let cpu compile cache than to pull them off hdd because it's slow af.

Thanks, will keep that in mind.