Intel Enables Precompiled Shader Delivery for Up to 3x Faster Game Loading Times

With the latest Arc 101.8626 WHQL graphics driver, Intel has extended its precompiled shader delivery service to Intel Arc B-series GPUs and Intel Core Ultra Series 3 and Series 2 SoCs with built-in Intel Arc GPUs. This enhancement aims to significantly reduce game loading times. Intel’s service gathers game shaders in the company’s private cloud infrastructure, where they are processed and precompiled. When you install the Intel Graphics Software App, the service identifies the games you play and downloads the precompiled shaders for those games, using the Intel app as a distribution service and creating a folder with the precompiled shaders. This approach allows games to load much faster, reduces stuttering on the first launch, and automatically updates shaders whenever they are revised, with Intel’s service pulling the new shaders into the shared folder on your PC. For TechPowerUp, Intel confirmed the following:

IntelIntel Precompiled Shaders is custom built and run by Intel. We are also working with Microsoft’s on launching Advanced Shader Delivery later this year. Together, both services will provide users of supported Arc GPUs with more game and game store coverage of technologies that reduce waiting times and in-game stutters due to shader compilation.

Currently, Intel supports 13 games at launch, which on average offer more than twice the loading speed. Depending on the game, players can expect improvements ranging from a 1.3x increase in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered to up to 21x faster loading times in God of War Ragnarök. The list of supported games also includes Black Myth: Wukong, Borderlands 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Cyberpunk 2077, Gotham Knights, Hogwarts Legacy, NBA 2K26, Starfield, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, and The Outer Worlds 2. Interestingly, Intel’s concept is not entirely new, as Microsoft has been planning something similar for quite some time. Microsoft originally developed the Advanced Shader Delivery framework within its Agility SDK v1.618, launched late last year. Intel built and entirely custom framework this time, but also plans to update precompiled shader delivery with Microsoft Advanced Shader Delivery as well later this year. Below is what the feature looks like in the Intel Graphics app, courtesy of Wccftech.