AMD user, Verdict on Shader Cache?

Discussion in 'Videocards - NVIDIA GeForce Drivers Section' started by SlackerITGuy, Aug 7, 2014.

  1. SlackerITGuy

    SlackerITGuy Guest

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    As an AMD user, when NVIDIA introduced Shader Cache with the 337.88 set, I was extremely interested in how it was going to work...

    So after a couple of months since release, what do you NVIDIA users think? are you guys using it? does it make a difference?.

    In theory it sounds kinda cool.

    Thanks!
     
  2. Guzz

    Guzz Member Guru

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    I think that AMD have same Shader Cache feature, but doesn't presented it like Nvidia.
    At least in atiumdag.dll, driver read some setting named "ShaderCacheEnabled".
    [​IMG]
     
  3. Ital

    Ital Master Guru

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    It hasn't messed anything up for me that I can see. I also don't see any significant reduction in loading time or increased gameplay performance from it. OTOH, the cache eats up around 120MB in my user temp folder.

    I give the shader cache feature a "Meh". Perhaps people whose machines have slow CPUs would notice the benefits, but I certainly don't on my machine.
     
  4. Spets

    Spets Guest

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    It helps on more CPU intensive games and load times. It's not the greatest gift to gaming or anything like that but it's better than not having it.
     

  5. Reddoguk

    Reddoguk Ancient Guru

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    The only thing i noticed is that you can't delete the bugger from it's temp local.

    I hate that. They could of at least put it in one of the NV folders or something.

    That temp folder fills up kinda quick and the NV folder always sits in the middle, making it a pain to remove all content pretty quickly. :)

    That's the only thing i noticed.
     
  6. -Tj-

    -Tj- Ancient Guru

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    I use ccleaner and set to exclude this nvtemp folder and it still deletes the rest np :)




    OT I have it enabled, so far I stumbled on 1-2 games that didnt like it, otherwise it seems to load faster and less hitching and more fps by certain cpu bound games (all apis dx9, dx10 & dx11).

    Im not sure is it from higher vertex index buffers and more draw call buffers, but this magic r337+ driver did some magic in general here..
     
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2014
  7. octiceps

    octiceps Guest

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    In Battlefield Bad Company 2 DX11, having Shader Cache enabled results in a measurable decrease in in-game stuttering/temporary FPS drops. It also drastically reduces the time it takes for the game to become smooth after loading into a map, especially on the larger and more destructible maps. With Shader Cache on, the game is smooth immediately, while with it off it can take anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes (!) for my GPU to come out of 2D clocks and regain normal FPS while the shaders are compiling.

    Bad Company 2 is the only game I have that seems to be affected so much by Shader Cache. Everything else is unaffected as far as I can tell.
     
  8. SlackerITGuy

    SlackerITGuy Guest

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    Awesome, thanks for the replies guys, NVIDIA sure is on the bleeding edge when it comes to introducing new features driver-side, AMD's only advantage is Mantle (which is beyond awesome, made BF4 completely robust performance wise on 64 player maps).

    I will definitely consider going back to NVIDIA on my next GPU purchase.
     
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2014
  9. octiceps

    octiceps Guest

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    FYI it sounds like Mantle does the same thing: http://techreport.com/review/25683/delving-deeper-into-amd-mantle-api/2

     
  10. SlackerITGuy

    SlackerITGuy Guest

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    I actually didn't know that thanks!.

    And yes Mantle is pretty epic, I didn't know what absolutely smooth gameplay was like until DICE updated Battlefield 4 with the Mantle renderer. Exceeded my expectations.

    Going back to mediocre optimized DirectX 11 games is a hard pill to shallow now.
     

  11. CrazyGenio

    CrazyGenio Master Guru

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    The shader cache in Source engine games actually sucks, i realized tht if you disable this option in those games (even titanfall), you gain a great fps boost, fot example in modded tf2 maps like vs saxton hale modes the game losses like20 fps or more, without it the game it's stable and no fps loss.
     
  12. octiceps

    octiceps Guest

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    I thought Shader Cache only works for DX10/11 games? Does it write anything to the NV_Cache folder for DX9 games such as TF2 for you? It doesn't for me. I know Titanfall is on modified DX11 Source Engine.
     
  13. SLI-756

    SLI-756 Guest

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    lol really, bf4 is ok but it ain't all that, and how about mantle on 60hz vs dx11 on 144hz or g sync, you see, always positives and negatives in everything, for some shader cache is good for others not. no biggie, just like mantle and it's two game support list.
     
  14. octiceps

    octiceps Guest

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    Mantle can't do 144 FPS/Hz? Never heard of that. Probably just BF4 being a CPU-bound game makes it hard to maintain 100+ FPS consistently. Lack of G-Sync is a given but there will be Adaptive-Sync monitors eventually.
     
  15. SLI-756

    SLI-756 Guest

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    no, you missed the point, the fella was sayin mantle was like smoothest thing ever and I was sayin I bet dx11 is smoother using 120 /144hz monitor than mantle on a 60 /75hz one.
    comprende? :)
    also different types of 'smooth' there's the smooth a fast cpu gives you, and the smooth a fast gpu gives also.
     

  16. octiceps

    octiceps Guest

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    What about Mantle on a 120/144 Hz monitor?

    I think OP was referring to Mantle's much tighter frame times compared to DX11. And ofc the FPS boost.
     
  17. SLI-756

    SLI-756 Guest

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    nevermind, i'm going to pub don't wait up.
     
  18. octiceps

    octiceps Guest

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    Grab me a pint will ya?
     
  19. -Tj-

    -Tj- Ancient Guru

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    Well halfway, titanFall is dx11 though.. TF2 is DX9e?


    I heard about TitanFall running worse though, I didnt test TF2 with off - this game is still a bit weird here, can have occasional stutters here and there.. Maybe its just this shader cache glitching it, will test later tonight. :)
     
  20. CrazyGenio

    CrazyGenio Master Guru

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    Well For me it creates files for every D3D app, even for Windows Explorer and VMWARE workstation 3d apps, i don´t really know how it´s working and i have 3 folder who are created automatically every time shader cache is enabled.

    1. C:\Temp\Nvidia\ComputeCache (i really don´t know if this one counts)
    2. C:\Windows\Temp\Nvidia Corporation\NV_Cache
    3. C:\User\Username\appdata\Local\Temp\Nvidia Corporation\NV_Cache

    [​IMG]

    for example those files can´t be deleted because in one folder the files are used by Windows Explorer, in the other are used by dwm.exe

    Here´s a test with SFM using Sujin map (a very heavy map for source games)

    SFM with shader cache ON i got 5-to 10 fps (see the fps in the right lower corner of the screen)

    [​IMG]

    SFM with shader cache OFF i got 40 to 54 fps (see the fps in the right lower corner of the screen)

    [​IMG]

    Edit: Yes indeed, it doesn´t create anything for dx9 games, i have tested again with source games but for some reason i got fps boost in Tf2 (only in vsh mods) and SFM disabling shader cache, i really don´t know why this is happening. Nothing happens with other games like CS:GO, L4D2, Portal and other DX9 source game
     
    Last edited: Aug 8, 2014

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