Gears of War: E-Day Compiles Shaders for Minutes on NVIDIA RTX
Nothing is broken. Gears of War: E-Day is the first game to ship with Advanced Shader Delivery, the Windows 11 feature that downloads precompiled shaders so the game starts in seconds, but as of 2 October 2026 Microsoft's system requirements cover only AMD RDNA 1-4 GPUs on Adrenalin 26.6.1 or higher and Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 GPUs. Microsoft says support for all NVIDIA RTX GPUs and Intel Arc arrives "later this month", so on an RTX card E-Day still compiles its shaders locally and a multi-minute first launch is expected. You can confirm which one you got: "Precompiled shaders installed" appears in the launch window when ASD is working.
Start here
Microsoft's own announcement reads as though E-Day brings Advanced Shader Delivery to players on AMD, Intel, NVIDIA and Qualcomm hardware, and much of the coverage repeated that. The system requirements in the same post say something narrower: NVIDIA and Intel support is still to come. That gap is why an RTX owner sees a shader compilation screen that an AMD owner does not.
Symptoms
- A "compiling shaders" screen sits for several minutes on the first launch of Gears of War: E-Day
- The launch window does not say "Precompiled shaders installed"
- Other players on comparable or slower hardware report getting into the game in seconds
- Shader compilation stutter during the first session of gameplay
Why this happens
Advanced Shader Delivery is being switched on one GPU vendor at a time
ASD needs a hardware-specific compiler plugin per GPU vendor, so Microsoft is enabling it vendor by vendor. The 1 October 2026 announcement lists AMD RDNA 1 through RDNA 4 and Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 as supported, and says Intel Arc B-Series, Intel Core Ultra Series 2 and 3, all NVIDIA RTX GPUs and RTX Spark follow "later this month". Until the NVIDIA plugin and driver ship, an RTX card cannot receive precompiled shaders for E-Day no matter what else is configured correctly.
Check the launch window for "Precompiled shaders installed" · Check your GPU and driver against what ASD covers today
A supported GPU is necessary but not sufficient
Microsoft's documentation states that ASD needs a supported Windows version, an ASD-capable GPU and driver, and storefront integration. For E-Day the stated requirements are Windows 11 24H2 or higher, a current graphics driver, and installing the Xbox PC app before downloading the game, because the precompiled shader database is delivered alongside the download rather than patched in later. Miss one of these on otherwise supported AMD hardware and the game falls back to compiling locally.
Without precompiled shaders, the work happens on your PC once
Microsoft describes the problem ASD exists to solve: compiling shaders on the player's device at launch or just-in-time during gameplay produces longer load times and shader compilation stutter. A game without precompiled shaders compiles them and caches them for future use, which is why the painful wait is concentrated in the first launch rather than every launch.
Let the first compile finish once, and leave the shader cache alone
Fixes
Check the launch window for "Precompiled shaders installed"
about 2 minThis is the one indicator Microsoft documents, and it settles in a glance whether your machine received precompiled shaders or is compiling them itself.
Applies to: Gears of War: E-Day on Windows 11 24H2 and later
- Start Gears of War: E-Day and watch the launch window before the main menu appears.
- Look for the text "Precompiled shaders installed". Microsoft states this appears in the launch window when Advanced Shader Delivery is working.
- If it is absent and a shader compilation progress bar runs instead, ASD did not apply on this machine and the remaining checks below tell you why.
Confirmed by the vendor.
Source: Microsoft
Check your GPU and driver against what ASD covers today
about 5 minIf your GPU is not on the current list, no amount of reinstalling or cache clearing will produce precompiled shaders, and knowing that saves you the afternoon.
Applies to: Windows 11 24H2 and later
- Identify your GPU. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc, open the Performance tab and read the GPU entry.
Ctrl+Shift+Esc - Supported as of 2 October 2026: AMD RDNA 1, RDNA 2, RDNA 3, RDNA 3.5 and RDNA 4 (Radeon RX 5000 through RX 9000 series) on Adrenalin 26.6.1 or higher, and Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Series on driver 2026.08.3 or higher.
- Not yet supported: all NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs and RTX Spark, and Intel Arc B570 and B580 plus Intel Core Ultra Series 2 and Series 3. Microsoft says these arrive "later this month", meaning October 2026.
- On an RTX or Arc card, stop here. The long first compile is expected behaviour right now, not a fault on your machine.
- On a supported Radeon, check your installed driver version in AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition, or in Windows Device Manager under Display adapters. Adrenalin 26.9.1, or any release above 26.6.1, clears the floor.
Confirmed by the vendor.
Meet the Windows, driver and Xbox PC app requirements
about 15 minOn supported AMD hardware these are the remaining conditions Microsoft names, and the storefront one has to be satisfied before the game is downloaded.
Applies to: Gears of War: E-Day on Windows 11 24H2 and later
- Confirm you are on Windows 11 24H2 or higher. Press Windows+R, run winver, and read the version line.
winver - Install the Xbox PC app before downloading Gears of War: E-Day. Microsoft's instruction for getting ASD on this title is to have the Xbox PC app in place first, because the precompiled shader database ships with the download.
- Update your graphics driver. Microsoft's guidance for the best ASD experience across supported titles is simply to keep graphics drivers current.
- If you downloaded the game before installing the Xbox PC app, the only way to follow Microsoft's stated order is to install the app first and download the game again. Microsoft does not document what happens in that case, so treat a reinstall as the way to satisfy the requirement rather than a confirmed fix.
Confirmed by the vendor.
Let the first compile finish once, and leave the shader cache alone
about 20 minShaders compiled on your machine are cached for later launches, so interrupting or clearing the compile turns a one-time wait into a repeated one.
Applies to: Any GPU without Advanced Shader Delivery support
- Leave the game running until the shader compilation progress reaches 100%, even if it takes several minutes. Microsoft's documentation describes shaders being compiled and cached for future use.
- Do not close the game, reboot, or clear your GPU shader cache part-way through. The next launch reuses the cache, and players who waited the first compile out have reported subsequent launches becoming effectively instant.
- Expect the wait to return after a graphics driver update or a change to graphics settings, which invalidates cached shaders.
Reported to work by one user; not confirmed by the vendor.
Source: Microsoft, Steam Community
Known issues
Advanced Shader Delivery does not yet cover NVIDIA RTX or Intel Arc GPUs. Microsoft said on 1 October 2026 that support for all NVIDIA RTX GPUs and RTX Spark, Intel Arc B570 and B580, and Intel Core Ultra Series 2 and 3 would arrive "later this month".
Affects Gears of War: E-Day (early access, 1 October 2026), NVIDIA GeForce 617.14 and earlier · Status: open
Microsoft's announcement prose says E-Day brings ASD to players on AMD, Intel, NVIDIA and Qualcomm devices, while the system requirements in the same post list only AMD and Qualcomm as supported today. The requirements section is the accurate one.
Affects Gears of War: E-Day (early access, 1 October 2026) · Status: open
If none of this worked
This page is about the first-launch shader compilation wait specifically. If E-Day stutters during normal play after the compile screen is long gone, or framerates are low throughout, that is ordinary performance tuning rather than shader delivery, and a driver-related stutter after an update is covered separately. If the game does not start at all, crashes before the launch window, or shows a black screen with audio, the cause is not shader compilation.
Common questions
- Is something wrong with my PC if E-Day compiles shaders for several minutes?
- No. Without Advanced Shader Delivery, the game compiles its shaders on your machine, and Microsoft's own comparison is a few seconds with ASD against several minutes without it on a typical PC. If your GPU is not on the current ASD support list, the long first compile is the expected path.
- Does Advanced Shader Delivery work on an RTX GPU yet?
- Not as of 2 October 2026. Microsoft's system requirements for E-Day list AMD RDNA 1 through RDNA 4 and Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 only, and state that all NVIDIA RTX GPUs and RTX Spark are coming "later this month". Keeping the Xbox PC app installed and your driver current is what positions you to benefit as soon as it ships.
- How do I tell whether I received precompiled shaders?
- Microsoft states that "Precompiled shaders installed" appears in the game's launch window when Advanced Shader Delivery is working. If you see a shader compilation progress bar instead, your machine is compiling them locally.
- Will other games get this?
- Microsoft describes E-Day as the first title to support ASD across the expanded Windows device ecosystem, and names Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 plus further unnamed titles as planned. ASD requires the developer to generate and upload a state object database to the storefront, so it arrives per game rather than automatically across your library.
Did this fix work?
If a step is wrong, outdated, or did not help, telling us is the fastest way to get it corrected. Reports are reviewed before new articles.
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Sources
- Advanced Shader Delivery Coming Soon across Windows 11 and Available for Gears of War: E-Day TodayOfficial
Microsoft · Release notes · checked Oct 2, 2026
- As of 1 October 2026 the Advanced Shader Delivery system requirements list only AMD RDNA 1, RDNA 2, RDNA 3, RDNA 3.5 and RDNA 4 GPUs on Adrenalin 26.6.1 or higher, and Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Series GPUs on driver 2026.08.3 or higher.
- Microsoft states that 'later this month' ASD will expand to Intel Arc B-Series B570 and B580, Intel Core Ultra Series 2 and Series 3, and to all NVIDIA RTX GPUs and RTX Spark.
- Advanced Shader Delivery requires Windows 11 24H2 or higher.
- Microsoft tells players to install the Xbox PC app before downloading Gears of War: E-Day in order to get Advanced Shader Delivery.
- 'Precompiled shaders installed' appears in the game's launch window when Advanced Shader Delivery is working.
- Gears of War: E-Day is the first game to support ASD across the expanded Windows device ecosystem, and entered early access on 1 October 2026.
- With ASD, shader compilation at first launch takes a few seconds rather than several minutes, a reduction of roughly 95%.
Microsoft · Documentation · checked Oct 2, 2026
- Advanced Shader Delivery is a Windows 11 Direct3D 12 technology that moves shader compilation off the player's device by precompiling shaders ahead of time and delivering them when a player downloads the game.
- Using ASD requires a supported Windows version, an ASD-capable GPU and driver, and storefront integration.
- Compiling shaders on the player's device at launch, or just-in-time during gameplay, leads to longer load times, in-game shader compilation stutter and higher power consumption.
- Without precompiled shaders a game must compile graphics shaders and cache them for future use.
Microsoft · Release notes · checked Oct 2, 2026
- The AMD public preview of Advanced Shader Delivery announced in May 2026 requires Adrenalin 26.6.1 or higher, Windows 11 24H2 or higher, and Xbox Gaming Services 37.113.11003.0 or higher.
- Microsoft said in May 2026 that in the coming months it would enable ASD on more Windows devices and other IHV hardware.
AMD · Release notes · checked Oct 2, 2026
- AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.9.1 was last updated 3 September 2026 and supports Radeon RX 5000, RX 6000, RX 7000 and RX 9000 series RDNA graphics products.
Steam Community · Forum · checked Oct 2, 2026
- During the Gears of War: E-Day beta, players reported first-launch shader compilation long enough to fold a basket of laundry, and one reported the compile reaching 56% then taking ten minutes to finish.
- A player on a Radeon RX 9070 XT who had waited through a long compile later reported that launching had become instant.
- Players noticed that some people they played with received shaders in about ten seconds while they compiled locally for minutes on comparable hardware.
- Thread responders stated that shader compilation happens once initially and then again after driver updates or graphics setting changes.