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Microsoft says Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD) can cut Gears of War: E-Day’s first-launch shader wait from several minutes to a few seconds on supported Windows 11 PCs. The feature supplies precompiled shaders with the game download, reducing the shader work the CPU must do when the game starts.
How Advanced Shader Delivery reduces the wait
Games compile shaders—programs that tell the graphics hardware how to render visual effects. When compilation happens at runtime, the CPU has to do that work as the game launches or encounters content, which can contribute to waits and stutter. ASD changes when some of that work happens: precompiled shaders are delivered with the game download, so the PC has less shader compilation to do at startup.
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Microsoft’s October 1, 2026 announcement says first-launch shader compilation takes “just a few seconds” with ASD, versus “several minutes on a typical PC without ASD.” Microsoft also reports an approximately 95% reduction in shader compilation time. Those are Microsoft’s figures; the announcement does not provide benchmark conditions, system configurations, or independent validation, so they should not be read as a guaranteed result on every PC. Microsoft DirectX Developer Blog
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Microsoft lists Windows 11 version 24H2 or higher as the minimum operating-system requirement. Its October 1 compatibility list names the following GPU families and driver versions:
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- System: AMD Ryzen 7 8700F 4.1GHz 8 Cores | AMD B850 Chipset | 16GB DDR5 | 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD | Windows 11 Home
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- AMD: RDNA 1, RDNA 2, RDNA 3, RDNA 3.5, or RDNA 4, with Adrenalin 26.6.1 or higher.
- Qualcomm: Snapdragon X2, with driver 2026.08.3 or higher.
Microsoft said Intel Arc B-series and Core Ultra, along with NVIDIA RTX, support would expand later in October. The September 30 game update separately described AMD as supported at launch and NVIDIA support as coming later in October. Because the rollout is changing, check the current Microsoft compatibility information rather than assuming those planned additions are available on a particular date. Microsoft’s ASD announcement · The Coalition’s September 30 update
How to check whether E-Day has precompiled shaders
- Install the Xbox PC app before downloading E-Day. Microsoft identifies this as part of the setup for receiving ASD.
- Download the game. The official game update says the Xbox PC app installed on a Windows 11 PC may preinstall the required shaders even if you play E-Day outside the app.
- Check the launch window. When ASD is working, Microsoft says the window displays “Precompiled shaders installed.”
For where ASD is supported, Microsoft’s feature announcement associates delivery with supported storefronts including the Microsoft Store and Xbox PC app. The available official sources do not establish that the Steam version delivers ASD, so do not assume that buying or launching the game through Steam will produce the same shader setup. Microsoft’s ASD announcement · The official game update
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Where the PC version is available
Xbox lists Gears of War: E-Day for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, and Steam, and says it is available with PC Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate. Those availability listings do not mean every version or storefront supports ASD; the feature’s delivery support is a separate compatibility question. Xbox Wire’s platform and availability announcement
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The game’s PC rendering is built on DirectX 12. The Coalition’s rendering lead, Mike Perzel, described the team’s aim as “delivering a great experience across console and PC”; that is broader context, not evidence for Microsoft’s shader-timing figures. Xbox Wire’s PC feature announcement
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