Recently we wrote about a new feature for Linux in the Steam Client Beta, where Steam can now sort out Vulkan shaders before running a game. With the latest build, it gets better.
The idea of it, as a brief reminder, is to prepare all the shaders needed for Vulkan games while you download and / or before you hit Play. This would help to stop constant stuttering seen in some games on Linux, mostly from running Windows games in the Proton compatibility layer, as native / supported Linux games would usually do it themselves. Just another way Valve are trying to get Linux gaming on Steam in all forms into tip-top shape.
Here's what's changed in the latest Steam Beta:
Linux Shader Pre-Caching
- Added support for merging NVIDIA per-thread cache files after processing new Vulkan pipelines and after a game exits
- Adjusted core count of background Vulkan pipeline processing to a quarter of logical cores by default
- Changed processing tasks to idle priority
- Updated Vulkan layer API version
Want to try out the latest Steam Beta? Go into Settings on Steam and it's on the first section you see:
Steam will then restart to do the update.
Will be great when this is rolled out to everyone, as it's a very clever way to get around the Proton shader stuttering issue using the open source Fossilize library and Vulkan layer.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Do they cache it for each existing GPU architecture?
Foz pipelines are gpu and driver agnostic , which client utilize them to build shaders.
I am using an optimus laptop with prime render offload (Which means my desktop and Steam runs on intel gpu but games run on Nvidia), does that mean my system will benefit from this as well?
Right now ; your shader will be built up for your igpu. Unless you boot Steam client itself with prime render offload.
At the past couple of weeks, i passed that possibility to the right people. It will be solved in a future date , where Steam client will built up shaders for your preffered gpu.
If you don't , try one of them without any cache and see if ACO is enough or not.
Star Citizen is pretty shader heavy. Before aco it was stuttering a lot, with aco it became very playable. I don't have access to any others you mentioned.
Quake Champions and Warframe are free to play. You can test them.
Comandante Ñoñardo Jun 2, 2020
Quake Champions runs super smooth™ now. Compared to stuttery mess it used to be on every new map.I can confirm. It took my PC about half an hour though to get the Vulkan shaders processed. But it was totally worth it, it runs now without any suttery, which is pretty cool!
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