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Nvidia Driver 621.01 Adds Faster PC Game Starts on RTX Cards

Vince MaglayaPublished 47m ago3 min readBased on 7 sources
Nvidia Driver 621.01 Adds Faster PC Game Starts on RTX Cards
source:nvidia.com

Nvidia has released GeForce driver 621.01, which adds support for a Microsoft feature designed to shorten how long PC games take to start. The update covers Nvidia RTX and RTX Spark graphics cards, according to GameSpot.

The feature is Advanced Shader Delivery. A shader is a small program that tells a graphics card how to draw light, surfaces and water. Usually a PC builds many shaders on the spot, and players wait while it does. Advanced Shader Delivery downloads shaders that have already been built, so that work is largely done before the game opens.

Only two games supported the feature in GameSpot's report: Gears of War: E-Day and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. Microsoft's DirectX team said in early October that Gears of War: E-Day was using the feature, and that it was coming to more of Windows 11. TechPowerUp reported that shader compilation in Gears of War: E-Day fell by 95%, because the game ships with precompiled shaders.

GameSpot tested the game on a desktop PC and on an Asus ROG Ally X, a handheld gaming device. In both cases, Gears of War: E-Day could be started in under a minute with the feature turned on. GameSpot also reported that AMD supported the feature before Nvidia did, and that it works on hardware from AMD, Intel and Qualcomm, though results may vary between systems.

Nvidia is also pitching a related tool, Automatic Shader Compilation. It rebuilds DirectX 12 shaders after a driver update, either while the PC is idle or when the user asks for it. That matters because a new driver can otherwise force games to rebuild their shaders. Nvidia's release notes list the feature as a Beta.

Nvidia's own driver page also lists a run of game launches and updates:

  • Cyberpunk 2077 receives an update on 22 October 2026. Nvidia says it adds DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Multi Frame Generation and upgrades three other DLSS tools to second-generation AI models. DLSS is Nvidia's family of AI image tools that raise frame rates.
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches on 23 October 2026. Its campaign Early Access began on 16 October, and its DMZ Early Access began the day before Nvidia published the page.
  • Phantom Blade Zero launches on 28 October 2026, with a full set of DLSS 4.5 tools.
  • Crimson Desert Enhanced: Charting the Unknown launches on 29 October 2026, also with DLSS 4.5.

For players, the practical change is the wait before the first screen. Shorter starts depend on each game supporting the feature, and only two titles had it in GameSpot's count. Nvidia's driver page says the Call of Duty update lets players get into the game faster by skipping shader compilation.

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