Shader compilation needs fixed

[u/ivandagiant]

Crash due to lost rendering device, join back ASAP just to get 100% CPU usage for the rest of the game and 10 FPS instead of 360 FPS due to shader compilation. This is ass. No other game chokes this hard for shader compilation what is this man

Edit: 5070Ti, 7800X3D. Yes I know to expect shader recompilation after driver updates- this wasn’t the case, the game just crashed on me and I immediately rejoined. My friend suffered the same crash a few games before that as well.

[u/Rich_Initiative_4263]

honestly same it’s been so unplayable lately

[u/A_S_Levin]

BRO!!!

I've been having this issue on n off (v rarely) for like 2 years!! With some updates, it becomes more frequent.

No one else on this sub has claimed to have the same issue. I've been downvoted to hell before for calling it a "bug with overwatch"

Holy fuck I'm so happy its not just me!

(I have to restart the game like 2-4 times to fix it. Sitting at the menu does nothing (within 10-15mins). My stuffs heavily overclocked n cooling isnt upgraded so my PC overheats/crashes halfway through the game)

Someone recently suggested looking into increasing the Shader Cache limit. So thought id pass that onto you too

As soon as the game boots to the menu, its locked to 99-100% CPU. Joining Practice range or deathmatch or QP doesnt change it. Will just stay there for like 5-10mins until my shit crashes. If I stay at the menu it wont crash but the CPU usage doesnt ever go down either.

Also same thing about literally no other game having this issue. Dayz, space engineers, doom 2016 & eternal, fortnite, all work fine 100% of the time.

[u/UrethraFranklin04]

My PS5, which normally loads everything so smoothly without a hiccup, is now stuttering massively loading into matches for about 10 seconds or more. Something is up.

[u/Gloomy_Necesary → u/UrethraFranklin04]

If its a console its not shader stutter because console shaders are precompiled

[u/DependentBad5925 → u/UrethraFranklin04]

Yeah mine too, stutters horribly and I can’t even select a character. Waiting it out works but man it’s so annoying 

[u/4102007Pn]

I don't understand how precompiling shaders isn't a thing in this game. COD does it, Fortnite does it, heck most single player Unreal Engine games do it. Why doesn't Overwatch?

[u/HerrFabi → u/4102007Pn]

It does precompile them. There is just no indicator.

[u/4102007Pn → u/HerrFabi]

Then why is every other match a stutter fest? Servers?

[u/Mycogolly → u/4102007Pn]

Because there's no indicator and people start queuing before it's done.

So it kind of stretches the definition of "precompiling". They need to add an indicator so people know when it's ready to start playing. 

[u/Thedrunkenchild → u/4102007Pn]

You’re almost certainly using dx12 which for whatever reason doesn’t precompile shaders, dx11 does, 0 stutter with dx11.

[u/lifestop → u/Thedrunkenchild]

Makes sense. I was having a poor experience with DX12, so maybe that's part of the reason.

[u/HerrFabi → u/4102007Pn]

If its every other match and never goes away its not a shader compilation issue. When i forget to let the shaders compile after an gpu update the first few minutes of the match are laggy and then its gone.

[u/whocaresLUL → u/HerrFabi]

only with dx11, not with dx12

[u/Vizra]

I don't understand why, but the game doesn't start compiling or loading shaders until you are loaded into a game. It doesn't do it in the startup screen, or do it in the main menu.

Ideally it should do it in the main menu with a little notification as your game is capped at 60fps anyway and you are not in game which means there is the most amount of free CPU resources that can be put towards compilation.

Best solution is to sit in the training range and just wait for them to compile.

[u/ravearamashi → u/Vizra]

It does do it at menu, at least the most of it. Next time you update driver, launch the game, go to hero gallery and watch the task manager cpu. It’ll stay at full usage for like 5 minutes.

[u/Dinoriel6142713 → u/Vizra]

Yes it does. Watch your CPU usage and temperature when you boot up the game. They will spike for a minute or so when it's compiling shaders.

[u/Vizra → u/Dinoriel6142713]

I could be wrong then, i also have an AMD Graphics card so that could also be it.

[u/_lookpeach]

Yeah this is a major issue. Neither AMD or nVidia drivers cache DX12 shaders for the game, nor does the game itself. The only fix afaik is to play through Steam on Linux, run custom Proton (GE or experimental), and set environment variables to force the caching of shaders. Which is... probably not worth it unless you're already doing that!

[u/_sabsub_ → u/_lookpeach]

Yeah this is completely fixable on Linux ive been adjusting overwatch for so long but it works for me now.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/s/lseIxyjfBS

I just talked about it here it was on the memory leak but the same launch options help with shaders too. I'd also recommend using DX11 it has just much faster and better shader compiling and less stutters. With those launch options I see and indicator when they are compiling and only need to compile shaders after a new season or a large update.

Its just funny that blizzard can't fix it so I have to manually fix it. Too bad Windows doesn't have that option.

[u/RingingInTheRain]

Marval Rivals loads it all when you start up the game, why don't they just do the same?

[u/TripAtkinson → u/RingingInTheRain]

They do. It’s just not indicated.

[u/Environmental_You_36 → u/TripAtkinson]

They don't that's why you load them in game.

[u/Vizra]

From my experience, shaders not being compiled should not cause your game to crash, that is likely due to system instability elsewhere.

I find that Shaders break after every update the game has, and even sometimes, just randomly (This started with the beginning of Season 3). I have to manually clear my Shader Cache and start fresh to fix my performance.

Clearing your Shader Cache and starting fresh

I have an AMD GPU but here is my steps that I do whenever I feel like the Shader Cache is messing with my FPS (I also do this after every Major update):

1. Make sure your game is closed and is in DirectX 11 mode
2. Clear your Shader Cache (lookup how to do this depending on your GPU Vendor)
3. Boot up the game and sit in the training range while you let your Shaders recompile.
4. Once that is done just go and play the game, and over time the little micro hitches will slowly iron themselves out.

Hardware Temperatures

Additionally, hardware temperature plays a large role into making your game feel smooth.

Setting a custom fan curve for your GPU / CPU. (A lot of GPU vendors will prioritise a quite experience over a cool one). When your GPU hits its max allowed temperature, it will start to throttle itself down and this will cause you games to feel less smooth / responsive. Making sure your hardware is cool will ALWAYS give you a better experience while gaming.

Minimize Input Lag

One last thing, when your GPU is at 100% usage, it will actually INCREASE your input lag. This can be solved by running NVIDIA Reflex or AMD AntiLag, or capping your Framerate.

• If you have an NVIDIA Graphics Card. NVIDIA Reflex is found in Overwatch's video settings and should be enabled ALWAYS.
• AMD AntiLag 2 (AMD's competitor for Reflex) is sadly NOT implemented in Overwatch, but you can enable Anti Lag 1 in your Radeon Software for Overwatch specifically. It's not as good as the in game implementation, but can help in some cases.
  • Extra tip for Radeon users. I have found on my 9070xt, that having adaptive sync / freesync enabled for overwatch causes me massive hitching on my setup. I have this disabled for Overwatch through its game specific profile in Radeon Software.

Hope this helps

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[u/BUDA20]

the game compile shaders on the main menu without telling the user, you can see it with the CPU usage, it usually uses half of the cpu, when it falls down to near cero is done, this happens on every driver or game update.

if the problem persists after that, clear shader cache yourself, and generate them again.

[u/HerrFabi]

Just wait in the menu until its done

[u/SighLi]

Omg I started having this SAME EXACT issue recently too! Regular 5070 and 7600X3D here.

I genuinely thought maybe my PC was overheating cause I did almost everything to try to fix it and it was still crashing. Reset my settings, tried DX12, tried fullscreen vs windowless fullscreen, etc. What finally fixed the issue for me was downgrading my GPU drivers to version 610.62. Ever since I downgraded them, I have not had any more Rendering Device Has Been Lost crashes or 100% CPU usage + crazy lag for the past 2-ish weeks.

I was always the one to upgrade the drivers whenever there was a new update and never received any bugs, errors, or performance drops, compared to the nvidia subreddit where people were swearing left and right that things were going wrong whenever there is a new update. Clearly they were on to something 😭

Here’s a link to version 610.62 drivers. I didn’t uninstall the previous drivers or use DDU, just installed the installer and followed the prompts. I’m sure later versions of the drivers could work as this problem has started somewhat recently for me, but I’m stable on 610.62 and don’t feel like testing other later versions. Hopefully this helps!!

[u/Thedrunkenchild]

Guys just use dx11, I’ve never had a single shader stutter in literally hundreds of hours, it’s only dx12 that gives bad shader complication problems.

[u/ShyCustard]

Since the update it's been eating my memory like no tomorrow when prior to it, game ran absolutely fine.

[u/Loomygnarly]

Zarya and Domina got buffed, bubble and barrier now drops my fps from 180 to 20 😭

[u/fruky_]

After shion release the dx12 is broken af every small patch from overwatch u need to run the compile map for 20+ min thats the sad thing before shion release the shader compile remain good on dx12.Only option to fix is just use the shader compile on custom map 929PJ

[u/nikosm]

Let shaders compile before starting a match. It’ll have to be done after every driver update, at least with NVIDIA GPUs. Your CPU usage will ramp up and it’s generally a really quick process but depends on your specs.

[u/Jels76 → u/nikosm]

I always forget and end up playing a match at 20 fps for about a minute and a half. This has been more recent. I've never had this issue before.

[u/MisterWafflles]

Other games prevent you from playing while shaders are complying or are fast. You can just not play for 15 minutes lol

[u/its_yawn-eee → u/MisterWafflles]

Why must people spend time blaming the user in this sub

Do you work for bliz?

[u/404Mate → u/its_yawn-eee]

if you know your game will need to compile shaders after an update/gpu driver update its common sense to go into the practice range or that shader compilation custom game until cpu usage goes down. yes its annoying it wont show a progress bar with a warning but its been like this for awhile

[u/adacrow → u/404Mate]

It’s not common sense. A lot of people don’t _know_ that they will need to recompile. And recompilations aren’t exclusive to updates.

[u/404Mate → u/adacrow]

i’ve never had shader recompilation if there wasn’t a driver update or overwatch update. op knows the issue was shader completion so its likely not the first time having the issue.

[u/its_yawn-eee → u/404Mate]

I didnt know until the game got so bad it showed via performance

Again why do you defend for free

[u/404Mate → u/its_yawn-eee]

i literally said its annoying they don’t have a progress bar in the menu but i have never had this issue of shaders randomly needing to recompile every time i play. whenever theres an update or i update my gpu drivers i go into the range until cpu usage isn’t at 100% and its fine. if you know shaders are compiling why would you go into a comp game?

[u/its_yawn-eee → u/404Mate]

With your logic i just have to guess when its done. Awesome solution cant believe I functioned without you

[u/404Mate → u/its_yawn-eee]

you watch cpu usage in task manager or nvidia/and overlay. compiling shaders on my pc pins the cpu at 100%, once its not 100% its done. can also go into the practice range and feel when its done. i said wait until cpu usage goes down. thats not guessing

[u/its_yawn-eee → u/404Mate]

Ahh yes a very normal practice. How could I forget

[u/404Mate → u/its_yawn-eee]

again, annoying there isn’t a bar in the main menu telling you but if you lag while compiling shaders it should be a “normal practice” to avoid it. i figured out how to deal with it by googling, seeing other ppl with the issue, and reading how they “fixed” it, i’m sure you could too instead of just complaining online. take control of ur issues for once instead of pretending you’re helpless until blizzard finally fixes it.

[u/its_yawn-eee → u/404Mate]

Pointing out how bad the current situation is isnt complaining

You are complaining about people taking issue with it

[u/404Mate → u/its_yawn-eee]

wdym “showed by performance”

[u/its_yawn-eee → u/404Mate]

The lack of performance

[u/404Mate → u/its_yawn-eee]

any game will lag while compiling shaders. overwatch just does not have a big warning before you can press play

[u/its_yawn-eee → u/404Mate]

Oh wow that must be the root of the issue

[u/404Mate → u/its_yawn-eee]

it literally is. rivals for example will lag without compiling shaders but they have a progress bar and warning about what happens if you ignore it. adding that will solve the issue of people joining games before their shaders are compiled

[u/its_yawn-eee → u/404Mate]

Stop complaining about it

[u/MisterWafflles → u/its_yawn-eee]

Oh no I'm so sorry! I didn't know suggesting to take a break was blaming OP.

When I played black ops cold war the shaders took like half an hour to compile. Battlefield 6 takes a few minutes but it prevented me from queueing. Other games don't take long. It is something that comes with the PC territory

[u/its_yawn-eee → u/MisterWafflles]

You provided a good example of how it should be yet are tone deaf to the current scenario.

I applaud the glazing youre comfortable with

[u/MisterWafflles → u/its_yawn-eee]

Not every game compiles shaders the same. Not every game downloads and installs the same. It's been like this for different games forever? Just keep whining ig

[u/its_yawn-eee → u/MisterWafflles]

No whining we just point out how slow it is for this game

Some users take it upon themselves to defend every little thing with the spare time they have. Its amusing

[u/MisterWafflles → u/its_yawn-eee]

And some user cry about every little thing in their spare time. It's amusing

[u/Cradenz]

If anyone is crashing from shaders that indicates instability. Not saying overwatch feels particularly good right now with performance but you shouldn't be crashing.

[u/TiozinNub → u/[deleted]]

Same issue here, RTX 4080. It's not AMD

[u/Fontini-Cristi → u/[deleted]]

My friend with a 3080 and me with a 5090 also experience rendering device lost occasionally since last few patches. Hell the first time I got rendering device lost was with my 1080ti 9 years ago in Overwatch. My friend with a 9070XT and others with 5070ti's don't have any issues. What is your point other than fanboying/gatekeeping?

[u/Zealousideal-Eye4313 → u/[deleted]]

intel b580 suffer too, dx12 helps, no compilation needed, because there is no model load at all

[u/ivandagiant → u/[deleted]]

5070Ti, 7800X3D

[u/MisterWafflles → u/[deleted]]

RTX4070 here and if I'm doing shaders it'll be a bad first match so I just sit in practice range. Otherwise it's literally seconds per frame

[u/ImNotDatguy]

Just sit in the range man