README

SCSKiller

  Shader Compilation Stutter Killer. SCSKiller compiles your games' shaders into your GPU driver's
  cache before you play, so the game doesn't stop to compile them mid-game. Free and open source, for Windows.



  
  
  
  
  



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 [!WARNING]
 The only official downloads are this repository's Releases.
 See official links for the accounts and sites that belong to SCSKiller.


  


 Why

A game that meets a new effect has the GPU driver compile its shader on the spot, and the frame waits: that's shader
compilation stutter. SCSKiller reads the shaders a game ships with, works out the pipelines it will build, and compiles
them into the driver's cache ahead of time, in its own process with the game closed.

 Results

About 5 minutes of play per game, from a cold driver cache and after compiling with SCSKiller. A stutter is a shader
compile the game waited 20 ms or more for.


  GameGPUMeasurementColdWith SCSKiller
  Final Fantasy VII RebirthNVIDIARTX 5090Stutters (≥ 20 ms)190
  Worst stall76 ms5 ms
  AMDRyzen AI Max+ 395 (Strix Halo)Stutters (≥ 20 ms)1620
  Worst stall291 ms7 ms
  Silent Hill: TownfallNVIDIARTX 5090Stutters (≥ 20 ms)240
  Worst stall347 ms8 ms
  Hogwarts LegacyNVIDIARTX 5090Stutters (≥ 20 ms)1,01487
  Worst stall2,400 ms100 ms
  AMDRyzen AI Max+ 395 (Strix Halo)Stutters (≥ 20 ms)27,743206
  Worst stall2,146 ms104 ms
  Tiny Tina's WonderlandsNVIDIARTX 5090Stutters (≥ 20 ms)5830
  Worst stall315 ms13 ms
  Star Wars Jedi: SurvivorNVIDIARTX 5090Stutters (≥ 20 ms)9,03811


Measured with SCSKiller's recorder. Your numbers depend on the game, GPU and driver. SCSKiller fixes shader compilation
stutter only, not traversal or streaming stutter, and a shader it couldn't find or record can still compile in game.

 Features

- NVIDIA and AMD, DirectX 12 games, and DirectX 11 games on NVIDIA.
- Finds your games in Steam, Epic Games, EA app, GOG, Ubisoft Connect, Xbox (PC), Battle.net, PURPLE, HoYoPlay,
  Gaijin and the Riot Client, plus games you add yourself.
- Puts games known to stutter on top, with the reason, and marks games whose engine prepares its shaders itself.
- Compiles again after a driver update, which clears the shader cache, on its own if you let it.
- Optional recorder for games whose pipelines its files don't give: play a few minutes with it on, then compile. It
  also records alongside a mod that replaces shaders.
- Frame times per session: with the recorder on, a game's page graphs your last session and marks shader stutters
  apart from other hitches. They stay on your PC.
- Play button that starts the game through its store.
- Community shader hash database for Patreon supporters: other players' recordings, so your games are covered
  without recording them first. Sharing yours is opt-in, anonymous and hash-only.
- Leaves anti-cheat games alone beyond reading their files: no launching, no injecting, no recorder, e

Top issues

Latest release

This build isn't code-signed yet, so the first run will probably show SmartScreen's "Windows protected your PC".
 Click More info, then Run anyway. Updates never show it.

 To check the download arrived whole, compare its SHA-256 with the one at the end of these notes (PowerShell:
 Get-FileHash ). These notes aren't signed, so that doesn't prove who built it. The source: https://github.com/BlueHeisenberg/SCSKiller/tree/v1.4.6.

 Smart App Control (Windows 11) blocks unsigned apps outright, with no Run anyway.

Improved

- A compile writes far less to disk. A small top-up writes a few MB