Here is an easy guide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pckLWJeCQyc&list=PLNPu3NPG-3OWKnkmnt7_jJzzlNzevHVjy&index=3

2 hours ago, Ixoye said:

Here is an easy guide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pckLWJeCQyc&list=PLNPu3NPG-3OWKnkmnt7_jJzzlNzevHVjy&index=3

it's not so easy because the folder path is changed in meantime, I think that the most recent drivers changed things. However it's possible to make it through the cleanmgr.

15 hours ago, Claudius_ said:

it's not so easy because the folder path is changed in meantime, I think that the most recent drivers changed things. However it's possible to make it through the cleanmgr.

Yeah, nowadays there is a video for every little thing...

Start - Disk Cleanup - OK - DirectX Shader cache - OK

WARNING!  I just want to give an alternative opinion here and play devils advocate...  Is all this really necessary?

The way this should work is that the graphics cards generate the shaders on first run, and check them again when reloading by some type of identifier.
I would be surprised if both AMD and Nvidia have missed this if it was causing a problem. 

If you delete them all, the card has to regenerate them next time in, and this actually takes longer.
Do people really think a card might load a DX11 shader instead of DX12 by mistake (or vice-versa), causing a crash, or a performance problem?

Although I have cleared the shader cache at times just to see the effect it has, I have never noticed any difference to performance and stability whatsoever, even when switching between DX11/DX12.

It just seems to be one of those things 'games experts' seem to quote to make them look like ' an expert', and it is a safe thing to say because it cannot cause any harm, but I do have to question some of the advice I have seen, including setting the shader cache to 1GB!    Has anybody ever checked the size of their cache?  You will be surprised.  If ever I filled a shader cache up to 1GB that would be a problem in itself!  After playing MSFS DX11/DX12, Cyberpunk, COH, and a fair few other titles, my shader cache has only ever been a small fraction of that (55MB), even after months of playing.

So, if they advise to clear the cache regularly, why would you need 1GB anyway?  Just a thought...  

 

Edited November 13, 20232 yr by bobcat999

10 minutes ago, bobcat999 said:

So, if they advise to clear the cache regularly, why would you need 1GB anyway?

Yup, it's rather contradictory.
Think it's only worth clearing shaders when changing between DX11 and DX12 (or vice-versa), updating to a newer (or rolling back to a previous) driver, or if you are having lots of graphical issues/CTDs.

I've never performed this cleanup and never seen any noticeable performance degradation. I've a firm believer in not changing anything unless there is a need, in this case graphical oddities/corruption or stutters/performance. Even switching between DX11 & DX12, the only thing of note was missing ground tiles which is a known issue.

4 hours ago, bobcat999 said:

WARNING!  I just want to give an alternative opinion here and play devils advocate...  Is all this really necessary?

perhaps, could you please upload or better still, stream how NOT to delete the shader cache. that would be very helpful, cause I couldn't find one on twitch or youtube. and after the usual 2 minute delay, please don't forget a professional intro like they do on the discovery channel: "hello my friend, welcome, nice to have you on board ..."

58 minutes ago, turbomax said:

perhaps, could you please upload or better still, stream how NOT to delete the shader cache. that would be very helpful, cause I couldn't find one on twitch or youtube. and after the usual 2 minute delay, please don't forget a professional intro like they do on the discovery channel: "hello my friend, welcome, nice to have you on board ..."

... and before we go ahead, do not forget to like the video, subscribe the channel, click on the bell for immediate notifications and make a donation to my Pityeon account. Oh, and while doing so, please make sure you are protected with SouthVPN. SouthVPN is the best software you can use to protect your privacy and bla bla bla...

🤣🤣 more lovers of YouTube I see 

Edited November 13, 20232 yr by Ianrivaldosmith

It's not going to hurt anything to delete it, just like you could get a random file in your downloads that doesn't open properly even though it passed a CRC check, so it's possible to get a bad cache file triggering an error handler ignoring said file slowing down performance. It's not so much that it would load the file and it's unlikely to crash a game these days, but it could slow stuff down. It probably fairly unlikely and won't help to be honest, but placebos can be good for flight sim.

 

Edited November 13, 20232 yr by Alpine Scenery

12 hours ago, Alpine Scenery said:

...but placebos can be good for flight sim.

  Heaven knows, I have fallen for many of them!

I have lost count of how many times I have flipped "Threaded Optimisation" on and off due to some 'expert' advice, from someone who probably doesn't know anything about it, but is just following their own mantra out of blind faith.  Then the is 'Resizable BAR', Trilinear Optimisation etc.  I have never noticed a performance increase or decrease either way with most of them.

PS.  Just to add, if people are really having problems and getting desperate, it doesn't hurt to 'try anything' to try to solve your issue, including flushing the shader cache. 
I am not dead set against it, as I am not that bothered about it, but in most cases it is probably unnecessary and won't alter a thing, so it comes under the 'it won't hurt to try it' category.

There are a lot of 'experts' out there, but the only guide I have followed recently is the one I provide a link to below, because it seems to correspond with my experience in real life, and in-depth explanations are provided for what the settings do and how they do it.  It is a bit of an eye opener!  Oh and by the way, (unless you are having problems) the advice is not to keep flushing the shader cash, with an explanation why.  Shaders are about half way down the page, but the whole guide is well worth a read.

https://tweakguides.pcgamingwiki.com/NVFORCE_7.html

Edited November 14, 20232 yr by bobcat999

17 hours ago, Alpine Scenery said:

but placebos can be good for flight sim.

Audiophiles and Flightsimmers goes hand in hand it seems, I'm both btw 😄

5 hours ago, bobcat999 said:

  Heaven knows, I have fallen for many of them!

I have lost count of how many times I have flipped "Threaded Optimisation" on and off due to some 'expert' advice, from someone who probably doesn't know anything about it, but is just following their own mantra out of blind faith.  Then the is 'Resizable BAR', Trilinear Optimisation etc.  I have never noticed a performance increase or decrease either way with most of them.

PS.  Just to add, if people are really having problems and getting desperate, it doesn't hurt to 'try anything' to try to solve your issue, including flushing the shader cache. 
I am not dead set against it, as I am not that bothered about it, but in most cases it is probably unnecessary and won't alter a thing, so it comes under the 'it won't hurt to try it' category.

There are a lot of 'experts' out there, but the only guide I have followed recently is the one I provide a link to below, because it seems to correspond with my experience in real life, and in-depth explanations are provided for what the settings do and how they do it.  It is a bit of an eye opener!  Oh and by the way, (unless you are having problems) the advice is not to keep flushing the shader cash, with an explanation why.  Shaders are about half way down the page, but the whole guide is well worth a read.

https://tweakguides.pcgamingwiki.com/NVFORCE_7.html

Thats an interesting read. Thanks for the link!

6 minutes ago, ThomseN_inc said:

Thats an interesting read. Thanks for the link!

No problem.  If you read the whole article, it is interesting how some settings have dependencies on others.  I never knew any of that.  

12 minutes ago, bobcat999 said:

No problem.  If you read the whole article, it is interesting how some settings have dependencies on others.  I never knew any of that.  

Yes. As someone who is more than far away from being a tech guy its a good resource of information. Will definately read the whole thing when i'm back from work.