Radeon RX 9070 XT test shows up to 96% lower load times with Advanced Shader Delivery
Test report shows up to 96% lower load times, but FPS gains depend on the game.
Microsoft’s Advanced Shader Delivery has now been tested on a desktop Radeon RX 9070 XT system. The feature ships precompiled shaders with a game download, which can allow games to skip local shader compilation during first launch.
We already covered Microsoft’s own Forza Horizon 6 example, where the company claimed a 95% reduction in load time on Radeon hardware. The new test expands that comparison to six games and includes both load time and FPS data.
Tom’s Hardware puts ASD to test: yes, it works
The test system used a PowerColor Red Devil Radeon RX 9070 XT , Ryzen 7 9800X3D, 64GB of DDR5-6200 memory and Windows 11 25H2. The GPU driver was AMD Adrenalin 26.5.2. Each game was tested at 4K with custom settings and after a fresh driver install.
Load times showed the largest change. Forza Horizon 6 dropped from 48 seconds to 2 seconds with Advanced Shader Delivery enabled. The Outer Worlds 2 dropped from 172 seconds to 9 seconds. Avowed went from 174 seconds to 38 seconds, while Hogwarts Legacy dropped from 71 seconds to 31 seconds.
FPS gains were less consistent. Forza Horizon 6 improved from 54 FPS to 72 FPS in 1% lows, while average FPS moved from 95 to 97 FPS. Ninja Gaiden 4 improved from 67 FPS to 74 FPS in 1% lows and from 97 FPS to 100 FPS average. Other tested games showed little or no performance change. Silent Hill f showed the same 44 FPS 1% low and 77 FPS average with Advanced Shader Delivery on or off. The report also notes that shader compilation stutter was still present in the tested area, which suggests the feature still depends on game-side coverage.
Microsoft currently offers Advanced Shader Delivery through its PC Gaming Preview. The public preview requires Windows 11 24H2 or newer, Xbox Gaming Services 37.113.11003.0 or newer, Xbox Insider Hub enrollment, an AMD RDNA 3, RDNA 3.5 or RDNA 4 GPU and Adrenalin 26.5.2 or newer. Microsoft also says the system is designed for storefront integration beyond the Xbox app.
| Radeon RX 9070 XT Advanced Shader Delivery testing | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom’s Hardware | Load time ASD off | Load time ASD on | Load time Reduction | 1% low ASD off | 1% low ASD on | Average FPS ASD off | Average FPS ASD on |
| Silent Hill f | N/A | N/A | N/A | 44 FPS | 44 FPS | 77 FPS | 77 FPS |
| Hogwarts Legacy | 71 sec | 31 sec | 56% | 91 FPS | 91 FPS | 129 FPS | 129 FPS |
| Avowed | 174 sec | 38 sec | 78% | Not labeled | Not labeled | 56 FPS | 57 FPS |
| Ninja Gaiden 4 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 67 FPS | 74 FPS | 97 FPS | 100 FPS |
| The Outer Worlds 2 | 172 sec | 9 sec | 95% | 36 FPS | 37 FPS | 48 FPS | 48 FPS |
| Forza Horizon 6 | 48 sec | 2 sec | 96% | 54 FPS | 72 FPS | 95 FPS | 97 FPS |
Source: Tom’s Hardware
