Steam Deck shader cache file sizes will be more than halved in the future

Valve’s Steam Deck is getting an update that reduces shader cache file sizes by up to 60 percent. Mesa, the video driver used in the Steam Deck, gets a new Vulkan pipeline that is more efficient with the cache.

The update of the Mesa driver reduces the size of disk caches by about 60 percent with a single file, writes, among other things Phoronix. For shader caches that consist of more files, almost nothing changes.

Valve also uses single-file disk caches with the Steam Deck. This improves performance while gaming and prevents stuttering. The disadvantage of single-file disk caches is that they take up a significant amount of storage space. For larger games this can amount to several gigabytes, but this will certainly be a godsend for users of the 64GB variant. You can also expand storage space with an SD card or compatible SSD.

The final version of the Mesa 23.1 driver will be expected early May. Valve is expected to implement it in SteamOS afterward. The company regularly updates its handheld PC. In the future, Valve will also add the Update the Deck’s underlying Linux kernelwhich should bring several advantages.