I’m trying to figure out where Vulkan shaders are actually saved — is it inside Steam’s own shadercache folder? Also, I’m planning to switch from a GTX 1650 to a Radeon 7800 XT soon, and I wonder if I should wipe out the current shader cache or if it’ll automatically rebuild for the new hardware. Plus, I’m using a dedicated SSD for my Steam library and I’m curious if I can reuse that setup after reinstalling Linux.
3 Answers
When it comes to storage, Steam saves its compiled shaders right in the game library folder, specifically under a subfolder like ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/shadercache/$APPID. There’s also a typical path for AMD users, like ~/.cache/mesa_shader_cache_db, but Steam tends to override that so they stick to their own directory. On Linux, redirecting these paths can be a bit of a hassle though.
I tried tweaking mine once and it never quite set right. Steam’s default folder is the safest bet.
Good news is you don’t need to wipe your shader cache before changing GPUs. The system will detect that the cached shaders aren’t matching your new hardware and rebuild them on its own. And if you’re reinstalling Linux, you can keep using your dedicated Steam library SSD without too many headaches—just be aware that there might be some hiccups the first time as shaders load up. If your GPU drivers are current, you might even consider turning off shader pre-caching to avoid redundant builds.
Exactly, I left my cache intact after a GPU change and it updated seamlessly. The initial lag is worth it for a hassle-free experience.
Vulkan shaders are built with your specific GPU in mind. They get compiled into instructions tailored for your graphics card’s architecture – so if you swap out your GPU, the shaders will essentially need to be recompiled. This isn’t just about the hardware, either; updates to drivers or the game itself might trigger a rebuild as well.
Totally! I’ve seen shader recompilations happen after a simple driver update, so no need to manually clear things out when changing GPUs.
Yeah, managing file paths on Linux can be tricky. The default setup usually works best unless you’re up for a deep dive into configuration.