The engine compiles small GPU programs (shaders) for your specific hardware the first time it runs. That compile used to happen on every load, which meant waiting a minute or more each time.

Those compiled shaders are now written to disk and reused. So:

• First ever load on this machine: a few seconds of compiling.
• Every load after: near-instant, including different models and after a reboot.

If your first load is still slow every single time, that's worth reporting — it usually means the cache directory isn't writable.

How long does a load take on your setup, cold vs. warm?