The loader cannot talk to the hardware directly. It relies on ICDs provided by hardware vendors (e.g., nvoglv64.dll for NVIDIA or amdvlk64.dll for AMD).
If you don’t play any modern PC games or use 3D modeling/rendering software (like Blender or CAD tools), removing it won’t harm your operating system. But if you later install a new game, it will likely reinstall itself anyway. vulkan runtime
: Vulkan is built to spread its workload across multiple CPU cores, which prevents a single core from getting overwhelmed during intense gaming sessions. The loader cannot talk to the hardware directly
Often, when users see "Vulkan Runtime Libraries" in their installed programs list (particularly on Windows via the Vulkan Runtime Installer), it refers to the official implementation maintained by LunarG. This package ensures the system has the correct loader and configuration files to support Vulkan apps. But if you later install a new game,
A unique feature of the Vulkan Runtime is its architecture of "Layers." These are optional libraries that sit between the application and the driver, intercepting commands.