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Intel processors have supported OpenCL for a long time now; latest versions (Haswell and above) support OpenCL 2.0 or better. Why don't we have a GPU rendering option when using Blender on these processors?

I have tried the latest test build (2.75) too, which claims to add support for OpenCL, but I do not see GPU option in User Preferences. Do I need to download some add-on for it?

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    $\begingroup$ It's still quite experimental and there are quite a few features still missing. It's only enabled for AMD gpus by default. It's possible to "force" it to work on other opencl devices by setting the environment variable CYCLES_OPENCL_SPLIT_KERNEL_TEST=1. $\endgroup$
    – gandalf3
    Commented Jun 4, 2015 at 8:16
  • $\begingroup$ @gandalf3: Thanks a bunch. Your comment has enough information to be posted as answer. :) $\endgroup$
    – dotNET
    Commented Jun 4, 2015 at 11:48

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As it's still quite experimental and there are quite a few features still missing, it's only enabled for AMD gpus by default. It's possible to "force" it to work on other opencl devices by setting the environment variable CYCLES_OPENCL_SPLIT_KERNEL_TEST=1

Linux

On Linux, run the following in a terminal:

CYCLES_OPENCL_SPLIT_KERNEL_TEST=1 blender

To make this permanent for all versions of blender which have the split kernel feature, put the following in your shell's initialization file (~/.profile or similar)

CYCLES_OPENCL_SPLIT_KERNEL_TEST=1; export CYCLES OPENCL_SPLIT_KERNEL_TEST

See this question for more detail.

Windows

On windows, create a batch file by putting the following in a text file:

set CYCLES_OPENCL_SPLIT_KERNEL_TEST=1
start blender
exit

Rename the file so it has the .bat extension and put it in the same directory as the blender executable (if you installed blender with the installer, in C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender).
Then press RMB RMB on the .bat file and create a shortcut which you can put on your desktop or taskbar for ease of running it later.

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    $\begingroup$ CYCLES_OPENCL_SPLIT_KERNEL_TEST=1 won't do anything... Blender 2.78c downloaded from blender.org running on Ubuntu 17.04 $\endgroup$
    – Tooniis
    Commented Aug 12, 2017 at 20:08

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