OptiX issue in Blender 2.9 timing out

Another solution to Optix kernel crashing problem in Blender?

This is a buggy OptiX issue I have been having on Blender even though I do have an RTX 2070 and have updated to the latest Nvidia drivers and even tested on various Blender versions. What happens when I switch Denoising on OptiX it keeps giving me Loading render kernels (may take a few minutes the first time) eventually it crashes. After spending hours figuring this out, my be way around it is not have the OptiX on but rather switch to OpenImageDenoise on Viewport setting when you load Blender or before you do any rendering.

1. Load Blender, before selecting Viewport Shading to Cycles, go to Render Properties Tab.

2. Expand the Denoising tab if it is collapsed. Before checking on Render and Viewport field if it says Automatic (default) or OptiX switch this to OpenImage Denoise.

3. For the Render field choose either NLM or OpenImageDenoise. Both of these option works for me.

4. Now you can select the Viewport Shading to Cycles and fingers cross it won’t crash. You can also save this in your start up preference. File > Defaults > Save Startup File.

My PC setup if it helps anyone
OS: Windows 10 Pro
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9
GPU: Nvidia Gigabyte RTX 2070
RAM: 64GB

I couldn’t find a proper fix online anyhow, hope this alternative solution helps anyone out there scratching their head like me.

This Blender Guide on Design Sync offers quick tips and tricks for moments when your stuck or need to learn something really fast to get moving. Cater for beginners or people like me who have problem remembering everything inside Blender. Also design for people coming from other 3D software platform such as Maya, Max, Cinema 4D, or Houdini.