These Storage devices are a step up again from SSD’s and typically much faster, if budget isn’t an issue and you’re looking for the very best possible performance, you may want to consider one of these. This is the very latest standard in data storage and the ones labelled NVMe (rather than SATA) use a different way of interfacing with the computer.
*If you’ve already been doing some research, you may have noticed that some machines are supplied with “M.2” Storage. You can always buy a second mechanical HDD, spinning at 7200RPM (or above) to store your files.
If you can only afford one SSD or M.2 drive, make sure you use it for software installations as this will give you the best bang-for-buck. This ensures models, assemblies etc load and save as quickly as possible. When it comes to choosing the size of your Hard Disk Drive (HDD) for SOLIDWORKS, we recommend starting with at least 256GB and working your way up to the biggest size you can afford.įor maximum performance we recommend that you opt for a primary Solid State Drive (SSD) or M.2* drive to run SOLIDWORKS (and Windows) and a secondary SSD that’s used for storing everything else. Turbo boost can also be turned on to improve the performance of one of the cores. Hyper threading can be turned off in the bios in accordance with the use of the software – this will reduce the number of cores. We generally try to recommend the latest Intel i7 or Xeon processors to our customers so they can handle a large range of features within SOLIDWORKS. If you’re running these features frequently we’d recommend that you consider getting a processor with more cores. Simulations will also use more cores – most efficiently with either two or four cores, but any benefits above this level diminish. Rendering also utilises multiple cores and run effectively with eight or twelve. Some processes in SOLIDWORKS do use multiple cores, such as opening and rebuilding drawings with multiple views. This is why most users will find that it’s more effective to buy faster processors with fewer cores. SOLIDWORKS, however, i s predominantly a single core application – the rebuilding of models is a linear process, because of the design tree within a model. Today’s processors comprise of multiple cores within a single chip. Make sure you take a look at this Nvidia Quadro RTX for SOLIDWORKS Datasheet, too.Īs for onboard graphics card memory, we’d recommend a minimum of 4GB for general use. Running regular,>Check out these Nvidia Quadro benchmarks for SOLIDWORKS for a performance comparison using SOLIDWORKS Visualize and SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD. If a machine runs out of memory the load time for files can increase drastically, due to hard drive caching.Įnsuring the amount of RAM in a machine is sufficient for the typical size of datasets is important. This applies mainly to the size of datasets that need to be loaded when using the software. We’ll also recommended our favourite workstations for running SOLIDWORKS taking budget and performance into consideration, so, without further ado… Memory/RAMĬomplex models and drawings in SOLIDWORKS will require more RAM (Random Access Memory) in order to load effectively.
This guide will show you what to look for whether you’re configuring a new Windows machine from scratch, or buying an off the shelf model from a retailer such as our preferred supplier, Dell.
There are many variables to consider and choosing the right PC for the job can be a very confusing process. Your desktop computer or laptop must meet recommended specification levels to run SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD software effectively. Use this information to ensure you are always working with a SOLIDWORKS-supported and optimized system for hardware, operating system and Microsoft products. These requirements apply to all SOLIDWORKS products except where noted. Provide feedback on this topic SOLIDWORKS welcomes your feedback concerning the presentation, accuracy, and thoroughness of the documentation. Search 'Prerequisites and System Requirements' in the SOLIDWORKS Knowledge Base. These recommendations will vary depending on implementation size. Software Requirements for SOLIDWORKS 2017 SOLIDWORKS Products for Windows Operating Systems SOLIDWORKS 2015 (EDU 2015-2016) SOLIDWORKS 2016 (EDU 2016-2017) SOLIDWORKS 2017 (EDU.The minimum requirement is the recommended minimum to run the software. For a listing of tested and certified graphics cards and driver, combinations visit the SOLIDWORKS System/Graphics Card Requirements Website. Video: A certified OpenGL workstation graphics card and driver. Minimum hardware requirements for SOLIDWORKS 2019: The minimum requirements can be found on the SOLIDWORKS System Requirements website.