SOLIDWORKS 2023 Hardware Requirements

This article is designed to assist businesses in selecting the most suitable hardware components that will provide a seamless and productive design experience.

With SOLIDWORKS 2023, businesses have access to an unparalleled CAD software that empowers them to transform their innovative ideas into reality. However, to fully capitalize on the capabilities of SOLIDWORKS 2023, it's essential to pair it with a high-performance workstation capable of meeting its demanding requirements. 

That's why we've curated the SOLIDWORKS 2023 Ultimate PC Specification Guide. By following the recommendations outlined in this guide, businesses can unlock the full potential of SOLIDWORKS 2023, enabling them to unleash their design prowess and achieve new heights of productivity.

General SOLIDWORKS Usage 

Simulation Specific Considerations

CPU

The CPU is crucial for running Simulation studies, with CPU Clock Speed being of utmost importance. Certain Simulation processes can only use a single CPU core, making Clock Speed the limiting factor. It's recommended to aim for a CPU clock speed close to 4GHz. However, "Boost" or "Turbo" speeds represent maximum achievable speeds that may not be sustained in all scenarios. The CPU must adhere to workload, temperature, and power limits.

SOLIDWORKS Simulation and Flow Simulation can utilize multiple CPUs and cores, but doubling the number of cores won't halve solution time. Certain operations cannot effectively utilize multiple cores. Power users typically prefer CPUs with 4 to 12 cores, although 8 cores show optimal performance scalability. Single CPUs with the same core count may slightly outperform split cores across multiple CPUs. Hyperthreading can be misleading, with each core divided into two "virtual" cores operating at half the bandwidth and power. Enabling hyperthreading doesn't significantly enhance performance.

RAM

Adding more memory may not necessarily increase the speed of your studies, but having insufficient RAM can lead to running out of physical memory during the solution process, requiring the use of virtual memory stored on hard drives. However, it's important to note that even solid-state drives (SSDs) are much slower at saving data compared to RAM chips. For most basic studies, 64GB of RAM is typically enough, but heavy Simulation users are recommended to have 128GB. The amount of memory required may vary depending on the study size/complexity and the solver being used. The Direct Sparse solver in SOLIDWORKS Simulation uses approximately 5GB of RAM per 1 million degrees of freedom (DOFs). To improve solve times and minimize memory usage, it is advised to reduce DOFs through techniques like mesh controls and symmetry. While adding RAM to all memory slots can enhance performance, it reduces upgradability, so it's important to plan for current and future needs, especially if larger projects are expected in the future.

SOLIDWORKS Visualize Considerations

Graphics Card

The Quadro series provides professional-grade performance and reliability, making it an ideal choice for rendering and visualization tasks. In particular, the ample VRAM (Video RAM) available on Quadro cards allows for handling complex and high-resolution models and scenes more efficiently. SOLIDWORKS Visualize recommends a minimum of 4GB VRAM for standard projects, while larger and more demanding projects benefit from 8GB or more. The Quadro graphics card's optimized drivers and robust support for OpenGL ensure smooth and accurate rendering, enabling users to achieve high-quality visualizations and realistic presentations within SOLIDWORKS Visualize.

For a more in-depth look at recommended PC Specs, please refer to the following articles:

https://faq.mecad.co.za/knowledge/what-cpu-do-i-need-for-solidworks

https://faq.mecad.co.za/knowledge/what-gpu-solidworks

Date:19/06/2023