Your laptop or desktop must meet the recommended specifications in order to operate SOLIDWORKS 3DCAD successfully. There are a lot of factors to take into consideration and selecting the best computer to do the job is an extremely confusing task.
This guide will help you understand the things to look for if you’re configuring a brand-new Windows machine from scratch or buying an off-the-shelf model from a store like our preferred vendor, Dell. We’ll also suggest our top workstations that run SOLIDWORKS while considering budget and performance consideration. Without any further delay…
Memory/RAM
Drawings and models that are complex drawn in SOLIDWORKS need more RAM (Random Access Memory) in order to load them efficiently. This is particularly true of the size of the datasets that must be loaded making use of the program. When a machine is running out of memory, the loading time for files could get significantly longer because of caching on hard drives.
ensuring that the RAM on a machine is adequate for the typical size of data sets is essential. The use of regular, large-scale data Simulations for instance, can increase the requirement for RAM due to the fact that large amounts of data are required to be loaded in order to run computations.
Minimum recommended amount of RAM by SOLIDWORKS 16GB is the minimum recommended RAM by SOLIDWORKS.
Our suggestion to run SOLIDWORKS easily 32GB
If you’re running Simulations or dealing with large databases We suggest at minimum 64GB
Graphics Card/GPU
The best computer for SolidWorks requires an experienced, fully-certified graphics card that runs the OpenGL engine to function properly (e.g. Nvidia Quadro/RTX or AMD RadeonPro). AMD RadeonPro). SOLIDWORKS has been reported to work with “gaming” graphic cards that utilize DirectX (such like the AMD Radeon and the Nvidia Geforce range of cards) However users can encounter frequent glitches in graphics and the features of the software such as Realview Graphics won’t function correctly in all cases, if they even function they do not function properly.
If you are working with visually intricate model (such as models that have large patterns or a lot of texture) SOLIDWORKS will require a graphics card that has a significant amount of memory onboard. A quality graphics card is among the most essential elements to running SOLIDWORKS efficiently, but it is essential to ensure that there’s a good combination of Graphics Card as well as CPU. A premium graphics card won’t be able to perform efficiently when paired with a low-end CPU.
It’s also crucial to ensure that it’s a must to ensure that the Graphics driver program is functioning to work with SOLIDWORKS. It is possible to check this using the launcher of SOLIDWORKS RX from the start menu and then going to the Diagnostics tab. Diagnostics results will reveal whether the driver is out of current. The button will enable the downloading of a supported driver, if one is available. SOLIDWORKS performs its own tests for graphics cards without a certified driver can result in graphical glitches within the program.
If you’re using Visualize with SOLIDWORKS frequently, you might want to look into an Nvidia “Pascal” Series graphic card, or one that is newer (look for models that begin with the letters P/T/RTX). It is possible to benefit from this feature called the Visualize Denoiser, which can provide up to 10X more performance.
If you’re working using Large Assemblies, SOLIDWORKS can utilize your graphics card to greater extent. Thanks to Enhanced Graphics Performance, more of the calculations for graphics are now handled by the graphics card, which means the manipulation of views is now faster. However, this depends on having an SOLIDWORKS approved driver and graphics card.
Processor/CPU
The modern processors are comprised of several cores in the same chip. SOLIDWORKS however, is mostly one core program which means that the process of rebuilding model is an asynchronous procedure due to the design tree that is part of models. This is why the majority of users will discover that it’s more efficient to invest in more powerful processors that have smaller cores.
Some of the processes within SOLIDWORKS make use of multiple cores. For instance, building and opening drawing that have multiple views. Rendering can also use multiple cores and can be run efficiently using eight or twelve. Simulations can also make use of more cores. They work best when you have 4 or 2 cores however, any advantages above the threshold will be diminished. If you’re using these features often, you should think about getting a processor with more cores.
We usually attempt to recommend the most current Intel i7 or Xeon processors to our customers to ensure they are able to handle a wide variety of features in SOLIDWORKS. Hyper threading is able to be disabled within the bios according to the usage of software. This will decrease how many cores are available. Turbo boost is also enabled to enhance the performance of a core.
Storage (HDD/SSD)
When you are deciding on how big the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) for SolidWorks, we suggest starting with at minimum the size of 256GB, and then working your way to the largest capacity you are able to afford.
For the best performance, we suggest that you choose an initial Solid State Drive (SSD) or M.2* drive for running SolidWorks (and Windows) and a second SSD that is used to store all other data. This will ensure that models as well as assemblies load and save as fast as is possible.
If you’re able to only afford just one SSD or M.2 drive, ensure you utilize it for installation of software since it gives you the most value. It is possible to purchase another mechanical HDD that is spinning at 7200 RPM (or more than) to keep your data.
If you’ve already done some investigation, you may be aware that some computers come by “M.2″ storage. It is the most current standard for data storage, and those marked”NVMe” (rather rather than SATA) employ an entirely different method of communicating to the computer. These storage devices are a step forward from SSD’s, and generally more efficient, and you’ll find that the majority of modern workstations come with NVMe as normal.
Operating system
With the introduction of Windows 11, you may be tempted to try the Windows 11 operating system with you SOLIDWORKS PC. But, as when this article was written (8th of March, 2022), SOLIDWORKS is not currently supported by Microsoft. SOLIDWORKS will support Windows 11 will likely be added along with SOLIDWORKS 2022’s SP2. Expected to release around April. If you’re thinking of installing Windows 11, we would suggest waiting till after this update is released.
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