SOLIDWORKS PC Workstations

This carries out the majority of calculations within SOLIDWORKS; the most common limiting factor is the speed in GHz of the CPU, the faster (GHz) the better. Although note that on modern CPU’s with higher core counts the base speed may be quite low especially for laptops.

Look for the maximum “Turbo Boost” speed as the best guide of performance for most SOLIDWORKS tasks. For SOLIDWORKS parts and assemblies typically 1-2 cores are fully utilized.

This is as many features need the previous one to be rebuilt before the next task can be carried out, they cannot be done in parallel. There are however some tasks that can take advantage of more cores such as drawings with many views many simulation types.

i5, i7,i9 VS Xeon - in the past the main advantage of Xeon CPUs was support for error correcting code (ECC) RAM which can correct for random hardware errors, helping to improve reliability in critical applications. Intel no longer offer these instead supporting ECC memory on select 12th generation and newer i5/i7/i9 CPU’s.

Intel’s 12th/13th generation core CPU’s generation CPU’s currently used in most workstations still have the lead in for CAD and CAE workloads with a blend of highest single threaded performance and up to 24 cores for multi-threaded workloads.

When a document is opened in SOLIDWORKS it is loaded into RAM, you need enough so that Windows does not resort to using the hard disc (virtual memory). Adding More RAM will not improve performance unless you are running out.

We recommend 32GB for core most core CAD work and 64GB for complex designs and CAE workloads such as Simulation, Visualization.

Error Code Correcting (ECC) RAM is also recommended for these long running tasks where it reduces the chance of a crash or error due to random flipped bits and other environmental factors.

The graphics card is fundamental to your productivity. It assists the processor accelerated operations such as zooming and rotating. On-board Intel HD graphics, and cards such as GeForce and Radeon (non-Pro) are consumer level cards which are not supported. Using these can lead to poor performance and stability. This is your productivity so you should not underestimate the potential hidden costs of having an unsupported setup.

For many years we have use and recommended the NVIDIA Quadro range as being the professional cards used in CAD workstations.

This branding was retired with the release of NVIDIAS Ampere generation cards e.g., RTX A2000, A3000, A4000 etc. The latest Ada Lovelace generation released in 2023 lose a prefix but gain a suffix! Lookout for RTX XXXX “Ada Generation” cards, e.g. RTX 2000 Ada Generation, or abbreviated to RTX 3500 Ada Gen.

Solid State Drives (SSD) offer a significant performance upgrade and are recommended to at least be used for your operating system and programs if budget allows. Try to allow for 25-50% free for best performance.

If buying a new monitor we recommend resolution of 1920x1080 at a minimum size of 15.6 inches for laptops or 24 inches for desktops. or 27 Inch and 32 inch at QHD resolutions (2560x1440).

4K+ screen resolutions are better supported by SOLIDWORKS 2020 onwards however we do not recommend on screens below 27 inches in size and certainly do not currently recommend these in laptops and would advise checking all applications compatibility with these screens before purchasing.