CAD Workstations

We are often asked to advise on the best hardware to run SolidWorks and your other CAE applications on. The answer will invariably depend on the type of work your company does, the size and the complexity of the models and drawings which you will create.

One thing, however, is certain. The criteria used when selecting hardware for CAE Applications is different to the criteria used when selecting hardware for gaming or for general 'office' applications to run. This is especially the case when selecting a Graphics Card. There are any number of Graphic Cards released each year but only those designed for Workstations / CAD usage should be considered for a CAD / CAE workstation.

If you choose to purchase a turnkey solution from SOLID Applications Ltd. Then with HP and Dell as our preferred Hardware Platforms we can invariably offer a configuration to suit most budgets. Each product, in either the HP or Dell range, will have a base configuration which can be tailored to suit your individual business requirements.

System Requirements

To view the system requirements for your chosen product, please click the links below or from the menu on the left.

SolidWorks	PDM
SolidWorks Composer	KeyShot
Graphics Cards

32bit or 64bit?

Should I purchase a 32Bit or 64bit platform to run SolidWorks on?
There is a popular misconception that investing in a 64bit platform will make CAD run faster, however in the majority of cases this is simply not true and it could actually have the opposite effect. The limiting factor to CAD performance is invariably RAM. If your system is running out of Physical Memory (RAM) and has to resort to switching to the Page File (Virtual Memory) then you can expect your system to ground to a halt. There is however, a limit to the amount of RAM that your workstation can take, and allocate, to a single application, and this factor may determine whether to consider a 64bit platform.

Refer to the table below to see if 64Bit Windows with 64Bit SolidWorks is suitable for you.

Memory Required	Minimum Hardware	Minimum Software
2 GB	32 Bit Machine	Windows XP Professional
3 GB	32 Bit Machine	Windows XP professional (plus /3GB switch)
4 GB	64 Bit Machine*	Windows XP x64
4 GB ><128GB	64 Bit Machine*	Windows XP x64