Menu

SOLIDWORKS Workstations

SOLID Applications are able to supply Desktop Workstations and Mobile Workstations as a solution to run SOLIDWORKS. We are able to provide the best possible prices for this class of machines.

We are able to supply various specifications of mobile (laptop) workstations and desktop workstations, new from both HP and Dell. We are also able to supply machines from the HP Renew program. HP Renew products go through an extensive process of refurbishing and come with the same original base warranty as the equivalent new products. These products come from various sources, for example, from channel returns, cancelled orders or end of life excess. On rare occasions, minor cosmetic defects may be present, but these will not effect machine performance. A key benefit to HP Renew, is these products can be significantly cheaper than a new equivalent. 

Below we have listed some specifications as guidance, to the types of specifications we would recommend.*

Laptops / Mobile Workstations

COMPONENT LOW END ENTRY LEVEL MID RANGE HIGH END
PROCESSOR

Intel i7 9850H
(6 core, 12 thread, 2.6GHz Turbos to 4.6GHz)

Intel i7 9850H
(6 core, 12 thread, 2.6GHz Turbos to 4.6GHz)

Intel i7 9850H
(6 core, 12 thread, 2.6GHz Turbos to 4.6GHz)

Intel i7 9850H
(6 core, 12 thread, 2.6GHz Turbos to 4.6GHz)

RAM 16GB 32GB 32GB 32GB or 64GB
HDD 1 512GB SSD 512GB SSD 512GB SSD 512GB SSD or 1TB SSD
HDD 2 1TB (Optional) 1TB (Optional) 1TB (Optional) 1TB (Optional)
GRAPHICS CARD nVidia Quadro T2000 (4GB) nVidia Quadro T2000 (4GB) nVidia Quadro RTX3000 (6GB) nVidia Quadro RTX4000 (8GB)
SCREEN SIZE 15" 15" 17" 17"
SCREEN RESOLUTION 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) 1920 x 1080 (Full HD)
OPERATING SYSTEM Windows 10 Professional 64-bit Windows 10 Professional 64-bit Windows 10 Professional 64-bit Windows 10 Professional 64-bit

Desktop Workstations

COMPONENT ENTRY LEVEL MID RANGE HIGH END
PROCESSOR

Intel i7 9700K
(8 core, 16 thread, 3.6GHz Turbos to 4.9GHz)

Intel i7 9700K
(8 core, 16 thread, 3.6GHz Turbos to 4.9GHz)

Intel i9 9900K
(8 core, 16 thread, 3.6GHz Turbos to 5.0GHz)

RAM 16GB 32GB 32GB OR 64GB
HDD 1 512GB SSD 512GB SSD 512GB SSD or 1TB SSD
HDD 2 1TB (Optional) 1TB (Optional) 1TB (Optional)
GRAPHICS CARD nVidia Quadro P2200 (5GB) nVidia Quadro RTX4000 (8GB) nVidia Quadro RTX5000 (16GB)
SCREEN User preference User preference User preference
OPERATING SYSTEM Windows 10 Professional 64-bit Windows 10 Professional 64-bit Windows 10 Professional 64-bit

Keywords

PROCESSOR: This is the component that performs the majority of SOLIDWORKS calculations, sometimes referred to as a CPU. The speed of the processor is referred to in GHz, meaning the more GHz a processor has the better. Also look for the "Turbo" GHz speed, as this is the maximum speed at which a processor can perform tasks, over the standard "base" speed. We recommend the use of Intel i7 and Intel Xeon processors. The key benefit with an Intel Xeon processor, is it supports the use of ECC RAM, or Error Correcting Code RAM. This RAM is designed to correct any hardware errors when processing large amounts of data. 

RAM: More commonly known as memory, RAM is used when software, documents or files are loaded on your computer. The minimum recommended RAM for SOLIDWORKS is 16GB, therefore we would not suggest the use of anything less than this. However you need to ensure that your computer has enough RAM to cope with all the software that you may need to run at a given time, including any files or specifically SOLIDWORKS models you may need to open. If your models are particularly large, your computer may need more RAM than you may have initially thought.

HDD: Or Hard Disk Drive is used to store your saved data and installed programs. We recommend the use of SSD type drives, or Solid State Drives. These hard drives offer significant improvements in performance over traditional hard drives and are best used as your primary hard drive, where Windows® and SOLIDWORKS are installed. We also recommend having a secondary storage hard drive in any computer. This is usually a slower performing hard drive to an SSD, but is ideal for storing large datasets.

OPERATING SYSTEM: SOLIDWORKS software will only install on 64-bit versions of Windows Professional or Enterprise. We recommend the use of Windows 10 Professional 64-bit. SOLIDWORKS will install on Windows 7 64-bit Professional and Enterprise, but SOLIDWORKS have stated that SOLIDWORKS 2020 SP5 will be the final version to install on Windows 7.  Windows 8 and 8.1 are not supported for any version of SOLIDWORKS from SOLIDWORKS 2018.

GRAPHICS CARD: Probably one of the most important components of a SOLIDWORKS workstation. On-board Intel HD graphics cards and consumer gaming graphics cards, such as nVidia GeForce cards are not supported with SOLIDWORKS. Only workstation class graphics cards are supported for use with SOLIDWORKS. We only recommend the use of graphics cards from the nVidia Quadro range. nVidia Quadro graphics cards with 4GB or more of RAM are also the only cards supported for use with SOLIDWORKS Visualize when using CPU and Graphics Card rendering. SOLIDWORKS Visualize is included when you have subscription on SOLIDWORKS Professional or Premium. You can check to see if your graphics card is supported here http://www.solidworks.co.uk/sw/support/videocardtesting.html. As with RAM, if your models are particularly large, you may need a higher spec graphics card with more on-board RAM.

MONITOR / SCREEN: We recommend using a screen with a minimum resolution of 1920 x 1080. Minimum screen sizes of 15" in a laptop or 22" for a desktop monitor would be preferable. SOLIDWORKS 2018 and greater do support the use of 4K or Ultra HD (UHD) resolutions, but this would be best utilized on larger screens such as 27" or more.

If you are unable to find a specification of Mobile or Tower Workstation that suits your requirements, please get in touch with us or call us on 0121 544 1400. We are able to offer different processor, memory, hard drive or graphics card options to suit your needs (depending on compatibility).

All of the above graphics cards have been tested and certified by SOLIDWORKS, to work with SOLIDWORKS and the relevant operating systems. Please see http://www.solidworks.co.uk/sw/support/videocardtesting.html for more information.

Specifications are correct at date of publication but subject to availability or change without notice.

Ultrabook, Celeron, Celeron Inside, Core Inside, Intel, Intel Logo, Intel Atom, Intel Atom Inside, Intel Core, Intel Inside, Intel Inside Logo, Intel vPro, Itanium, Itanium Inside, Pentium, Pentium Inside, vPro Inside, Xeon, Xeon Phi, and Xeon Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

NVIDIA and Quadro are registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation.

* Actual specification of any machine supplied may be different to that shown above, as this information is intended as a guide. However should we quote for any workstations, we will fully detail the specification of any workstation or laptop.

Stay Connected

Go to top