Recommendations for SOLIDWORKS 2020 Hardware

Processor:

• Process in SOLIDWORKScan only use a single core because of inherently linear parent/child relationship features. Performance can be increased by having a faster clock speed of the CPU.•
• Products such as SOLIDWORKS Simulation and PhotoView 360 can take advantage of multi-threading function to share the workload over multiple processor cores. Having more processor cores can improve performance.
• Practice minimizing in-context references, utilizing large assembly modes and other performance tools will reduce the load on the processor. Large Assembly Service can dramatically improve your productivity by improving performance of assemblies through different techniques.

Memory (RAM)

The minimum requirement of RAM is at least 16GB. For larger models and simulation studies may require more memory. For growing models, consider 32GB installed.

SATA /SSD Hard Drive

For best performance, a Solid-State Drive (SSD) provide up to 10x faster performance for open/save tasks.
Opening files from a local SSD drive up to 100x fastercompared to opening from a standard disk drive on a network server. Assemblies take longer to open over a network because of file path.
Keep at least 20GB or 10% of your hard drive capacity as free spacefor Windows to run effectively.
Consider using faster interfaceNVMe/PCIe SSDs for performances but are more expensive.
Using RAID storage (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) to improve performance and security also possible.

What type of Graphics Card is recommended for SOLIDWORKS 2020?

The NVIDIA Quadro, AMD FirePro or AMD Radeon Pro series are certified graphics cards for SOLIDWORKS. A graphics card with hardware OpenGL acceleration will provide superior performance and stability, especially in 3D model viewing such as refresh, rotate, zoom, pan.
The NVIDIA Quadro P, GP, GV and RTX series are the latest.
The AMD Radeon Pro WX series is the latest release.
For SOLIDWORKS Visualize users, renderings depend the GPU directly. ONLY

SOLIDWORKS Visualize 2020 supports AMD Radeon Pro graphics cards.

A full list of certified graphics cards and its associated certified driver for each SOLIDWORKS version can be found on the SOLIDWORKS Graphics Card Drivers page. Certified drivers will only be provided for the latest three major releases of SOLIDWORKS.

Why gaming cards Graphics cards are not suitable for SOILDWORKS?

Graphics cards designed for desktop gamingsuch as NVIDIA GeForce or AMD Radeon cards do NOT offer maximum performance or stability for SOLIDWORKS. Because these cards are optimized for a low number of polygons displayed on the screen, but at a high frame rate. CAD applications have the opposite requirement, where polygon count is high based on the detail in your design model, but the image does not change rapidly so high frame rates are not as critical. Using a certified graphics card and driver combo will yield the most stable platform for running SOLIDWORKS.

Do Dual Graphics Benefits SOILDWORKS?

The use of two physical graphics cards is not recommended for SOLIDWORKS. SOLIDWORKS does not take advantage of the second card.

What versions of Microsoft Office are compatible with SOLIDWORKS 2020?

SOLIDWORKS has the capability of using Microsoft Excel to create BOMs, Design Tables, and more. .
SOLIDWORKS 2020 is compatible with Microsoft Office 2013, 2016 and 2019.

Should I store my files locally on my computer or on a network drive?

For maximum performance and stability, files should be worked on locally. Files opened and saved directly over a network connection will always be slower than a local drive and increases the chance of file corruption. Data management products such as SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard or SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional automatically manage the movement of files from network servers to local disk drives to ensure maximum performance and stability. This is one of the many key benefits of a data management system.

Operating System for SOLIDWORKS 2020

• Windows 7 SP1, 64-bit
• Windows 10, 64-bit

• Note: Windows Home editions are not supported
• Note: Windows 8.1 support ended with SOLIDWORKS 2018 SP5
• *IMPORTANT: Windows 7 will end support with SOLIDWORKS 2020 SP5

eDrawings and eDrawings Professional 2020 are supported on all operating systems listed above as well as macOS 10.13 or higher.

What are the hardware recommendations for SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020?

Global Nettech recommendusing a dedicated server for running the SOLIDWORKS PDM vault. Besides allowing for maximum performance for the CAD users, using a dedicated server provides version/revision control, workflow process management and custom property management.

Recommendations tech Spec for SOLIDWORKS 2020

• Processor: 3 GHz or higher clock speed
• Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit
• Memory: 32GB (16GB minimum)
• Hard Drive: Solid State Drive (SSD), maintaining at least 20GB free space
• Graphics Card:
o Standard assemblies: NVIDIA Quadro P1000 or AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100
o Large assemblies with simple parts: NVIDIA Quadro P2000 or AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100
o Large assemblies with complex parts: NVIDIA Quadro P4000/5000 or AMD Radeon Pro WX 8200/9100
o SOLIDWORKS Visualize 2020: NVIDIA Quadro P4000/5000 or AMD Radeon Pro WX 8200/9100
• File Storage: SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard or SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional