CAD Workstations for SolidWorks - What to buy and why.

It surprises me how many people are willing to invest a fair chunk of money into an expensive piece of software like Solidworks but then skimp on the hardware they run it on. To me it seems crazy, you wouldn't buy a brand spanking new 911 Porsche Turbo and put a cheap set of re-tread tyres on it would you??? Same goes for Solidworks, if you want your software to perform, get some decent hardware to run it on!

That said, Solidworks will run reasonalby well on most modern computers for basic tasks, however, when you start working on some more complex models and assemblies, having a well spec'd workstation can make life a whole lot easier.

I've personally been using Solidworks since 2001 and over the years I've learnt a lot about what aspects of a PC have more effect on the performance of Solidworks more then others. You'd be surprised that investing in the latest and greatest multi core, multi CPU machine may not give you the performance boost you were expecting.

Different aspects of Solidworks require performance from different components of a PC. How and what you use Solidworks for can have a big influence on the type of workstation you will need. Rushing down to your local computer store to buy their top of the line "performance" model could end up being a waste of money.

Researching and specifying a workstation for Solidworks can be a time consuming and confusing process, so we have put together the following article to help you understand what parts of a computer work best for Solidworks. Enjoy

Article: Shedding some light on Hardware for Solidworks