SOLIDWORKS Simulation 2026 Hardware Recommendations

SOLIDWORKS 2026 is out, and with it comes a new set of hardware requirements for its products. The system requirements lay out the minimum requirements for the software, but our

The SOLIDWORKS Simulation 2026 hardware recommendations provide best practices and details on specific hardware components. Depending on the complexity of the simulation study and your current system resources, you may want to consider upgrading when you move to SOLIDWORKS 2026.

For general SOLIDWORKS 2026 hardware requirements, read our other article here.

Key Considerations for SOLIDWORKS Simulation 2026

SOLIDWORKS Simulation and SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation carry their own set of technical requirements above what general SOLIDWORKS needs due to their computational complexity. Be aware that more powerful and expensive computers may not solve simulation studies in a practical timeframe if best practices are not observed.

 

There is a general order of importance of hardware when running SOLIDWORKS Simulation studies:

1. CPU Clock Speed: At least 4GHz base speed
2. Number of CPU cores: 8-12 cores is standard
3. SSD Hard Drive: High-capacity NVMe
4. RAM: At least 32GB, upwards of 64GB
5. Graphics Card: SOLIDWORKS-certified workstation-grade

SOLIDWORKS Simulation 2026 Hardware Recommendations

There is more to SOLIDWORKS Simulation performance than just buying the most expensive processor or graphics card. Each computer can be optimized to not only fit your computational needs but also your budget.

Computer Processor (CPU)

All computer components are important to consider, but the CPU is the most important component in terms of speed for running simulation studies. The different workflows in the simulations affect the processor differently, so we don’t expect to have 100% CPU usage at all times. Additionally, much of the CPU utilization is handled by the Windows operating system and may be throttled based on available system resources.

Clock Speed

While the simulation products are more readily using multicore processing, it is still paramount to maximize the CPU clock speed. Having a slow processor, no matter the number of cores, would greatly bottleneck the simulation solvers. You will want to consider a CPU with a clock speed of 4GHz or more for the best performance.

Be aware that “Boost” or “Turbo” speeds represent the max speed that can be hit, but not sustained. It may not reach these speeds in all scenarios or for an extended period of time, and needs to remain within the specified limits for workload, temperature, and power.

Processor Cores

SOLIDWORKS Simulation and Flow Simulation do take advantage of multiple CPUs and cores. However, don’t expect doubling the number of cores will cut your solution time in half.

Certain operations are inherently linear and therefore cannot take advantage of multiple cores. Although there is no upper limit set by the software, the participation of multiple cores depends on a variety of factors. Many heavy SOLIDWORKS Simulation users choose 8-12 total cores, but often go upwards for 24 cores for maximized performance.

Hyperthreading

Hyperthreading can be misleading. A system may show 4 cores with 8 logical processors, which indicates this is a quad-core machine with hyperthreading enabled.

Each core is divided into two virtual cores, with each virtual core having only half the bandwidth and power. While performance is not degraded with hyperthreading enabled, we can’t expect the additional virtual cores to improve performance.

Computer Storage

SOLIDWORKS Simulation and Flow Simulation create a large amount of data.  All of this data has been written to storage drives while the study is running. Having a high-performance CPU does not define how fast the calculated information is being saved. Therefore, storage drives are a key performance aspect of a system.

Solid-state Drives vs Traditional Hard Drives

A solid-state drive (SSD) is significantly faster at read/write commands compared to standard hard drives. It is common to see a computer with two drives: an SSD for the operating system and program installation, with a standard hard drive for bulk storage.

These days, large SSDs have come down significantly in price and are much more affordable. For best performance, SOLIDWORKS parts and assemblies should reside on an SSD with the simulation results while solving.

Read/Write Speed

Use an SSD drive with a read/write of at least 500MB/s if possible. The temporary result files for SOLIDWORKS Simulation products can be much larger in size while solving compared to the final result file.

Available Space

Ensure you have at least 100GB of free space, as the temporary results can grow to many GBs in size for large and/or complex studies.

Hard Drive Connection Type

Consider investing in an NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) SSD drive for additional performance. The NVMe interface was designed for SSD storage and looks more like a memory chip.

Standard SSDs have a matching form factor to traditional hard drives, so they could connect with the CPU using the legacy SATA interface. NVMe drives are connected to the CPU with a high-speed PCIe socket.

Consider the various possible speeds with each connection type:

• 125 MB/s – Network connection with a Gigabit switch, assuming all other cables/switches/ethernet cards match and absolutely no other network traffic
• 220 MB/s – Local SATA HDD
• 550 MB/s – Local SATA SSD
• 3000 MB/s – Local NVMe SSD

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Adding additional memory won’t necessarily speed up your studies. However, without enough RAM, you may start running out of physical memory during the solution process, at which point virtual memory is required.

Recommended RAM

Typically, 32GB of RAM is sufficient for most basic studies. If you are a heavy SOLIDWORKS Simulation user running complex studies, 64GB of RAM or more is recommended.

If you expect to get into larger projects at some point, consider installing additional memory. Error correcting-code memory (ECC) can also be beneficial for stability and may be required for motherboards that support Intel Xeon processors.

Virtual Memory

Virtual memory temporarily stores information on local hard drives rather than the RAM chip. Even solid-state drives (SSDs) are significantly slower at saving data compared to RAM chips. Also, have enough overhead RAM to avoid leaning into virtual memory.

Simulation Solver Considerations

Depending on the size or complexity of the study and which solver is being used, more memory may be required. For example, the Direct Sparse solver in SOLIDWORKS Simulation uses roughly 5GB of RAM per 1 million DOFs (degrees of freedom). Direct Sparse and Intel Direct Sparse require significantly more RAM than the FFEPlus solver.

Best practices should be taken to reduce the DOFs as much as possible for faster solve times and to minimize the amount of memory required. This can be done through mesh controls, symmetry, or other study tools.

Graphics Cards (GPU)

While the graphics card does not improve the overall calculation time to solve the study, it does affect the time it takes to view the results. Having an old graphics card installed with an out-of-date driver will cause slow performance and issues when trying to view the plots, especially animations.

Be sure to have a SOLIDWORKS-certified graphics card and install the certified driver. Failing to do so can cause software instability alongside slower performance.

Does your System Meet the Hardware Recommendations?

To verify your system meets the hardware recommendations for the SOLIDWORKS Simulation products, use the SOLIDWORKS Rx tool or Windows System Information. In each of these, you can see the installed system hardware. If not, either build or buy a machine that does.

However, hardware might not be the only bottleneck in your engineering workflow. Sometimes knowing techniques to avoid consuming system resources is more valuable than throwing expensive computer components at the issue. Training from a certified instructor can teach you the key workflows to keep your simulations running smoothly.

To register for an upcoming SOLIDWORKS Simulation training class, click here.