SolidWorks Compatible Hardware FAQs

SOLIDWORKS 2015 SP5.0 or any version of SOLIDWORKS 2016

There could be a number of causes but the most likely is that your computer’s graphics card needs a driver update.

The latest drivers for your hardware can be found here.

For typical SOLIDWORKS users, 4 core processors offer the best value for money. The cost of 6 or more cores can only be justified for FEA or CPU Rendering use.

SOLIDWORKS is generally considered a “single threaded” application as it is a “history based modeller”. It can only calculate each feature after the preceding feature has been calculated. This leaves little opportunity to utilize multiple cores. CPU based rendering is a “multi-threaded” application and can make use of all the cores, so if you are doing a lot of rendering the more cores you have the faster your renders will be done. FEA and CFD make better use of extra cores and a reasonable case can be made for 6 cores for intensive FEA and CFD. If you are rendering the more cores the better.

At Solid Solutions we recommend running a Dell Machine along with windows 7 upwards (holding off on the windows 10 until the bugs are fixed). We re-sell Dell products and machines on the basis that we are aware of their capabilities and stability to run alongside SOLIDWORKS, therefore limiting technical errors or issues. Please visit our hardware advice page for a list of the Dell products we recommend and can set up for you.

In order to get the best results from your SOLIDWORKS you need to have a supported graphics card. We recommend NVIDIA QUADRO 2000 & upwards.

Before making any changes to your hardware or operating system you should first transfer your license from the machine. Transferring the license will deactivate the license on this machine in order for you to activate it on an upgraded or new computer at your convenience.