This document covers SOLIDWORKS system requirements and current recommendations for hardware to run SOLIDWORKS products.
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Spending more money on a workstation doesn't guarantee you'll get the most out of your investment. With hundreds of options and endless configurations available, how do you know what's best for your specific needs? Get rid of the guesswork with these pre-configured solutions selected from experts from SOLIDWORKS, Dell, and GoEngineer.
For the professional using SOLIDWORKS Professional who works on light to moderately complex part design and light to medium sized assemblies, creates detailed drawings, schematic diagrams, BOMs and occasional visualization desiring maximum mobility.
For the professional who works on light to moderately complex part design and light to medium sized assemblies, creates detailed drawings, schematic diagrams, and BOMs.
For professionals using SOLIDWORKS Premium for complex part design, assemblies, detailed drawings, simulations, and a balance of mobility and performance.
For the professional who works on moderately complex part design and medium sized assemblies, creates detailed drawings, schematic diagrams, and BOMs, and runs complex Finite Element and Kinematic Analyses.
For the professional, using SolidWorks Premium who works on complex part design and large assemblies, creates detailed drawings, schematic diagrams, BOMs complex simulation and visualization using SolidWorks Visualize including VR.
For the professional who works on complex part design and light to large size assemblies, creates detailed drawings, schematic diagrams, and BOMs, and runs complex Finite Element and Kinematic Analyses.
*GoEngineer’s recommendations are based on our internal tech support team and are not affiliated with Dell. The link provided won’t have these customizations pre-selected, so be sure to manually configure your system to meet our specifications.
A recommended OpenGL workstation graphics card and driver.
For a listing of recommended graphics cards and driver combinations visit the SOLIDWORKS System/Graphics Card Requirements Website.
https://www.solidworks.com/
Intel® or AMD® with SSE2 support. A 64-bit operating system required.
SOLIDWORKS can be made to run on Apple Mac® based machines running under Parallels or BootCamp. It is not a recommended hardware configuration.
http://www.solidworks.com/
NOTE: Non-server products are only supported in the Parallels environment.
eDrawings® is supported on Apple Macintosh®-based machines.
Mouse or another pointing device.
DVD drive or broadband internet connection
Microsoft Excel 2016, or 2019
Internet Explorer version 11 or Microsoft Edge
Anti-Virus (http://www.solidworks.com/
SOLIDWORKS is tested only with Microsoft’s Windows Networking and Active Directory network environments.
Novell networks and non-Windows based network storage devices are not supported.
Window 10® (SOLIDWORKS 2015 SP5+) Note: Windows Home, Small Business, and To Go editions are not supported.
Windows 10®
Windows Server 2016®, 2019®
Virtual servers are supported for SNL only for the ones listed here (http://www.solidworks.com/
The system requirements for PDM can be found here, https://www.solidworks.com/
http://www.solidworks.com/
A recommended OpenGL workstation graphics card and driver.
For a listing of recommended graphics cards and driver combinations visit the SOLIDWORKS System/Graphics Card Requirements Website.
https://www.solidworks.com/
Intel® or AMD® with SSE2 support. A 64-bit operating system required.
SOLIDWORKS can be made to run on Apple Mac® based machines running under Parallels or BootCamp. It is not a recommended hardware configuration.
http://www.solidworks.com/
NOTE: Non-server products are only supported in the Parallels environment.
eDrawings® is supported on Apple Macintosh®-based machines.
Mouse or another pointing device.
DVD drive or broadband internet connection
Microsoft Excel 2013, 2016, or 2019
Internet Explorer version 11 or Microsoft Edge
Anti-Virus (http://www.solidworks.com/
SOLIDWORKS is tested only with Microsoft’s Windows Networking and Active Directory network environments.
Novell networks and non-Windows based network storage devices are not supported.
Window 10® (SOLIDWORKS 2015 SP5+) Note: Windows Home, Small Business, and To Go editions are not supported.
Windows 7® 64-bit professional or greater editions only (2020 is the last year for Windows 7 support)
Windows 7®, 10®
Windows Server 2016®, 2019®
Virtual servers are supported for SNL only for the ones listed here (http://www.solidworks.com/
The system requirements for PDM can be found here, https://www.solidworks.com/
http://www.solidworks.com/
A certified OpenGL workstation graphics card and driver.
For a listing of tested and certified graphics cards and driver, combinations visit the SOLIDWORKS System/Graphics Card Requirements Website.
http://www.solidworks.com/
Intel® or AMD® with SSE2 support. A 64-bit operating system required.
SOLIDWORKS is supported on Apple Mac® based machines running under Parallels.
http://www.solidworks.com/
NOTE: Non-server products are only supported in the Parallels environment.
eDrawings® is supported on Apple Macintosh®-based machines.
Mouse or another pointing device.
DVD drive or broadband internet connection
Microsoft Excel 2010, 2013, or 2016
Internet Explorer version 8 or higher
Anti-Virus (http://www.solidworks.com/
SOLIDWORKS is tested only with Microsoft’s Windows Networking and Active Directory network environments.
Novell networks and non-Windows based network storage devices are not supported.
Window 10® (SOLIDWORKS 2015 SP5+) Note: Windows Home, Small Business, and To Go editions are not supported.
Windows 7® 64-bit professional or greater editions only
Windows 7®, 10®
Windows Server 2012® R2, 2016®
Virtual servers are supported for SNL only for the ones listed here (http://www.solidworks.com/
The system requirements for PDM can be found here, http://www.solidworks.com/
http://www.solidworks.com/
Figure 1 – Minimum System Sample from Dell®
Figure 2 – Basic System Sample from Dell®
Figure 3 – Advanced System Sample from Dell®
SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional will utilize up to 3 primary components: A Microsoft SQL Server (SQL) database server, an Archive Server for files, and an optional Web Server.
CPU and RAM are important considerations
| Category | Recommended Configuration | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows Server 2019 or 2022 (64-bit only) | Windows Server 2025 is supported for PDM 2025 SP3.0 or newer. |
| Processor | Intel or AMD At least four processor cores (minimum two)*** At least 2.0 GHz base clock speed | The fastest possible clock speed should be provisioned. |
| Memory | Baseline: 16 GB If (file count > 100,000) or (user count > 20): 16-32 GB | SQL should have enough RAM to load the entire database into RAM. |
| Disk for Database | High-speed PCIe SSD for physical servers 100 GB of storage space | SATA drives are also supported, but a 100 GB partition on an M.2 PCIe NVMe drive may be the fastest option. |
| SQL Server Platform | SQL Standard Edition 2022 or SQL 2019 with Cumulative Update 4 or greater |
CPU, RAM, and Network Speeds are important considerations
| Category | Recommended Configuration | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows Server 2019 and 2022 (64-bit only) | Windows Server 2025 is supported for PDM 2025 SP3.0 or newer. |
| Processor | Intel or AMD At least 2.0 GHz base clock speed | Multiple cores allow the server to handle multiple Web 2 requests simultaneously |
| Memory | 32 GB |
Input/output speed and storage are important considerations
| Category | Recommended Configuration | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows Server 2019 and 2022 (64-bit only) | Windows Server 2025 is supported for PDM 2025 SP3.0 or newer. |
| Processor | Intel or AMD | |
| Memory | 8-16 GB | |
| Disk for File Storage** | For a new system: 500 GB (200 GB minimum) |
* Each PDM Professional implementation is unique, please consult a GoEngineer PDM Strategist for additional details.
** Disk space estimates are provided to cover 3 years of storage growth. Storage requirements typically grow faster in a vault system than over a normal network. If installing in a replicated environment, each additional archive server will be sized based on the total % of the vault archived to that server. For example, if Site A is configured to replicate 50% of the files to site B, then Site B may need 50% of the disk space.
*** The two most common Microsoft SQL licensing models are Core and Server+Client Access License (CAL).
GoEngineer's extensive SOLIDWORKS technical knowledge and world class support can help you succeed with SOLIDWORKS. Our award-winning team is ready to help you with any task you may have. Using state-of-art remote assistant technology software allows our team to solve most issues within one session. Reach out and see why GoEngineer is the #1 reseller of SOLIDWORKS and Stratasys systems in the world!
GoEngineer offers online and classroom professional SOLIDWORKS training for organizations and individuals. All our instructors are SOLIDWORKS certified and teach thousands of students each year world wide. The curriculum is very diverse with numerous certified SOLIDWORKS courses to choose from. Each student will receive a Course Completion Certificate and preparation materials for SOLIDWORKS certification.
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