Ansys Computer Requirements
Temeka Danca
I would like to ask for your recommendations about building a computer setup for (as the topic says) using Ansys (here I mean AIM, Discovery Live (a lot) and quite a lot of Structural, Modal, Thermal and Fluid in Workbench). The most complex models I simulate in Structural and in Live, everything else in smaller and simplier. Also - Fusion 360, Inventor and SolidWorks. It is a quite large field of applcations, but it is connected to my PhD studies.
Another question about GPU - i was thinking about two variants - going with RTX 2060 and eventually adding Quadro P4000 or P6000 (here is the question about switching between cards during work) OR buying one RTX 2080 (here is a question about its performance and possible lack of support in future in Ansys).
ANSYS cannot give suggestions for any specific machine as we are vendor neutral. However, please check out the Hardware Requirements post on detailed information about the Minimum requirements for ANSYS Discovery products. You can get also detailed information about Hardware requirements for other ANSYS Products at this link . I cannot comment on the hardware requirements for other non-ANSYS products and it would be worth checking out the details on their websites.
Regarding Graphics card, it is possible to switch and select the graphics card from multiple cards for Discovery Live. This can be done from Nvidia Control Panel. Please check out this post for detailed information. We haven't tested the new Turing architecture GPUs (RTX series) but I expect they should work with Discovery Live as long as they meet the listed hardware requirements.
I have been using Spacelaim for almost 10 years. I will replace my PC with a new one. What type of computer should I buy? Should it be a workstation with a xeon processor or with a i9. Also what should be the graphic card? Should it be quadro or something like rtx 3080 or 3000 series?
My work is designing electonic devices. too many component packaging in summary. my current pc is i7 with a geforce gpu however i am experiencing troubles when the components number increase. By opening this topic i was aiming to get an experience sharing or benchmark to understand whic would yield a better performance and see the recommendations. I am avare of the minimum or recommended requirements but i do not know the performance difference between a quadro or other quality gpus and xeon and i9s.
As with many engineering softwares, ANSYS is not available for the Mac OSX platform. However, it is still possible to install ANSYS and your other engineering softwares on an Apple computer by first installing Windows on your Mac. Please follow this guide to learn how to install Windows and ANSYS on your Mac.
Students and teachers may be able to obtain a 50% discount here. Make sure to check the system requirements. Your computer needs at least 4GB of RAM to run Parallels Desktop but unless you want to run ANSYS version 14.5 or earlier, your computer needs at least 8GB of RAM to run ANSYS smoothly on the virtual machine. We also recommend that you have at least 20GB of free hard disk space.
While your Apple computer already has a software called BootCamp to install Windows on your Mac, it requires the user to reboot each time he or she wants to switch operating systems. The user also has to play with disk partitioning which makes the setup more complicated. We highly recommend using Parallels Desktop for its ease of use and flexibility. This software allows the user to run Mac OSX and Windows side by side and it does not require hard drive partitioning. Windows simply acts as an application that you can run or close as you wish. All the Windows files are contained in one master file (a .pvm file) that you can move wherever you want, even on an external hard rive.
Windows 10 Home is available on the Microsoft Store for $120. Students and teachers may be able to obtain a FREE or severely discounted copy of Windows 10 here. It is accessible as an ISO file to download. IMPORTANT: Make sure it is the 64-bit version (X64).
If you downloaded Windows as an ISO file, you will simply be asked to drag and drop the ISO file in the box to proceed with the installation process. If you have the Windows installation CD, then simply insert it in the drive when prompted. We suggest that you choose to use Windows for "Productivity". Feel free to follow this excellent installation guide if you need.
To access the configuration settings of the virtual machine, please see this guide. Note that the virtual machine must be shut down prior to making changes to these settings. Here are some settings modifications that MUST be implemented for ANSYS to work properly with Parallels Desktop.
ANSYS now offers a student version of their software for FREE. The functionalities are more or less the same as in the full version except that structural problems are restricted to 32,000 nodes and fluid problems are restricted to 512,000 nodes. This is more than enough for what a typical student will need.
On your first few uses of ANSYS, Firewall notifications should pop up. Make sure to allow all ANSYS programs to run normally (i.e do not let the Firewall block ANSYS programs). You can verify the allowed program list by going into Start>Control Panel>System & Security>Allow a program through Windows Firewall.
Please note that ALL engineering and other software that you need to complete your coursework will be available on computers in Armstrong Hall and the STEM building. Although, some students choose to purchase and load student-versions of engineering software on their personal computer. Be sure to look at the system requirements of various software that you may want to download on your personal computer including but not limited to Solidworks, MATLAB, Mathematica, Ansys, Xilinx Vivado, and spice tools. Additionally, some programs may only be available for Windows operating systems therefore if you decide on purchasing a MAC operating system you should consider installing Boot Camp.
If you already have a laptop which meets the OIT UTA minimum standards, you may continue to use it as long as it continues to meet our coursework needs.The following recommendation is provided for students wishing to purchase a laptop that is likely to be sufficient for four years of undergraduate engineeringcoursework.
At minimum, because software must be installed on your device, a laptop that either has the full Mac OS (not iOS), Windows, (or Linux for Computer Engineering students) is necessary. Chromebooks, netbooks, iPad Pros, etc. do not have the option to have these operating systems and will be insufficient for the engineering program.
Specific software requirements will be included in the syllabus for each course. Student versions of many engineering software applications are available from the individual manufacturers at relatively low cost. Many of these required software licenses are free to UTA engineering students. Contact your department to see which ones are. In general, SolidWorks, Matlab, and Microsoft applications are free. Also, in some cases, free open source software is available.
For Aerospace Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Software Engineering students, specific information on software and compatible operating systems is included below.
Of the standard CAD software, currently only AutoCAD has a native Intel-based Mac OS version. Standard mathematics software, such as MatLab, Mathematica, andMathcad, also have both Intel-based Mac OS and Windows versions. Currently, 3D modeling software, including ANSYS, Inventor, SolidWorks, PTC/CREO and CATIA runonly on native Windows based computers or on an Intel-based MAC OS through a Windows emulator. FE software ABAQUS runs only on native Windows based computers.Standard CAD and FE software does not currently support the Mac M1 ARM architecture, which requires ARM64 format software. ABAQUS, Altair, ANSYS, Inventor, SolidWorks,MathCAD, Mathematica, and MatLab are available in on campus computer labs for coursework.
The common software used in EE department includes OrCAD PSPICE, Cadence Virtuso, Keysight Advanced Design System, Ansys HFSS, C/C++ programming, Python, MatLAB, Mathcad, Mathematica, Texas Instrument Code Composer Studio.
LTU On The Hub
This is LTU's software distribution website, which allows students, faculty and staff to purchase software at significant discounts off standard retail prices.The software titles listed below are currently available for installation on personal individual computer systems (primarily Windows PCs). Licensing and installation requirements differ for each software title.Please select the software title you are interested in for more details. You may also contact the Help Desk at help...@ltu.edu for more information.