Graphics Systems SolidNotes

SolidWorks Performance Test: Share The Love

In SolidWorks 2011, a new tool called SolidWorks Performance Test was introduced. This is a wonderful thing! For years, people have asked me advice on buying new computers and upgrading existing computer systems for SolidWorks. There was (and still is) a lot of confusion over what affects SolidWorks performance. Now, we all have one standard benchmark with which to compare systems.

Understand that the Performance Test is a mainstream test. It's not going to show how systems may perform in extreme cases (huge assemblies or extrordinarily complex part models). But it is a good basis for comparison on how systems will perform for the typical SolidWorks user.

The most useful part of the Performance Test is the ability to easily share your results with the rest of the world. The Share Your Score webpage that SolidWorks Corporation hosts is excellent because it's searchable. Want to know how well a certain graphics card works, or the difference between a few choices? Just hit the Share You Score webpage and find out for yourself. Since the test is available on different versions of SolidWorks (2011 or 2012 at this point) it can also show differences on how older hardware will work on newer versions of SolidWorks.

Check out the pages I've linked to earlier in this article, and when you get a chance, please run the SolidWorks Performance Test on your system and share your results. The more people who do, the better the resource will be for all of us. By the way, here's the score for my Dell M6500:

SolidWorks 2013 and Windows XP: The End of an Era

Just shy of 10 years ago, Windows XP was released for retail sale on October 25, 2001; SolidWorks 2001 Plus was the "gotta-have-it" version.  Fast forward to today, and I bet most of you are operating with Windows 7 (or for you unlucky ones, Windows Vista). The most current version of SolidWorks is 2011 SP4 and the highly anticipated 2012 is scheduled to be released sometime in October.

In order to most-efficiently run the improved SolidWorks software, system requirements also require change. With the new release, SolidWorks says adios to Windows XP and announces the 2012 version will be the last to support Windows XP. Next year, installing SolidWorks 2013 on Windows XP will not even be an option. Now is the time to plan a migration to Windows 7, if you haven't already done so. Regarding old legacy programs that require XP, look into options such as using the XP mode in Windows 7; or, you may need to bite the bullet and update.

Visit the SolidWorks web page for system requirements and further information.

Which CPU Should I Get?

"I'm looking at getting a new workstation for SolidWorks. Which CPU should I get?"

That's a question I'm often asked. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer -- it depends on your budget, how intense your datasets are, what if any Simulation will be performed, or if you're going to do a lot of rendering with PhotoView360.

Generally speaking, you get the fastest CPU you can afford. Generally speaking, you want to use a six-core CPU for Simulation or PhotoView360 if you can swing it, and a four-core CPU for just regular SolidWorks use. That's what makes sense for the CPU market right now, for most people.

Ok, which one? Core I7, Xeon, which number? There are a bewildering set of choices. You can get some benchmark results for SolidWorks and PhotoView360 from Anna Wood's excellent website, www.solidmuse.com. I recommend starting there to see some real-world results from actual SolidWorks users in the field. But even then, not all CPUs are represented, so I also "cross-check" with the latest Passmark numbers. The page for the "high-end" CPUs is http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html and is an excellent place to get up-to-date relative speed information from one alphabet-soup CPU specification to another.

It's impossible to benchmark all the CPUs out there for specific application like Solidworks, so this information is the next best thing. In the absence of emperical data, "educated guesstimation" works pretty well, and is better than choosing on price alone.

Running SolidWorks From An iPad

So I've been living with an iPad for two weeks. Has it changed how I consume, share, and even create digital content? Absolutely. But not just at home -- also in the office.

How's that possible? A little $12 app called Desktop Connect. It allows me to log into my Dell M90 remotely, using RDP protocol built into all corporate flavors of Windows from XP through 7. All I have to do is turn it on in the Control Panel of my machine, and that's it. I fire up Desktop Connect on my iPad, tap on the computer I want to log into (it automatically populates a list from the network), and log in. Instantly, I'm looking at my desktop, just as I had it before I logged in remotely. All my application windows and documents are up as running ... it's almost like I'm moving my desktop to a remote device like in Avatar. So when I walk away to a collegue's desk, go into a meeting room, or just catch someone in the hall, everything is there. Including SolidWorks.

Even though none of my PC applications (Outlook, SolidWorks, Catalyst) are meant for multitouch, the interface through Desktop Connect allows a good amount of functionality. I can pull up drawings and 3D models in SolidWorks. I can interact with them, rotate and zoom, and send them to a nearby printer, be it an HP Laserjet or a Dimension 3D printer.

I can even model a simple part from scratch, do a Simulation on it, make changes to the model, and rerun the Simulation to see the results of my change. Not that I would do an entire project like that, but again, we're talking out-of-box functionality. That's pretty awesome!

Bypass Your Graphics Card

If you have display glitches or similar issues in SolidWorks that you suspect may be due to an old driver or unsupported graphics card, there is a pretty simple way to get some good confirmation. It's a setting inside of SolidWorks iteself called "Use Software OpenGL."

Where do you find it? Tools > Options > System > Performance. You will find a setting to turn on Software OpenGL -- it's a check box. Important: You can only set this option when you are in SolidWorks but you have no documents open. Since you're changing how the graphics are being dealt with, if you have documents open in SolidWorks you can't very well make the switch and hence the option checkbox will be grayed out.

Once you set this to "on", you are telling SolidWorks not to use the graphics card for OpenGL functions -- you're essentially bypassing the card. It's not as fast to work in this mode, but if you have an old graphics card, or one that isn't supported, it might be better to work this way. If you're using this setting as part of the troubleshooting process, you'll know that your problem is graphics card or driver related and can proceed accordingly.

BTW, in case you're wondering, we currently recommend the nVidia Quadro FX580 as our baseline graphics card for SolidWorks users.

Windows 7 and SolidWorks

Just over two years ago we were talking about Windows Vista and SolidWorks 2007, and now I’m starting to look towards Windows 7 and SolidWorks 2010. Before I comment on this let me tell you what SolidWorks has to say on Windows 7.

When Microsoft Windows® 7 is released; will there be a new release of SolidWorks that will be officially supported on this platform?

At the present time, SolidWorks does not have any official information regarding the support of running SolidWorks on Windows 7.
Please refer to the SolidWorks System Requirements webpage for the currently supported operating systems:
http://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/SystemRequirements.html

As we can see SolidWorks is not commenting on this release of Windows but from what I remember the same was true with Vista when it was first announced. With the start of the SolidWorks 2010 Beta program and Windows 7 as a release candidate I think we can expect to see this operating system fully supported with in the 2010 release of SolidWorks.

I am testing Windows 7 on my laptop as I write this blog, what I can tell you is SolidWorks 2009 SP3 is working and stable on my PC – so far so good. I have found a few glitches here and there and look forward to a fully supported version on Windows 7 hopefully in the near future.

Until then stay tuned for more information as I get it.

Process Explorer : A Powerful “Free” Application

Ever curious to know what processes SolidWorks is using? Need to find out if your Anti-Virus is running? Maybe you’re in search for a utility other than Task Manager? Sounds like a good time to discover the benefits of using Process Explorer.

Process Explorer provides you with a detailed visual representation of your systems' currently active processes.

 

It displays the processes' corresponding program icons, a command line fly-out, and it color-codes the processes' status.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Process Explorer also comes with a powerful search tool that shows you which processes have certain handles opened or DLLs loaded. You can even use this search utility to track down viruses and malware.

 

In the end it can provide some meaningful insight on how SolidWorks, Windows, and many other applications work. Download it for free from Microsoft TechNet's Windows Sysinternals : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

Graphics Drivers for 2008 and Windows Vista

In conjunction with the release of SolidWorks 2008, Microsoft Windows Vista users can now download certified driver version 6.14.11.6250 (NVIDIA version 162.50) from the Hardware & Graphics Cards webpage (http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/videocardtesting.html). This driver is certified for use with SolidWorks 2008 for the following NVIDIA cards:

Quadro FX 350
Quadro FX 550
Quadro FX 560
Quadro FX 1400
Quadro FX 1500
Quadro FX 3400
Quadro FX 3450
Quadro FX 3500
Quadro FX 4500
Quadro FX 4600
Quadro FX 5500
Quadro FX 5600

No certified Vista drivers are posted at this time for any ATI cards, laptop cards (vendors such as Dell, HP, etc.) or for SolidWorks 2007. More drivers will be made available for downloading as soon as they complete the SolidWorks certification process.

Display turned sideways?

Last night, a friend of mine called me at home, desperate for some computer help. His wife was working on her laptop for a report due the next morning, and their toddler got loose and natually banged on the keyboard. No physical damage was done, but the display on the laptop was rotated 90 degrees -- that is, the physical screen was fine but all of the dialog boxes and mouse movements were sideways!

I have to admit I was at a loss. It wasn't something that Windows would do, I thought -- maybe something specific on his laptop hardware. My fiance overheard my conversation and right away she knew what it was - hit the CTRL-ALT-Up Arrow. And it fixed it! I just had to ask her why...

It turns out that some graphics card drivers have "screen rotation" hotkeys. I'm guessing this was conceived for Tablet PCs, but apparently some drivers for regular desktops and laptops have this too. You might be able to go into the driver and disable the hotkeys -- see your documentation for your particular hardware. Anyway, if you run into this, it trying the key combinations listed below might save you some grief. This information might also be useful around April 1st ... :)

Ctrl-Alt-Up Arrow - right side up

Ctrl-Alt-Right Arrow - 90 degrees

Ctrl-Alt-Down Arrow - 180 degrees

Ctrl-Alt-Left Arrow - 270 degrees

Software OpenGL -- What Is It?

Software OpenGL is a SolidWorks setting that will tell SolidWorks to emulate OpenGL on it's own and not attempt to use the OpenGL support of the graphics card driver. In the "old days" this was used a lot on systems whose graphics drivers had no OpenGL support at all; Software OpenGL will automatically turn on when no OpenGL support is detected.

Most graphics cards these days will at least emulate OpenGL and therefore support the use of OpenGL calls from application software like SolidWorks, so that’s why SolidWorks did not automatically turn on the Software OpenGL option even if you're using an unsupported "consumer/game" graphics card.

Software OpenGL as a user-selectable option is useful for troubleshooting graphics card and driver problems, and in addition SolidWorks often performs better when you tell it to ignore the emulated OpenGL support on game and consumer-type graphics cards.

To set the Software OpenGL option in SolidWorks, you must open SolidWorks but have no parts, assemblies or drawings open. Then you can go to Tools > Options > Performance and toggle the option as needed. If you have a file open in SolidWorks when you try this, the option will be greyed out. Just close all data files but keep the SolidWorks program running and you will have access to the checkbox.