Hello:

I'm new to this forum and new to using Flow Simulation.

I have been given the green light to buy a computer system that will handle running solid modeling, CFD, and thermal analyses. My primary focus is to run SolidWorks softwares, but I cannot rule out that other analysis softwares may be used on the system by others in my engineering group.

I can't say that the sky is the limit for a system, but I'd like to keep the costs down, if possible.

I am most interested in purchasing a computer system that utilizes Windows as the OS, and that can be supplied from vendor like Dell. Dell seems to be an approved vendor where I work.

I posed the computer system question to a support company that augments our IT department and the below is their suggestions for components for running SolidWorks and Flow Simulation.

"recommend you go with an Intel Core i7 processor. This is a quad-core processor with hyperthreading. This means that Flow Simulation recognizes this as 8 processors. I would recommend Windows 7 64-bit for your operating system. I recommend at least 8 GB of ram, 16GB if you can get the money for it. Make sure you purchase a CAD video card. nVidia Quadro series or ATI FirePro Series, check the Solidworks website to confirm the card you choose is supported. The video card isn't as important as the things I mentioned above. Lastly, at least a 500 Gigabyte hard drive, a 1 (or more) Terabyte hard drive would probably be better. Hard drives are really inexpensive compared to the other things on this list so doubling your size from 500 GB to 1 TB is only roughly a \$20 or \$30 jump."

Thanks in advance for your input.

Marty