Solidworks Hardware Requirements

System requirements for our Mechanical Design (SolidWorks), Design Validation (COSMOS), File Management (SolidWorks Explorer) and Collaboration (eDrawings)(3).

For Data Management (PDMWorks Wrokgroup and Enterprise) products, Click Here.

Microsoft® Windows® Supported Operating Systems (9)

 

SolidWorks 2005

SolidWorks 2006

SolidWorks 2007

SolidWorks 2008

Vista (32-bit) (11)

X

X

X

Yes

XP Professional (32-bit) (1)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

XP Professional (64-bit)
Yes
(4. 5, &7)
Yes
(4)

Yes

Yes

2000 Professional (2)

Yes

Yes

X

X

Computer and Software Requirements:

RAM 

Minimum: 512MB RAM
Parts(6) (< 200 features) and assemblies (< 1000 components)

Recommended: 1GB or more
Parts(6) (> 200 features) and assemblies (> 1000 components)

Very Large Models: X64 processor with 6GB or more, ie Parts(6) > 1000 features, assemblies > 10000 components or models that exceed the process size limit of 32 bit architecture

Virtual memory recommended to 2X the amount of RAM

Video     
A certified OpenGL workstation graphics card and driver. For a listing of tested and certified graphics cards and driver combinations visit the Graphics Cards and Systems web site.

CPU

Intel® Pentium™ (8), Intel® Xeon™ (8), and Intel® Core™.
AMD® Athlon™, AMD® Opteron™, and AMD® Turion™
Note:  SolidWorks 2007 is not currently supported on Apple Mac®-based machines.
eDrawings® is supported on Apple Mac®-based machines. 

Other:

Mouse or other pointing device

Recommended: DVD drive. Minimum: CD drive (10)

If you use Bills of Materials from previous releases, or if you use Design Tables from any release, you must have Microsoft Excel 2002, 2003, or 2007

Internet Explorer version 6.x if you are using the SolidWorks online help, SolidWorks Installation Manager, opening SolidWorks files from Internet Explorer, or using the PDMWorks Web Portal

For viewing the What's New manual, Adobe Acrobat version 7.0.7 or higher. 
 
Network:    

SolidWorks is tested only with Microsoft's Windows Networking and Active Directory network environments

The supported operating systems for network devices to save SolidWorks model files are the same as for the SolidWorks software

Novell networks and non-Windows based network storage devices are not tested or recommended

SNL Server Requirements:

  • USB or parallel port required.
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Windows Server 2003® (recommended)
  • Recommended: DVD drive. Minimum: CD drive (10)

1) Required: Windows XP Professional SP2
(2) Recommended: Windows 2000 Professional SP 4
(3) eDrawings and eDrawings Professional support the following operating systems; Windows XP Professional 32-bit(1) ,Windows XP Professional 64-bit (1)(5)(6), Windows 2000 Professional (1) , Windows Server 2003, Mac OS 10.3.3 Panther and higher, Windows NT 4.0 (Service Pack 6 and higher), Windows 98 SE, and Windows ME.
(4) Supported as a 32-bit application running in the 64-bit OS.
Supported as a 64-bit application SolidWorks 2006 SP4.1 or higher.
(5) Supported SolidWorks 2005 SP4 and higher.
(6) Memory usage can be affected by the number of features, complexity of the features, and use of imported data.
(7) COSMOS Designer 2005 can only be installed on 64-bit machines from the SP4 CD.
(8) Support included for Intel® EM64T.
(9)

The Windows operating system requirements follow the Microsoft Windows life-cycle policy which can be viewed at: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifeselect.

(10)

Starting with SolidWorks 2007 SP2 for new license sales we will only ship DVDs containing both 32 bit and 64 bit versions of our products.  No CDs will be shipped.

For new product orders, CDs can be requested during the remainder of the SolidWorks 2007 release.  CDs sets can be ordered from your local reseller.  Starting with SolidWorks 2008 the product will only be available on DVDs.

(11) Ultimate, Business, and Enterprise editions only.