Recommended Computing For ANSYS Products
(Windows 64 bit)

ANSYS, CFX, FLUENT, AUTODYN, and ICEM are all supported on Windows 7 64bit, Windows XP Professional x64, and Windows Vista x64. This platform gives the analysis community much greater computing capacity than 32bit windows, while delivered at commodity pricing. A multicore 64 bit processor system can address large amounts of RAM and allows much larger file sizes than a 32 bit operating environment. A suggested analysis system may be something like:

- Dual Quad Core or Six Core Processors
- Windows 7 64bit
- 1 GB (or higher) graphics card (DRD has had good experience with NVIDIA cards)
.
- 12-48 GB of RAM
- DVD R/W Drive
- Three or four 100+ GB hard drives in a RAID 0 configuration. While SAS drives generally possess higher I/O rates that SATA, tests have shown comparable performance between the drives when placed in a RAID 0 configuration so DRD suggests going with the less expensive SATA drives.
- 17" or larger flat panel display

For structural problems the ANSYS HPC product is needed for parallel processing with greater than 2 processors whether the processors reside on the same computer or over a network. A computer with a single dual core is considered as two processors. A dual quadcore machine would be considered an 8 processor computer and would need 6 of the ANSYS HPC licenses or an ANSYS HPC Pack. For larger problems, networked PCs can be used simultaneously to perform the solution. Please consult with your DRD sales representative for details.

For fluid problems, the ANSYS HPC product is needed for parallel processing with more than 1 processor. Please consult with your DRD sales representative for details.

ANSYS is shipped and installed via DVDs so a DVD drive is necessary. Often the data you would like archived will exceed the capacity of a CD so writing to DVDs or Double Layer DVD is important as well.

Minimum PC Hardware Requirements
(Windows 32 bit)

Listed below is the minimum recommended configuraton for a PC.

Windows 7, Windows XP Professional, or Windows Vista
Duo Core or Quad Core Processors 2.0 Ghz or faster
100 GB or more hard drives in a RAID 0 configuration
Two (2)  to Three (3) GB of RAM
DVD R/W Drive
256 MB (or higher) graphics card (DRD has had good experience with NVIDIA cards).