Learning Forum

[h395523899]

I need to buy a computer workstation for fluid and static simulation.

Is there a good configuration recommendation?

Please tell me what factors you need to consider when configuring your computer workstation. I will answer them one by one. Thank you

[peteroznewman]

What is your budget?  There are different recommendations if you are a poor student versus having some else pay for an awesome workstation.

Which license are you on: Student (limited size) or a Research/Corporate (unlimited size) license?  You don't need as much RAM if you can't run large models.

Does it need to be mobile or can you get a desktop?

The most important thing is to get a graphics card from the list of tested cards.  That will ensure a good user experience with the product.

Get at least 8GB of RAM.  Get more if you can afford it.  Find out the maximum RAM capability of the motherboard, even if you don't install the maximum initially.  This allows for a future RAM upgrade, say when you change from a Student license to a Research license.

Get the fastest processor with 4 or more cores if you can afford it. However, don't trade off clock speed to get more cores. Some vendors offer well engineered overclocked processors such as BOXX.

Get SSD storage instead of HDD if you can afford it.  They are much faster on large problems when you run out of RAM. I have an SSD for the C: drive so programs load fast, a much larger SSD where the projects I am working on are solved. Use a HDD for archive storage that is really large.

Get a supported GPU if you can afford it.  But my testing showed GPUs were not accelerating my Static Structural models. They do help on FLUENT models.

 

[h395523899]

1. My budget is less than $7,000.

2. How to check the license type? Student (limited size) or a Research/Corporate (unlimited size). I do not understand this

3. Desktop workstation

4. I am going to use ssd and hdd in combination.

5.The number of cores and the size of RAM made me entangled. The site suggests e5 2600 v4 cpu, I do not know how the performance.

The maximum size of the fluent model I have established can reach 100m*100m*50m, and the model will also include the 0.01mm class. So the dimensions in the model range from 100m to 0.01mm. So my grid should reach millions or even millions.

The structural mechanics model size is about 100m*5m*5m

 

This is the current computer configuration

CPU: Core i7-4790

RAM: 4G

HDD: 1T

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 720

When I draw structural grid of more than 100,000, the computer becomes very slow

[peteroznewman]

 1. A respectable amount to get a useful computer.

2. If you downloaded the free ANSYS Student software from the link at the top of this page, you are on a Student license. But you can't run models the size you mention on this license type. The Student license will not solve structural models when nodes and element exceed 32k or FLUENT models when nodes and cells exceed 512k. You must be on a Research license.

3. You get more compute power for your money on a desktop.

4. Good choice. One issue is that the SSD will be smaller than the HDD, but you want to solve on the SSD to pick up the speed advantage. However, on a really big transient model, the disk space requirements can be huge and you don't want to run out of disk space before the solution completes.

5. See my lengthy answers below. I had to break them into smaller posts because of a 3000 character limit on each post.

 

[peteroznewman]

CLOCK SPEED AND CORE COUNT

Your current computer has a Core i7-4790 processor, which has 4 cores at 3.6 GHz.  If you purchase a computer with a 1.8 GHz clock, your new computer will take twice as long to do most things than your current computer, which would be disappointing even if it had 14 cores and solved CFD models faster.

"The site suggests e5 2600 v4 cpu" Look at this reference.

There are 29 products that are e5-2600-v4, out of the 44 products in the e5-v4 family. Below I plotted all 44 processor with the Clock frequency (GHz) versus the number of Cores. The ones in blue are in the 2600 family. I have labeled two processors. Pretend those two processors cost the same and you have to choose which one to purchase. One has 6 cores running at 3.7 GHz while the other has 12 cores running at 1.9 GHz.

The clock speed determines how fast a given program will run. If you have a 1.8 GHz computer and a model runs in 2 hours, if you move it to a 3.6 GHz computer, it would run in 1 hour (they both have 6 cores). You know the 3.6 GHz computer is more expensive than the 1.8 GHz computer.  Now you could choose a third computer that has 12 cores running at 1.8 GHz that costs the same as the 6-core, 3.6 GHz computer. Do you go for more cores or a faster clock? Read the next post to learn that structural models don't scale perfectly with cores, and most of the programs running on your computer don't know how to use multiple cores, so I always go for clock speed over core count.

Some manufacturers, like BOXX, will use high-performance cooling on the processor and overclock the processor beyond what Intel specifies for ordinary cooling. A BOXX Apex S-class is plotted on the graph and you see how much higher the clock is set compared with the standard products. The BOXX Apex will feel 33% faster for any program that you are currently using on your computer. A pdf file from BOXX of a computer with an ANSYS-tested graphics card that costs < $7000 is attached for your reference.

[peteroznewman]

 ANSYS PERFORMANCE SCALES WITH CORES

If you solve a structural model on 2 cores and it takes 19 hours, it might take only 9 hours on 4 cores, 5 hours on 8 cores and 3 hours on 16 cores. Do you see the diminishing returns of adding more cores? Doubling the number of cores doesn't halve the time.

Those numbers are one illustration and different models will have tremendous variation away from the ideal of halving the time when doubling the cores. The solver even estimates how well the model is balanced and warns you if it is not well balanced. FLUENT models respond closer to the ideal of halving the solve time when the number of cores is doubled.

Here is a link for how to setup Mechanical to use more cores. I hope you have done this on your 4-core computer. On Fluent, you check Parallel and type a number when you start building the model. 

ANSYS PERFORMANCE IS BEST WHEN SOLVING IN MEMORY

When making a purchase decision, you want the model to run entirely in RAM if possible. The model that ran for 5 hours on 8 cores may have needed 64 GB of RAM to run entirely in memory. If that model ran on a computer with only 32 GB of RAM, it might take 11 hours. ANSYS uses the term "in-core" to mean running in memory (RAM), but "in-core" has nothing to do with the number of cores.

RAM IS BETTER THAN CORES

For this model you will be better off with 4 cores and 64 GB of RAM rather than 8 cores and 32 GB of RAM. Doubling RAM is much better for the solution time than adding cores, but this only applies if the solver needs a large amount of RAM.  If the solver only needs 16 GB of RAM, it won't run any faster on a computer with 64 GB of RAM. RAM is cheaper than cores so my advice is to install the maximum amount of RAM that the motherboard supports.

[peteroznewman]

UPGRADE PATH - ADDING A GPU

If you have two open PCI slots in the computer, one of which is a PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot, you can plug in a GPU at a later date to reduce the solve time on FLUENT models. The NVIDIA QUADRO GP100, which supports GPU solver acceleration on both FLUENT and Mechanical models, costs nearly $7000 just for the card. That card adds 3,584 Cuda cores, which is why it is useful on large CFD models. But before you buy a computer with a plan to add a GPU later, make sure that the power supply has the capacity to power the GPU. That GP100 card needs 235 W so you have to know that the power supply in the computer has that unused capacity. If you purchase a computer with a 300 W power supply and add up how much is used by all the components it came with, there may only be 100 W of unused capacity, so this GPU would not work in such a computer. The BOXX has a 650 W power supply and is engineered to support multiple GPUs.

UPGRADE PATH - ADDING A SECOND PROCESSOR

The BOXX computer I show can’t hold more than 64 GB of RAM, so you wouldn’t be able to go to 128 GB on that motherboard. A different model of motherboard must be chosen if you want the option to expand the RAM to that level. Some motherboards support two processors. You can buy a computer initially with one 6-core processor, and at a later date, purchase a second 6-core processor, but the cooling system has to be able to support two processors. Some motherboards have the capacity to hold more than 64 GB of RAM, but only if you have two processors, so you have to read the fine print.

[h395523899]

Thank you so much for answering my question with such a length

Through your answer I probably understand the following points

1. At present, the configuration of my calculation is still available, but it is only necessary to increase the RAM, which can increase the speed of calculation.

2. The memory limits the number of grids, the CPU limits the calculation speed, and at the same time, the memory speed may affect the calculation speed.

 

 

The workstation I want to buy is two E5 2600 V4 CPUs.

12 or 16 cores.

RAM: 32-64g.

2T HDD, 512G SSD

[peteroznewman]

If you increase RAM on your current computer, the elapsed time to wait for the solution will be reduced on large models, but will have no effect on small models. On a structural model, under Analysis Settings, Solver Controls, set the Solver Type to Direct. You can easily tell if the solver is running entirely in memory by looking at the solution output. Click on the Solution Information folder in the Outline and the Worksheet will show the Solver Output. Click on the text and type ctrl-F to  search for allocated.

You can see that the model above was allocated nearly 14 GB of available RAM and ran entirely in that memory block.

A much larger model will show this note.

You can see that the model above needed 283 GB to run entirely in RAM and that was not available, so the solver will use the storage to hold parts of the matrix while it is computing the solution.

2. The memory limits the number of grids, the CPU limits the calculation speed, and at the same time, the memory speed may affect the calculation speed.

The example above shows that the memory didn't prevent the solver from running, it just affects how it runs. Running out of disk space will prevent the solver from running.

Your proposed computer configuration shows only one SSD. You want to configure the solver to use that drive while solving. The simplest way to do that is to store your model there. But if that is the C: drive, the installed programs use up some of that space leaving less available for the solver. You don't ever want to run out of disk space during a solve. Another issue with having only one SSD is the Windows OS needs to write files to the disk at random times, therefore, it is optimal if Windows is writing to a different drive than ANSYS. That is why I recommended two SSDs. One for the C: drive, which could be 256 GB, and a second drive, 512 GB, just for ANSYS models to solve on, while the third HDD is for moving old models from the SSD to the HDD so you don't run out of disk space on the SSD during a solve.

MECHANICAL SOLVERS

If you leave Solver Type to Program Controlled, ANSYS may choose the Iterative solver instead of the direct sparse solver. The iterative PCG solver might solve the same model in more or less time. If you are going to be solving almost the same model many times, say in a parameter study, you may want to solve the exact same model twice, once with Direct and once with Iterative. Scroll to the end of the Solution Output and note the Elapsed Time for each solution, then you can select the solver that took less time for the rest of your study.

[peteroznewman]

When I draw structural grid of more than 100,000, the computer becomes very slow

Do you mean updating the display during view operations like pan, zoom and rotate becomes sluggish?
Or do you mean just generally waiting a long time for the mesh to be computed, or the model to save?

A better graphics card can help the first problem. Your current GeForce card has only 1 or 2 GB of graphics RAM and only 192 Cuda cores to compute display rotation. A better graphics card such as the NVIDIA QUADRO P2000 has 5 GB of graphics RAM and 1024 Cuda cores to compute display rotations.

The QUADRO series of cards cost more than an equivalently featured GeForce card, but the difference is in the drivers. The GeForce drivers were tested on games and any problems were fixed so the games ran well. The QUADRO drivers were tested on CAD and CAE programs like ANSYS and any problems were fixed so those professional programs ran well.  You can see several posts on this site about ANSYS not properly displaying things on graphics cards that are not on the tested list.

The second problem of waiting a long time for the mesh to build is somewhat unavoidable. But if Windows is running low on RAM during the meshing process, having more RAM can improve that problem.

You don't say what the Clock frequency in GHz is for the two processors you are considering. If you get a Clock less than your current computer's 3.6 GHz frequency, the mesh will take longer to build (assuming RAM was not a limiting factor).

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[h395523899]

Hello, can you recommend a dell or hp desktop workstation? Or own assembly parts

The boxx workstation you recommend is not available in our country.

If I am running ansys, I still need to run matlab. Is it possible to pursue high clock time?

Similar recommended boxx configuration 4.8 Hz, six cores. A cpu can satisfy it?

I have two plans now

1. A cpu above 4.0 Hz. More than six cores. This may only be selected Core Series. For example: i7-8700k

2. Both cpu over 3.5 Hz. More than four cores each. This can choose Xeon series. E.g:

Xeon Gold 5122

Xeon E5-2637 v4

Which is better?

[peteroznewman]

Overclocking is not done by Dell or HP, they run with the specification that Intel provides, which is okay. Smaller companies might build overclocked machines for Gamers, but I worry about the reliability of their solution, I don't want the CPU to overheat and shutdown and lose tens of hours of computation. So forget overclocking.

i7-8700k  - 8th Generation (Coffee lake) is limited to 128 GB of RAM but is much cheaper than the Xeon processors.

Xeon Gold 5122 - 6th Generation (Skylake)  is limited to 768 GB of RAM

Xeon E5-2637 v4 - 5th Generation (Broadwell) is limited to 1.54 TB of RAM.

 

My HP research showed I can't stay under your budget on a Xeon Gold 5122 with 2 processors of 4 cores each.

But on the i7 processor, here is a sweet $6,697 + tax computer that hits all the right places.

HP Z4 G4 Workstation


Intel® Core™ i7-7820X Processor
(3.6 GHz, up to 4.3 GHz w/Turbo Boost, 11 MB cache, 8 core)


Z4 G4 1000 W Chassis for Core®-X Processors


128 GB (8x16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory


512 GB HP Z Turbo Drive TLC M.2 NVMe SSD


1 TB HP Z Turbo Drive Quad Pro SSD


6 TB 7200 RPM SATA Enterprise 3.5" 1st HDD


NVIDIA® Quadro® P4000 (8 GB GDDR5, 4 x Displayport 1.4) Graphics

 

If including the tax puts you over the top of your budget, you can scale back the NVIDIA card to a P2000 and save $365. You can scale back the RAM to 64 GB and save $1850. You can even buy it with 4 slots open and fill the open RAM slots later when you have more money. This workstation can also support the NVIDIA GP100 GPU if you have an extra $7k to spend.

[h395523899]

Thank you, for your configuration, I look at our domestic prices.

Regarding the issue of hyperband, I really did not consider it.

How does the i7-8700 compare to the i7-7820X?

 

About Gold 5122

Dell 7920 chassis, two Gold 5122 cpu, 1T SSD, 512G SSD, 64G RAM, 2T HDD, P2000

  $7652.9019 including tax

How do you think about this configuration

[peteroznewman]

Benchmarks vary comparing i7-7820X to the i7-8700K.

One site showed the 7820X faster than the 8700K for Ray Tracing.

Another site showed the same advantage for multicore processing, and shows the 7820X with 8 cores vs 6 cores on the 8700K.

The Dell 7920 is a good choice, and a good price. I can't navigate the Dell website to configure the hard drives, it keeps flagging problems with the configuration. The HP website is much easier to configure a custom system.

[h395523899]

Xeon w-2125 w-2145 w-2155 i9-7900x i9-7940x

How about these cpu? I see the w series is also very cheap

[peteroznewman]

These are all good processors, don't worry too much about that now. You are in the right "ballpark". Fast clock, 8 cores, plenty of RAM, SSD storage and the right graphic card, with room for expansion to a GPU when you have more cash. Focus now on the quality of the support. How easy is it to find updated drivers on the vendor's website? How long is the warranty? How loud are the cooling fans?

If you get a computer with 8 slots for RAM but you only purchase 64 GB, do you leave 4 slots empty for a later upgrade or fill all 8 slots? Memory access is faster when all the slots are filled, but that means you throw out your 8 x 8 GB SIMS and purchase 8 x 16 GB SIMS if you upgrade from 64 GB to 128 GB.

Is the power stable and reliable in your area?  Should you purchase a UPS to keep your computer going when the power goes out?  How long do you want that to keep it running, 10 minutes or 10 hours?

[gopinath1983]

Hello sir,

I have seen your discussion about workstation and it is very helpful. Thanks a lot for your valuable inputs. I am planning to buy workstation with 32GB RAM, 8 core processor (i7 9700K) with windows 10, 512 GB NVME SSD, 4 TB HD. My requirements would be Ansys mechanical and fluent (Expected to be medium level problem).I have two queries

1) Could you please comment about the above mentioned configuration and any suggestion ?

2) Regarding graphics card; Many of the graphics cards are tested in either windows 7 or Linux. Now, as we know windows 7 will not be supported in many of the processors.My question here is, can we have any graphics card which is listed in Ansys page or we SHOULD go with graphics which windows 10 tested.    

I am looking for entry level graphics card now, may be 2GB. I will upgrade it later (This is my personal workstation and They are very costly,,going above my budget.. )

Could you please help me here ?

[peteroznewman]

1) That is a fine configuration. It would be good to know the maximum capacity of the computer for RAM, even if you don't configure it that way initially. RAM is very easy to upgrade later once you find your models no longer run in memory (in-core).

2) Those who choose gamer cards instead of cards from the Tested list run a significant risk of a problem with ANSYS software. I expect that you will have a very small risk of a problem choosing a Graphics Card Tested that supported Windows 7 and have a good outcome with Windows 10. The risk is smaller when you choose one that was tested on Windows 10, but you have a budget to respect.

 

[gopinath1983]

Thank you sir , for your response.

I have option to upgrade the RAM up to 64GB and I have the power unit capable for future expansion such as graphics card, etc.

For the graphics card, I understand that choosing the one which had tested for windows 7 or 10 is better. Could you also please also let me know, can I choose the one which shows Linux tested ? 

[peteroznewman]

Any of the cards on the list have a good chance of working with Windows 10, even the Linux ones.  The cards that were tested with Windows 10 are guaranteed to work.

[gopinath1983]

Thank you sir

[Asmail76]

Hello sir ,

First of all i would like to thank you for your helpful knowledge that you added to this site . And kindly, I would like to consult you? I am PHD student

and i have just started studying Ansys from scratch and i would like to do some simulations in the field of wind turbines.After long searching i  pre

ordered DEll Precision 5530 Mobile workstation Laptop from nearest store from where i live  with:

intel core I7-8850H (6 core 2.6 GHz, 4.3 GHz turbo, 9MB 45w)/ 

Windows 10 pro 64 bit /  

Graphic Card : Nvidia Quadro P2000 w/4GB GDDR5

RAM: 1* 16 GB 2666 MHz DDR4 Non-ECC

Hard Drive : M.2 512 GB NVMe PCle class 40 SSD

But, yesterday the store's seller  asked me to change the processor with above specifications to the new one M5540 with Intel® Core™ Processor i7-9750H, 6 Core, 12M Cache, 2.60GHz up to 4.5GHz Turbo, 45W) and the Graphic Card Nvidia Quadro T1000 w/4GB GDDR5  / with the same price and other specifications(Ram and storage) stayed the same.

Because the M5530 doesnot exist in the store now.  And i am wondering if the second offer good for Ansys software  simulation ?

and which is better performance Nvidia quadro P2000 or T1000 ? 

And for total specifications what is your Opinion?

Please help?

Thanks

[peteroznewman]

You are in luck!  The next release of ANSYS 2019 R3 includes the Quadro T1000 on the list of Tested Graphics Cards.

The two cards are almost identical in performance, but the T1000 consumes less power so your battery life will be better.

Good specifications but if you can afford to increase the RAM that might be useful for larger models, assuming you are not limited to the Student license, in which case 16 GB would be fine. The good thing about RAM is it is very easy to upgrade later.

Another upgrade if you can afford it is to add a second SSD because you will eventually fill up the first one, but again, you can purchase that later as this laptop has space for a second SSD.

[Asmail76]

Thank you sir

 

[janhagemeister]

Hello Mr. Peteroznewman,

Thank you for moderating this thread. I am currently putting together a simulation computer and it has helped me with several decisions. I would like to use a NVDIA Quattro P6000 GPU but in the "Graphics Cards Tested" document it has only been tested for Linux. In a previous post you mentioned that there is a good chance if its tested with Linux it will work with Windows 10. Do you know if this specific GPU (P6000) will work with Windows 10? I will be using this computer for ANSYS Fluent. Is there anything else I need to consider based on the P6000 GPU? In earlier posts I read about the impact of a GPU on space and power consumption.

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[Redne13]

Hi sir.

I can not understand you clearly
Which of the following two options saves me more time. (For mechanical solver) (all other equipment is the same)
1. 2*xeon E5 2696v2 (2.3ghz-turbo 3.6ghz each cpu has 18 core total 36 core)
2. ?9 9900K (3.6ghz-turbo 5ghz with 8 core)

[Rob]

We do benchmark, but unless you have parallel licence keys it's moot. The Student licence stops at 4 cores (and zero gpu). 

[Redne13]

Thank you for the answer sir.
I have the licence which provide to use all the core.

[Rob]

Then it'll depend on the size of the problem and physics involved.  36 cores at one speed against 8 cores at a higher speed.  Can you check you're looking at real cores, as opposed to hyperthreading: not sure about Mech but CFD doesn't benefit from them. 

[Redne13]

Thank you Mr rwoolhou
For same analysis
Which one is faster
3.6 clock with 8 real core
Or
2.3 Ghz with 36 real core

[peteroznewman]

Redne13, 

My testing on a variety of models using ANSYS 16 Mechanical Solver showed there was not much reduction in solution time using more than 8 cores, therefore I would choose the 3.6 GHz clock with 8 cores over the 2.3 GHz clock with 36 cores because ALL threads on the 3.6 GHz clock will finish in 64% of the time it took the 2.3 GHz clock to complete.

 

[Redne13]

Thank you so much Mr peteroznewman

Then I will choose the 3.6 Ghz with 8 core.

[ehsanz]

 ANSYS PERFORMANCE SCALES WITH CORES

If you solve a structural model on 2 cores and it takes 19 hours, it might take only 9 hours on 4 cores, 5 hours on 8 cores and 3 hours on 16 cores. Do you see the diminishing returns of adding more cores? Doubling the number of cores doesn't halve the time.

Those numbers are one illustration and different models will have tremendous variation away from the ideal of halving the time when doubling the cores. The solver even estimates how well the model is balanced and warns you if it is not well balanced. FLUENT models respond closer to the ideal of halving the solve time when the number of cores is doubled.

Here is a link for how to setup Mechanical to use more cores. I hope you have done this on your 4-core computer. On Fluent, you check Parallel and type a number when you start building the model. 

ANSYS PERFORMANCE IS BEST WHEN SOLVING IN MEMORY

When making a purchase decision, you want the model to run entirely in RAM if possible. The model that ran for 5 hours on 8 cores may have needed 64 GB of RAM to run entirely in memory. If that model ran on a computer with only 32 GB of RAM, it might take 11 hours. ANSYS uses the term "in-core" to mean running in memory (RAM), but "in-core" has nothing to do with the number of cores.

RAM IS BETTER THAN CORES

For this model you will be better off with 4 cores and 64 GB of RAM rather than 8 cores and 32 GB of RAM. Doubling RAM is much better for the solution time than adding cores, but this only applies if the solver needs a large amount of RAM.  If the solver only needs 16 GB of RAM, it won't run any faster on a computer with 64 GB of RAM. RAM is cheaper than cores so my advice is to install the maximum amount of RAM that the motherboard supports.

 

hi I have quastion about threat? what is the effect of threat?

[ehsanz]

Hi peteroznewman, can you help me?

What's the effect of threats??

[Rob]

What threats?  We turn hyper-threading off on our machines as splitting a core isn't a good idea with simulation software. 

Note, with the Student limit of 32k nodes I doubt you'll need 64GB RAM for Mechanical. The CFD limit of 512k cells shouldn't use much more than 2-3GB even with something really (and excessively) complex. 

[ehsanz]

I want to choose a CPU between

intel Xeon E5 1650 v3 ( 6 core - 12 threats - 3.5 Mhz)

and

AMD Ryzen  5 3600x (6 core - 12 threats - 3.8 Mhz)

thanks for your reply

[StePiz2019SAE]

Hi peteroznewman, can you help me?

I need to buy a new computer workstation for fluid simulation. I am part of the SAE formula project and I wanted to build a workstation to not melt my laptop.

Being a member of the aerodynamics team we mostly use ANSYS Fluent. Does it make sense to buy a GPU? The order of cells with which we are going to work will be from 4-10 million cells. I have the academic-research license which allow me to use 16 core.

I use ANSYS 2020R1

Is there a good configuration recommendation?

My design idea as follow:

Intel i9 10980XE  18 cores - 36 threads (liquid cooled) - Base Frequency 3.00 GHZ - Max Turbo Frequency 4.60GHz 

MSI X299 - LGA2066

128 gb ram DDR4 3000MHz

PNY Quadro RTX 4000 - 8GB GDDR6  or PNY Quadro P4000 - 8GB

SSD M.2 1TB

What do you think about?

Thank you for answer. 

 

P.S. What do you think about AMD (Ryzen - Threadripper)? 

 

[peteroznewman]

Look at this document that shows which GPUs are supported to accelerate Fluent; the choice is Quadro P4000.

All the other specs look great.  Good luck!

[StePiz2019SAE]

Thank you so much. One last thing... So shouldn't I have too many problems solving 10 million cell meshes? Is such a configuration honest for the calculation that I will have to go to do? 
We use RANS - k-omega sst. With this configuration, indicatively how many hours of calculation would it take to solve a 10 million cell meshes (hybrid mesh Quad/Tri)?

Thank you for your time

[mengfante]

Hi, I’m configuring a Lenovo p330 workstation, debating between i7-9700k and i9-9900 non k, they have same core count, same turbo frequency. Difference is 9900 has hyperthread, 9700k doesn’t, and 9700k has higher base frequency. I don’t plan to overclock. And I see older post says hyperthreading is recommended to be turned off for ANSYS, is that still the case now? 9700k is 30 dollar cheaper, not a big factor here.

thanks

I’m using workbench mechanical. Topology optimization and composite. Student license

[kailash]

your posts are really amazing. I wonder if I could get some suggestion from you for my next new Workstation purchase. I am thinking to go with Intel Xeon Gold 3.9 GHz 8 cores with 64 GB RAM ( 8 X 8 GB) - 1 TB SSD and 2 TB SATA HDD. You think this is a good configuration? I have fluent license till 12 cores. So another option I have is Intel Xeon Gold 3.6 Ghz 12 cores with 96 GB RAM ( 12 X 8 GB). Now the clock speed is less, so wondering to go with 8 core or 12 coren

[Rob]

For benefit, here're the other comments on the subject https://dev7.webdevonline.net/AIS/ais-multisite/forum/discussion/26868/how-to-determine-how-many-tb-ssd-memory-is-required-for-new-work-stationn

[peteroznewman]

nYeah, that is a difficult decision. I don't know the scalability of your fluent models so I can't say if it is better to have a 12/8 = 1.5 advantage in cores vs a 3.9/3.6 = 1.083 advantage in raw speed.nThe 96 GB RAM along with the 12 cores might be the better choice.n

[kailash]

Thank you