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trial versionHas a license*Recommendation may vary depending on size and complexity of CAD models.
*NVIDIA Quadro both P and RTX series.
Computer hardware is one of the most important parts of IRONCAD . We have many examples where crashes, heavy files or other problems do not occur at all when using a computer with more "cream" in it. The fewer programs running at the same time, the better it is for IRONCAD! If you have the option, it is far superior to have a powerful desktop computer with only IRONCAD installed, then email and other stuff on a laptop next to it. Incidentally, this is true of any CAD system or other performance-demanding program.
Both desktop and laptop workstations from HP, Dell, Fujitsu and Lenovo are the most common in the CAD industry today and usually work very well. You can also assemble your own desktop workstation in parts if you prefer. This can usually be more affordable, as you can pick from the best components at the best prices, but of course you need to know what you are doing when assembling the computer.
The laptops work incredibly well and have an impressive performance. Aim for a laptop workstation from
at around 15-20,000 and you'll have a good, stable computer. You can also add a few thousand to get a faster processor, graphics card and more working memory, for example if you often work with large, heavy files and drawings, and perhaps do FEM calculations as well.
Basically, though, you don't need an expensive supercomputer at all, IRONCAD works very well on most computers with today's standard hardware. But as soon as you start to get up in the number of parts or have more advanced parts with many features, you immediately notice if the computer can handle it or not. Then it's usually worth paying a few thousand extra for a better processor, more memory and a better graphics card. It's often good to start learning IRONCAD with a simpler, existing computer, and upgrade when you see the need.
There are ready-made workstations from companies such as Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens, HP and Lenovo that many people buy. They usually work very well and in addition to a ready "package" you usually get very good warranties and sometimes even on-site -support. You don't usually need to buy the worst version, smaller to medium sized ones are enough for many. Also check out Pedensia or Dustin.
Pedensia, Mölndal
Pedensia specializes in workstations and accessories for companies that mostly work with CAD/FEM etc. They have a thorough knowledge of current hardware and especially HP's workstations. We can highly recommend contacting them for more information on what is most affordable and suits you best for IRONCAD!
As fast (at least dual-core) a processor as possible is preferred. More than 2 cores is not really useful for much of the 3D CAD work "per se", but it is useful if you run a lot of programs at the same time or also use FEM or image rendering programs that are good at (and almost alone in) using more cores in the work itself. However, some functions do use multiple cores, such as importing, image rendering, updating 2D drawings, Property Browser, etc.
Processor developers over the years have also focused more on adding more parallel cores instead of developing faster cores, partly because a processor that starts to exceed 4-5 GHz draws a lot of power, which in turn requires more cooling. The disadvantage is that the vast majority of applications can only use one core and not several at the same time - so-called "multi-threading".
Intel Core series
Intel has a series of processors called Core, followed by i3 (entry-level), Core i5 (mid-range), Core i7 (server/workstations), Core i9 (high-end). They also each come in several variants, with several different sets of processor cores (from a few single ones, 4 or 6, up to over 20 cores in the "hosts"). For image rendering with e.g. KeyShot , the Intel Core i9 is demonstrably terrifically fast, as we have heard several examples of.
Here is a complete overview of Intel Core on Wikipedia.
Intel Xeon series
For servers and workstations, Xeon processors have long been considered the most powerful and, above all, the most stable. Microsoft has also launched a special Windows 10 Pro for Workstations which previously only worked with Xeon processors, (but which may no longer seem to be a requirement), with support for up to 6TB of RAM (2TB is otherwise the limit). According to some knowledgeable in the field, Intel Core i9 processors can now be considered at least as fast and stable, but several workstation vendors still differentiate packages with either Intel Core or Xeon processors.
Here is a complete overview (English) of Intel Xeon on Wikipedia.
IRONCAD supports multi-core processors to some extent, but it is mainly used for image rendering and to some extent when opening and importing files or updating 2D drawings. There is currently no 3D CAD system on the market that truly supports more than 1 core when working with the 3D model itself or updating the model/assembly structure. It is not easy to explain the principle, but it is clearly the next "CAD revolution"! There are some custom written CAD systems that have solved this to some extent in e.g. handling lines in the cross-section/sketch, but it is in updating the 3D model for general CAD work that it would really be useful.
Some of Intel's processors (both the old Pentium 4 and the newer Core i5, i7 and i9) support a feature called hyper-threading, which in short is the simulation of multiple cores. It is useful for running many small processes at the same time, but for single heavy processes (like CAD and FEM) it is counterproductive. It has in some cases affected update times from seconds to minutes and sometimes longer! The setting is controlled via the BIOS, so reboot your computer and go into the BIOS if you want to check if you are using hyper-threading. Some computer vendors also have automatic handling of this and should be able to control (turn off) the feature temporarily when a system requires more performance.
You can also see this by the Performance tab of the Task Manager showing twice as many "process boxes" for cores than actually exist, e.g. 8 boxes instead of 4 (if you have a 4-core processor). However, HP currently has an automatic handling of hyper-threading and therefore you should not have to turn off the feature manually. If an application requires more processing power at any given time, HP's computers should be able to control it so that the application has access to multiple cores working together as one.
At least 4-8 GB but preferably as much as you think you can afford. 32 GB, 64 GB or more is quite common in today's workstations. Windows 10/11 supports up to 2TB and the "workstation variant" up to 6 TB RAM.
The 3D CAD industry has previously talked about "1 MB RAM per part" which means 1 GB RAM per thousand parties in a 3D scene. We have noticed that this is sometimes, but not always, very accurate. One example model where it was quite accurate had 3050 parties and used 2.7 GB of RAM.
Below you will find a good configurator if you want to find out which memory is suitable for your computer and how much it costs:
The faster the hard drives, the faster it is to open and save files. It also affects the start-up time of Windows and of installed programs, e.g. IRONCAD. Don't use your SSD as a "dump old files" drive, but rather make sure you have an extra regular hard drive of the larger kind in that case. The projects you are working on at the moment can of course be kept locally, to take advantage of performance, but move old projects to the larger drive or to a file server instead. 17" laptops today often have room for 2 SSDs.
SSD is basically standard with new computers today. They get more space and are cheaper, although the best models may be more stagnant in price. They contain no moving parts, but can be more akin to the function of USB sticks. The size of the space and the price is something that is constantly changing. It may be worth adding a little extra money and also doing some reading up on the performance and reliability of the segment (size/price) you are looking at. The disadvantage of SSDs is that, because they are entirely chip-based and therefore have no moving parts, they are usually not repairable if damaged or broken.
Are a bit special as they use technology from both mechanical hard drives as well as SSDs. Hybrid drives have spinning magnetic disks just like mechanical hard drives but they are also equipped with flash memory of the same type found in SSDs. The SSD part makes the computer faster and the mechanical part means that the hard disk still has plenty of storage space. This is a really good compromise if you only have room for one hard drive and want to get the best of both worlds. Otherwise, we suggest getting an SSD for the operating system and a mechanical hard drive for file storage. If you want a hybrid drive in your laptop, you'll want to buy a 2.5-inch drive, while if it's going to be mounted in a desktop, you'll want a 3.5-inch drive.
Hard drives with moving parts are more affordable when you need a lot of space. They are available in different rotational speeds, 5 200, 7 200 and 10 000 RPM, with the SATA interface becoming the most common option. When using SCSI disks, speeds are up to 15 000 RPM. Which one to buy and use depends of course on the connectivity of the motherboard.
Nvidia
We recommend using an NVIDIA Quadro card of some kind. They come in different price ranges and work for both desktop and laptop computers.
There is also a series of "gaming graphics cards" from NVIDIA called GeForce GTX/RTX that has worked well for some, however it is primarily developed for gaming graphics and not CAD graphics, which differs in a number of areas and is usually noticed mainly in larger assemblys.
AMD
Graphics cards from AMD also work, but over the years we have seen some problems with these. For AMD, you should also preferably aim for their high-end product Radeon Pro.
It's important to stay up to date with the latest drivers. They are updated and released regularly. Here you can check if you have the latest driver for your graphics card;
Search for current drivers from NVIDIA.
Search for current drivers from AMD.
Also keep in mind that there may be vendor-specific drivers for many graphics cards. An older driver from e.g. HP can sometimes work better than the latest driver from NVIDIA in workstations from HP, or the equivalent for Dell, Lenovo etc.
The more and the bigger the screens, the better you can see the content of the programmes on your computer. A simple rule. With two monitors you are guaranteed to be more efficient and with, for example, 2 32" 4K monitors (3840x2160) you can't just read email and run IRONCAD at the same time. You can have several windows of different programs up at the same time! A more affordable alternative would be to have two 27" full HD (1920x1080) monitors next to each other. You may not have the same opportunity for many windows, but you can see very well with icons of the right size on the screen.
Connections
Preferably use HDMI or DisplayPort cables. They can also transmit sound, if you have a built-in speaker in the monitor. Some monitors also have built-in USB ports, so the monitor acts as a USB hub too! However, this requires a USB cable between the computer/docking station and the monitor. In case of graphics problems, it might be worth trying to replace the cable as well.
More and more people are also investing in 4K displays(read more about 4K here). We recommend buying a 4K screen from at least 27" upwards, as full-resolution (3840x2160) objects look very small on smaller screens due to the high resolution and the "small" screen. To compensate for this, Windows has a built-in resolution upscaler, usually 300% DPI or more. This makes the objects appear larger on the screen and the point of having a higher resolution is reduced.
We recommend (for now) mainly Windows 10 Pro x64.
Windows Home versions are not officially supported by IronCAD LLC, so if you encounter problems, it may be due to a built-in limitation in the operating system that is not due to or can be solved by IronCAD LLC.
Windows 11 - officially supported as of IronCAD DCS 2022.
Windows 10 - officially supported as of IronCAD DCS 2016.
Windows 8 and 8.1 - officially supported as of IronCAD DCS 2014.
Windows 7 - no longer officially supported, as of IronCAD DCS 2023.
Earlier versions of IronCAD DCS may be fine to install on Windows 10 (but this cannot be guaranteed) as the latest Windows versions from Windows 7, 8, 10 and 11 still have much in common*.
If you are unsure which version of IronCAD DCS you have, please contact us!
*Windows 10/11 are both "really" Windows NT v10.*, while Win Vista/7/8 were all three Windows NT v6.* and Win 2000/XP were both Windows NT 5.*. Incidentally, NT originally stood for New Technology, but this was removed with Win 2000. Source - Wikipedia.
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