[Darkkingler]

Hi guys, so im new to this forum so please guide me

So im a 4th year engineering student who want to get certified in solidworks.
To do that, I need a computer to get alot of practices on. Im currently using a 3.5 years macbook pro which isnt so great anymore so ill need a new computer soon. I would prefer another MBP if possible but im not sure if it can run Solidworks smoothly? iMac is also an option if it can work. I'll get a PC if it's my last option. I read some thread here that people use VMware? can someone please explain to me what it is and why do people seem to use it to run solidworks? If there a preference between bootcamp and parallel? Which window is best to run Solidworks? THX!

Thank you so much in advance

[BanduraMaker]

VMware Fusion is competitive product to Parallels. I use it to run SolidWorks on an iMac i7 and it runs very well but, certain little thing behave strangely on it. e.g. CTRL selecting entities seems to behave strangely. The other strange thing is that while SolidWorks itself runs very well with 3D accelerated graphics mode, I have a plug-in that doesn't work correctly with that enabled.

Bootcamp will run SolidWorks very well in a pretty much native fashion. If you have room on your hard drive, I would recommend making a bootcamp partition for windows/solidworks and then add VMware fusion (or parallels) so that you can access it in "emergencies". Trick is, you have to install the bootcamp version first and then import it into VMware.

Realize that when you run bootcamp, you'll have no access to OS X.

[leix_99]

I run parallels under my 2011 MBP, because apple said no more XP under their new range of computers, and i seriously hate win vista/7. It runs quite well, however, there's nothing better than working in a desktop.

I suggest you keep your computer, maybe invest in a couple of ram sticks and an SSD and buy a desktop with a Quadro series graphics card, SW will perform infinitely much better in that. My $.02

[DareBee]

Not trying to be rude - but why piss around?

SW was designed IN windows FOR windows.
I get it that Mac guys are loathe to change but just go get a windows PC with Quadro card and lots of Ram for SW and use your Mac for all your other comp stuff

[BanduraMaker]

Not trying to be rude - but why piss around?

Because computers cost money. Yes SW is expensive but when you tack on another $1k+ for a computer & a nice monitor, well, you've tacked on another $1k+ for a computer and monitor!

A mac running boot camp is a genuine windows machine. macs come with pretty good graphics cards that perform well.

A buddy of mine works for one of the local resellers of SolidWorks and when he was over he was amazed at how well SW ran under VMware - it was like 90% of the performance you see on a real box. When running under bootcamp, it's totally there.

If cost and space was not an issue, I would pick up a dedicated box to run SW. In fact, I probably will pick up a dedicated box for SW when income justifies it but for now...I've got to make do with what I have and so far, it's been working pretty darn well.

[tjb1]

Just another Mac hater, I have a 2010 mbp with the 2.66 i7, 8gb ram and a 120gb ssd and it will load assemblies faster than any computer at my school. Im not a fan of Parallels mainly because of the weird keyboard/mouse capturing so I just stick with bootcamp.

[Darkkingler]

thx alot guys~ i'll still have to decide, but if MBP can run SW well, i might see if i can get the new MBP 15" with retina~ (it's quite pricey so ill have to think twice lol)

[sburck]

Running Solidworks well is different from running it fast.

Workstation video cards are optimized for openGL, where as pretty much all multimedia / gaming cards are optimized for directX.

Running Solidworks with a non-openGL optimized card cause some problems. You will see weird artifacts at time, certain graphics functions won't work properly or won't work at all, lines will be awkward and sometimes overlap in places they shouldn't. Zooming in on things can show edges the are supposed to meet overlapping or not touching etc. It's generally not recommended to use non-workstation cards with Cad programs optimized for openGL cards.

By the way, almost all engineering software is made for pc's first. It's just the industry standard. Graphic design software is usually for mac's for an example. Using a pc for your engineering software will give you much less of a headache.

Does it have to be a laptop or can you use a desktop?

[Darkkingler]

Well, I can use a desktop but I figure that getting a good desktop is a bit costly too and I dont get to go around with it. And my current MBP is almost dying so i would need a new laptop anyway. I feel like investing in both is too much money so im hoping i can just buy one great laptop for personal and professional work.

[leix_99]

Well, I can use a desktop but I figure that getting a good desktop is a bit costly too and I dont get to go around with it. And my current MBP is almost dying so i would need a new laptop anyway. I feel like investing in both is too much money so im hoping i can just buy one great laptop for personal and professional work.

Take a look to the lenovo profesional series, nice computers with cuadro cards, IMHO they woth every penny.

[Jaxon]

Well solidworks works very well not only for upgrading your communication department but also strengthening your overall business.

[Doug E Stop]

I currently run S.W. on a p.c. that is still using windows XP, granted my solid works is about 3 tears old but never had a problem. I should also add that when I purchased the old p.c. I put the MAX amount of memory in it and a screamin video card with lots of memory on it too.

[wilsonbuilt]

I use mac & PC together all the time. Mac is for "communications" type stuff - email, word, excel, Adobe graphics software etc ... the "soft" stuff. PC I use for more "hard" engineering-y work - solidworks, autocad, rhino etc.

Macs work fine as far as the processing end of SW goes. My 2008 MBP (4GB ram) has been running SW 2012 fine. For the past year I have been using it nearly every day (though my assemblies are somewhat small).

Where they fall short is graphics. Unless you plan to purchase a Mac Pro for several thou, you'll have to go with software OpenGL and will still sacrifice RealView and your graphics performance in General will suffer.

So I am still in the market for a new CAD machine. Last week I bought a Mac Mini (i7 core, 8 Gb ram), tried it with a boot camp partition of Windows 7 and just returned it today. Though the CPU speed improvement was great, the graphics was still not up to snuff - I had to use Software OpenGL and no Realview. For an upgrade this just was not acceptable. My plan now is to build my own desktop PC and experiment with putting an Mac OS partition on the HD.

[Doug E Stop]

Ideally I would like to use a lap top so I can take it home work there too, however a tower would be cheaper? I also think there is some fairly good software that would allow me to access the tower at work from home???
Please advise if anyone does this and what s.w. they use.
We run a lot of cast Fe so I'm thinking something like tough book type lap top for the shop environment, since my "office" is on top of my tool chest next the mill.

[Chris Duncan]

Solidworks is very specific about what hardware software is required and it changes with each version. They also test and certify video cards and drivers and they keep a list.

You can run it on Mac but it's not recommended and requires an emulator.

Go here to access all this info.

SolidWorks System Requirements | Windows and Mac | SolidWorks