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New Computer for Solidworks question: 1 Processor with 12 Core or 2 processors with 4 core each

Question asked by S. Casale on Jun 5, 2018
Latest reply on Jun 7, 2018 by Dave Bear

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As I'm the lucky winner of the new computer at my company, we are about to purchase a new box for my workstation. Without me going into detail as this box will have at least 32g of Ram, we will placing the order tomorrow...

We've recently learned that SolidWorks does in fact use multi-core for processing (not just simulation) in the the thread: Best Practices for Large Assembly Management in SOLIDWORKS by way of Nick Birkett-Smith.

Which would be better of our Detailed SolidWorks use, 1 Processor with 12 Core or 2 processors with 4 cores each? Disregard price as they are the virtually the same.

I was under the assumption SW only used 1 core until using simulation calc's and rendering.

No one else has this question

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Logan Atkins Jun 5, 2018 4:21 PM
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The article below may help, it was done with Solidworks 2016 but i bet it is still applicable

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Solidworks-2016-Multi-Core-Performance-741/
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Dennis Dohogne Jun 5, 2018 4:22 PM
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Pick the one with the faster processor speed.
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Nick Birkett-Smith Jun 5, 2018 5:21 PM
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S. Casale wrote:

<snip>

We've recently learned that SolidWorks does in fact use multi-core for processing (not just simulation) in the the thread: Best Practices for Large Assembly Management in SOLIDWORKS by way of Nick Birkett-Smith.

Hi S. Casale
The multi-core processing I mentioned in that other topic is very specific to retesselating graphics data. The majority of a typical part/assembly rebuild operation is single threaded.
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- Kelvin Lamport @ Nick Birkett-Smith on Jun 5, 2018 6:41 PM
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  So to answer the OPs question, which CPU would you reccommend?
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  - Nick Birkett-Smith @ Kelvin Lamport on Jun 6, 2018 10:09 AM
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    Kelvin Lamport wrote:
    
    So to answer the OPs question, which CPU would you reccommend?
    As others have mentioned, single-core performance is important for general SOLIDWORKS usage, so I'd go with whichever of the CPUs has the best single-core performance. I don't know for certain which that is, but I'd take a guess that a single core of the four core CPU likely outperforms a single core of the 12 core CPU.
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Jeff Setzer Jun 5, 2018 5:39 PM
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Current best CPU for SOLIDWORKS CAD is the Intel Core i7-8700K, followed very closely by its predecessor (i7-7700K). SIngle-core performance is paramount for SOLIDWORKS CAD, as others have stated.
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Ruben Balderrama Jun 6, 2018 7:48 AM
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Here something for you:
SOLIDWORKS | Hardware & System Requirements | SOLIDWORKS
Hardware Advice for SOLIDWORKS | Solid Solutions
http://h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/GetPDF.aspx/4AA5-7540ENW
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Alin Vargatu Jun 6, 2018 7:03 AM
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Intel Announces the Core i7-8086K: Coffee Lake at 5 GHz
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- Ned Hutchinson @ Alin Vargatu on Jun 7, 2018 2:59 AM
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  My boss said i could upgrade to something lightning fast
  this is what im thinking
  can also go up to 64 gb ram
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  - Heiko Sohnholz @ Ned Hutchinson on Jun 7, 2018 3:22 AM
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    Hello,
    a six core with up to 4.9 GHz sounds good. And even 4.66 when all core are running - that's really good!
    I would add more memory - 64 GB.
    Why does this computer don't use a m.2 SSD? Would be even faster - but not more expensive.
    The graphics card seems to be a little small - i would recommend at least a P4000 to go one step further in the "lightning fast" direction.
    I think the choice between Titanium Grey or Black Cover will make no difference in speed. ;-)
    Cheers, Heiko
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  - Dave Bear @ Ned Hutchinson on Jun 7, 2018 5:11 AM
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    Ned Hutchinson wrote:
    
    My boss said i could upgrade to something lightning fast
    this is what im thinking
    can also go up to 64 gb ram
    
    It could have a bright pink door for all I care! I'd just like one.
    
    Dave.
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Jack Brooker Jun 7, 2018 3:52 AM
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Like everyone else has said, regarding general solidworks use Clock speed is king
When looking at the clock speed as well, its important to look at the Turbo speed, this applies to solidworks, as this is what a single cores clock speed will throttle to under load
Unfortunately core count barely ever comes into effect unless you're rendering, in which case there is an almost direct correlation between increasing core count and decreasing render time

Rehashing what logan said at the beginning, although this is 2016, it is still relevant to the current version (2018)

What might also be important to consider is the additional components in your system. While the processor contributes greatly to the overall speed at which Solidworks and your computer functions, larger memory, faster storage, and a better GPU also make a huge difference. Considering M.2 storage for locally stored active parts is something that I would highly recommend, especially if you're working with large assemblies.

Also, unless you're doing simulation work and/or require ECC memory, Xeons are not worth their while. The current 8th gen Coffee lake CPUs from Intel are what you want to focus on. Currently the i7-8700k is the best choice, with the unreleased i7-8086k being the future choice
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- Heiko Sohnholz @ Jack Brooker on Jun 7, 2018 5:56 AM
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  Unfortunately core count barely ever comes into effect unless you're rendering, in which case there is an almost direct correlation between increasing core count and decreasing render time
  
  But nowadays there has been a major reshuffling of the cards with SOLIDWORKS Visualize. It uses primarily the 10x faster graphics card for rendering (on NVidia cards). So for this case it's a good idea to choose the P4000 instead an much more expensive 12-core-CPU.
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  - Jack Brooker @ Heiko Sohnholz on Jun 7, 2018 4:52 AM
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    Yes thats true actually, cuda core rendering has made GPUs vital to Solidworks Visualize rendering. I've found for the parts my company wants to render, the Photoview renderer produces a better looking result - that's why it didn't cross my mind
    
    Heiko Sohnholz wrote:
    
    So for this case it's a good idea to choose the P4000 instead an much more expensive 12-core-CPU.
    S. Casale If your company uses Visualize over Photoview for rendering, take note of this
    
    Also on another note - is there any knowledge as to whether Photoview will be getting support for cuda core rendering at any point in the near future? This would be hugely beneficial
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New Computer for Solidworks question: 1 Processor with 12 Core or 2 processors with 4 core each

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