Guidelines for buying a dedicated Abaqus computer

[deyentl]

Dear all,

I'm about to buy a new computer, with the main purpose of Abaqus calculations. I currently have a 4 GB 32 bit computer. My calculations often require 2Gb or more RAM and that's currently limiting me.

Which guidelines do you have for buying a new computer?
-64 bit (to allow for more RAM)
-RAM?
-Graphics card?
-How many cores/what kind
-....

Best regards!

 

[Timusop]

Hi,

I really noticed the difference between 32bit and 64 bit, the operating system also makes a difference to analysis run times. I have 8Gb Ram, but its seems its never enough. Also have a good speed HD helps. I use 2 cores, but know others who use 4 and it does make a difference to the performance.

I look forward to more input from others on this.

 

[loki3000]

if possible, buy a cluster, even a small one, if nothing else.
if not, then invest heavy into proc and ram and maybe a quadro graphic card.

 

[deyentl]

Does a good hard disk (with a high writing speed) really help a lot?

 

[Timusop]

I have found a good HD makes a good overall difference to the speed of writing and reading data from the harddrive, but not sure exactly the performance differences it makes with Abaqus analysis.

 

[gurmeet2003]

You can buy more processors (4-8), but please keep in mind that you will have to pay extra for the software in order to use the extra processors. I would go for 32 GB memory, as it will allow you to run larger models in core.

Gurmeet

Gurmeet
Time is an illusion. Now is the only thing there is.

 

[loki3000]

good point yes. in the end it's all about the licenses.

 

[deyentl]

I'm surprised about the multiple processors. If I buy a quad core, will I only be using one of the cores? Or will I be using 4 licenses?

Can you please explain this a bit more?

 

[loki3000]

one license per core. if you run all 4 licences for the solver, you can't use the CAE gui for example

 

[MechIrl]

This is the most typical licensing setup I've seen:

Running Abaqus analyses requires 4 analysis tokens. Then additional tokens are required for each CPU used. The number of tokens required aren't exactly 1 per CPU but for relatively few CPUs it comes out this way.

So for example a 1 CPU job will require 4 tokens + 1 for the CPU so 5 in total. A 4 CPU job will require 4 tokens and approx 1 for each cpu so the requirement rounds to 8 tokens in total.

CAE tokens are different from analysis tokens. In most licensing setups your CAE usage should not depend on you analysis token usage.

 

[rstupplebeen]

I have 2 computers dual quad core desktop and a dual hexacore CRAY. I make sure to always leave 1 processor free for the OS, CAE and other programs running. My advise is not to skimp on the computer since the annual lease of Abaqus is probably more than what you are planning on spending on the computer. Use that information in the justification of a better computer. A faster computer may allow you to have less tokens for the same analysis speed. I hope this helps.

Rob Stupplebeen

https://sites.google.com/site/robertkstupplebeen/

 

[deyentl]

This was very useful. Thank you!