System requirements for Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Synergy – User Interface and Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Insight - Solvers 2015

Autodesk Support

Oct 8, 2023


Products and versions covered


Issue:

The article provides the system requirements for Autodesk® Simulation Moldflow® Synergy – User Interface and Autodesk® Simulation Moldflow® Insight - Solvers 2015.

Solution:

Supported Windows platforms

Operating SystemService Pack
Windows 8 or 8.1 (64-bit edition)
  • Windows 8/8.1
  • Windows 8/8.1 Pro
  • Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise
 
Windows 7 (64-bit edition)
  • Windows 7 Professional
  • Windows 7 Enterprise
  • Windows 7 Ultimate
SP1 or later

Supported Windows platforms - Insight (Solvers) only

Operating SystemService Pack
Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit edition) 
Windows Server 2012 (64-bit edition) 

Important: Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Synergy - User Interface is not supported on Linux platforms.

Supported Linux platforms - Insight (Solvers) only

Operating SystemBitsHardware Platform
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.8 or higher64AMD or Intel x86-based 64-bit processor
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.2 or higher64AMD or Intel x86-based 64-bit processor

System specifications for Windows platforms

Minimum and recommended hardware and software specifications for Windows platforms
 
System ComponentRecommended
CPU speed2 GHz or higher
Main memory (RAM)8 GB or higher
Virtual memory/swap space4 GB or higher
Disk space12 GB or higher for free disk space (at least 2GB free disk space for installation)
Web browserInternet Explorer 9.0 or later
Video viewerAdobe Flash Player 9.0 or later

Note: Autodesk Simulation Moldflow 2015 products are supported on 64-bit Windows operating systems only.

Third-party software

The help system requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.0 or later. All updated web browsers, including Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Opera are also supported.

The reports generated by Autodesk Simulation Moldflow products are optimized for use with Internet Explorer 9.0 and Office 2000 and later versions (PowerPoint and Word applications only).

System specifications for Linux platforms

Minimum and recommended hardware and software specifications for Linux platforms
 
System ComponentRecommended
CPU speed1 GHz or higher
Main memory (RAM)2 GB or higher
Virtual memory/swap space1 GB or higher
Disk space4 GB or higher for free disk space (at least 600 MB free disk space for installation)

Note: The more physical memory available, the better Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Insight will perform, especially when analyzing larger models. If youplan to use the Cool (BEM) or Warp solvers on large models, or any of the 3D modules extensively, you should consider installing 2.0 GB of RAM per processor core.

Disk space requirements

The table below outlines the recommended disk space allocation for installing the software and optional companion products.

Installation disk space requirements
 
Software installedInstalled size on disk (approximate)
Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Synergy - User Interface1.2 GB
Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Insight - Solvers600 MB
Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Design Link900 MB
Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Communicator500 MB

Note: During the installation process you will need approximately double the disk space specified above.


Project directory disk space requirements

The disk space requirement for a study depends on the analysis sequence and the size of the model. A 3D Cool (BEM) or 3D Warp analysis, of a large, complex model, could require up to 10 GB of disk space in the project directory.


Disk space requirements for typical studies
 
Analysis sequenceAnalysis technologyDisk space required in the
project directory (approximate)
Fill+Pack (20,000 element model)Midplane500 MB
Fill+Pack+Cool (BEM)Midplane700 MB
Fill+Pack+Cool (BEM)+WarpMidplane900 MB
Fill+Pack (20,000 element model)Dual Domain500 MB
Fill+Pack+Cool (FEM)
(20,000 element model)
Dual Domain1.5 GB
Fill+Pack (30,000 tetrahedra model)3D1 GB
Fill+Pack+Cool (FEM) (30,000 tetrahedra model)3D2 GB
Fill+Pack+Cool (BEM) (30,000 tetrahedra model)3D10 GB1
1 All 3D Cool (BEM) analyses have high disk space requirements for the temporary directory.

Graphics requirements

The graphic requirements listed here reflect the minimum required to obtain acceptable simulations.
  • 512 MB DRAM or higher, OpenGL-capable graphics card. Ensure you have installed the latest driver for your card. Please refer to the card manufacturer's website for drivers and instructions.
  • 24-bit color setting at 1280 x 1024 or higher screen resolution.

Note: Autodesk does not guarantee the use of any particular graphics card. Autodesk will make every effort to work with card manufacturers to resolve any problems that may arise in the use of our software with a particular card. However, we cannot guarantee that all graphics-related issues can be fixed, as they may lie within the card manufacturer's drivers rather than Autodesk software.

Recommended

The software makes extensive use of OpenGL and texture mapping, therefore any device offering OpenGL acceleration and texture memory will give improved performance.

Unsupported graphics cards

Use of the following graphics card and drivers will potentially cause your computer to lock up.

Graphics cardDriver
Geforce GT220320.18-desktop-win8-win7-winvista-64bit-englishwhql
320.49-desktop-win8-win7-winvista-64bit-englishwhql
331.65-desktop-win8-win7-winvista-64bit-englishwhql

This card, in conjunction with these drivers, is not supported for use with Autodesk Simulation Moldflow products and should not be used, to avoid potential problems.
 

GPU card

This software takes advantage of GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) to improve analysis time. Through GPU technology, you can benefit from the following:
 
Reduced load on the CPU
GPU cards have their own built-in memory and have the ability to resolve complex simulations. The additional built-in processing power in GPUs relieves task-intensive strain on the CPU, enabling your application to run faster.
 
Shortened analysis time  
The software leverages the processing power offered by GPU cards. This allows analyses to run at a much greater speed, thus resulting in faster analysis times. On a very large model, this can reduce the analysis time by a few hours.
 
Efficient use of data-parallel computing  
GPU technology and our parallel solver complement each other. If you use GPU technology in conjunction with a parallel solver, you can achieve even greater speed improvements. By default, the software automatically detects and uses the GPU if one is available on the computer and it is able to deliver a speed enhancement compared with using the CPU.

Note: Use of GPU technology is supported in 3D Fill+Pack and 3D Flow analyses, Cool (FEM) analyses, and 3D Warp analyses.

Compatible graphics card
You will benefit from speed enhancements offered by GPU technology only if you have a compatible graphics card installed. The minimum required hardware is a card capable of double-precision (64-bit floating point precision) computations.
 
To determine if you have a compatible GPU card installed, please check the specifications provided by the card's manufacturer.
 
NVIDIA GPU card
These cards utilize CUDA technology. Cards which meet these requirements will have a CUDA Compute Capability of 1.3 or higher.
 
AMD GPU card
These cards utilize OpenCL technology. For optimal performance when using a GPU card, it is important that the latest drivers are installed.

Note: The automatic Windows Update function may not install the most recent version of the drivers.

Supported operating system
GPU technology is available on all Windows operating systems that are supported by Autodesk Simulation Moldflow products.
 

GPU card limitations

Certain constraints apply when using GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) technology within Autodesk Moldflow software.
 
Analysis types
GPU technology is supported by the 3D Fill+Pack, 3D Flow, Cool (FEM) and 3D Warp solvers for thermoplastic materials and all but 3D Warp for thermoset materials.
 
Multiple GPUs
Some graphics cards have multiple GPUs. At present, Autodesk Simulation Moldflow software does not support multiple GPUs. If your card has multiple GPUs, the analysis will select the fastest GPU among the available GPUs with adequate memory to perform the analysis.

Maximum model size
The analysis you run is restricted by the size of the available memory on the GPU. For example, if your GPU card memory size is not large enough to run the full model, then the analysis will use the GPU for smaller time steps when the model is partially filled.

The analysis size is determined by the number of elements a model has. The more elements there are, the bigger the model size. Approximately one tetrahedral element equates to 1 KB of memory, so a model with 1 million elements will require 1 GB of device memory on the GPU card to run the model completely on the GPU.

Computer stops responding
When running computation-intensive tasks on a GPU card, the card will be diverted from other tasks such as redrawing the Windows desktop or refreshing other applications. This can be especially noticeable when running multiple jobs simultaneously or when running a very large analysis.
 
Important: In extreme circumstances, Microsoft Windows may determine that the card has reached a locked-up state and trigger a reset of the graphics drivers. If this happens, it is possible that the system will stop responding. Details on this behavior are available from Microsoft.
 
Windows Remote Desktop
Windows Remote Desktop does not support direct access to GPU resources. If an analysis which is set to use GPU resources is launched through a Remote Desktop command line (for example, using the runstudy command), it will not be able to utilize the GPU card on the remote machine.

Launching and running a job in Windows 7, or later
There is a limitation for users of Windows 7, or later, when using GPU technology. There must be at least one user logged into the server for a GPU card to be accessed. If you launch a job locally on a Windows 7, or later, machine, or if you remotely launch a job through Job Manager where the remote server is a Windows 7, or later, machine, ensure that someone is logged into the server for the duration of the analysis. Logging out will cause the analysis to fail.

GPU card drivers
Ensure that you are using the latest driver for any installed card. You may need to download and install the latest driver manually.
 
Note: The automatic Windows Update function may not install the most recent version of the driver.

Products:

Moldflow Insight;

Versions:

2015;


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