3D - 2

Does Solidworks 2008 use multiple processors in a given task?

I am planning to upgrade my system to be able to run large multiple assemblies 3D drawings using Solidworks 2008 COSMOSworks FEA Analysis. Right now my CAD software is running great but it cannot analyze very large 3D drawings and I can see that only 1 core is being maxed out in Windows Task Manager when it does, then it prompts Not enough memory and shuts down the application. Now, I am planning to upgrade my mother board to Intel D5400 XS using 2 pairs of 4G Fully Buffered DIMM (FB DIMM) DDR2 memory cards (total of 16G) retaining my 1G video card, Windows XP 32Bit OS and Intel dual core 3.0 chip (compatible). I just want to know if my proposed upgrade will make use both cores at the same time, and would the software utilize both cores simultaneously, if the system is capable whenever possible, for large 3D calculations. Hope you guys can help me out! Thanks!

Public Comments

1. Core allocation is managed by the OS. If application is just running a single thread it will use Core 0 and OS will run in Core 1. If you will use more than 4GB RAM you need to use 64 bit OS. 32 bit OS will typically be able to use only ~3.5GB RAM. Here's my cheap/ageing rig that can fully utilize my 6GB RAM. http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=571215 It is using the so far awesome Windows 7RC Ultimate (64bit).