CST Studio Suite & Opera Recommended Hardware
EM simulations can be classified as high performance computing tasks. This means that computers used for CST applications must meet high requirements in terms of CPU, RAM, and graphical specifications in order to achieve optimal performance. Sufficient power supply and cooling must also be ensured for the workstation or server. We strongly recommend buying a complete package from a brand-name manufacturer, e.g. DELL, HP, or IBM, and that the chosen hardware meets the following requirements.
| Minimum | High end server/ workstation | Notes for recommended |
x86-64 Intel or AMD | Dual 4th Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors or Dual 4th Gen AMD EPYC™ Processors (also known as “Genoa“) | We recommend high processor base clock frequency (>3 GHz) and 16-24 cores per CPU | |
32GB | 64-128 GB per CPU | We recommend fastest RAM memory modules available, currently DDR4 or DDR5 memory type. | |
100% OpenGL compatible graphics card | NVIDIA or AMD card dedicated |
| |
50GB of free disk space | At least 500GB hard disk drive | We recommend SSDs for better performance. | |
GPU computing* | Supported GPU card | High-end NVIDIA Quadro®, RTX™ or Tesla® card | Please refer to the |
MPI computing* | Dedicated compute cluster hardware |
| Fast network interconnects with low latency is strongly recommended.
|
Distributed computing* | For optimal simulation performance, the solver servers should run on separate computers from the frontend and the main controller. A fast network connection | ||
Minimum requirement: x86-64 CPU from Intel or AMD
For Intel processors, we recommend the latest Intel® Xeon® processors in a dual socket configuration for a high-end workstation or server configuration; currently these are the 4th Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors, also known as “Sapphire Rapids“.
For AMD processors, we recommend AMD EPYC™ 7004 Series processors in a dual socket configuration for a high-end workstation or server configuration; currently these are the 4th Gen AMD EPYC™ Processors also known as “Genoa“.
Please note that the processor’s turbo frequency cannot usually be used for long periods due to electrical and thermal limits, so for general performance and for long simulation times the base frequency gives a more realistic performance expectation.
We also recommend 8-16 cores per CPU for a general-purpose simulation workstation. It is in general advisable to have a high processor base frequency rather than a large amount of cores. The performance scaling as a function of number of cores depends on the used solver technology, the simulation model, and other factors.
For some applications and solver technologies, a high amount of processor cores and more than two processors may be a good option to obtain better performance. If you are planning a large hardware investment in high-end HPC hardware like a cluster system or a system with more than two CPU sockets, we recommend that you contact our technical support team directly so that we can help you during the configuration process.
A single processor system with a high base clock frequency may also deliver sufficient simulation performance for many applications. For that purpose, we recommend the Intel® Xeon® or AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ processor. The above advice is also valid for such configurations.
Minimum requirement: At least 32 GB for a typical simulation workstation
Simulation memory requirement is highly application and solver technology dependent. For a high-end workstation or server system, we recommend at least 64-128 GB RAM per CPU depending on the complexity of your application and the used solver technology. We recommend the fastest RAM memory module available, currently DDR4 or DDR5 memory.
To make use of the total available memory bandwidth in the system, the memory modules should be arranged in such a way that it occupies all the memory channels provided for the system memory per processor. For the recommended Intel and AMD processors above, it should be 8 or 12 memory modules per processor. A high memory channel bandwidth is essential to obtain the best possible performance for many of the CST solvers. The maximum memory channel bandwidth depends on the number of RAM modules as well as the type of the modules. Please ask your hardware vendor to provide you with a configuration that achieves the best possible memory channel bandwidth.
Minimum requirement: 100% OpenGL compatible graphics card
For the best performance of the 3D modeling and post-processing interface, we recommend a fast 3D graphics card. Both NVIDIA and AMD cards are well tested with CST Studio Suite & Opera and so we recommend using a card of this series that is dedicated to CAD/CAE applications.
Minimum requirement: 50GB of free disk space for the installation of CST Studio Suite.
The base installation of CST Studio Suite requires approximately 7GB of disk space while additional space is required for the installation of the service packs and other CST Studio Suite programs and tools.
Simulations may generate a lot of data, so sufficient storage space should be ensured. We recommend at least a 500 GB hard disk drive for a typical simulation workstation. You may use SSDs for storage, but they are not necessary for good simulation performance.
GPU Computing*
Minimum requirement: A supported GPU card, please see the GPU Computing Guide.
The high memory bandwidth and parallel processing abilities of GPU cards provide a significant simulation speed-up compared to CPU computing alone. Options are available for server-class and workstation configurations. Please see the GPU Computing Guide for a list of supported GPU devices as well as information about the requirements that the host system must fulfill.
MPI Computing*
Some CST Studio Suite solvers support MPI computing. It typically requires dedicated compute cluster hardware (e.g. InfiniBand network interconnects). Please refer to the MPI Computing Guide for more information about the requirements and general setup information.
If you are planning a large hardware investment in high-end HPC hardware like a cluster system, we strongly recommend that you contact us directly so that we can help you during the configuration process.
Distributed Computing*
Distributed computing divides the simulation workload across three different components: frontend, main controller, and one or more solver servers. For optimal simulation performance, the solver servers should run on separate computers from the frontend and the main controller. A fast network connection between the solvers servers, the main controller, and the frontend is recommended as simulations may generate a lot of data that needs to be transferred.
For solver server computers the above advice for hardware configuration is valid, as they run the most resource intensive part of the simulation. The frontend is used mainly for post-processing and graphical analysis of the results, so it does not require powerful hardware. The main controller maintains a simple job queue and transfers simulation data from the solver servers to the frontend, so it also does not require powerful hardware.
Minimum requirement: A supported 64-bit operating system,
Please see the supported operating systems.
We support the 64-bit Microsoft Windows operating systems as well the 64-bit Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Suse Linux Enterprise versions. For more information on supported version, please refer to the supported operating systems document.
The following system configurations provide examples of low-end and high-end workstations that are suited to EM simulations using CST Studio Suite and Opera.
Low-End Configuration (Laptop):
- Windows 11
- Intel® Core™ i7 processor 14700KF 14th Generation
- 100% OpenGL compatible graphics hardware, e.g. NVIDIA® T600
- 32 GB (2 x 16 GB DIMMs) DDR5 5600 MT/s RAM
- 1TB SSD
Note that this configuration is not expected to deliver ideal performance for most practical use-cases. This configuration is appropriate for simple simulations, post-processing calculations and graphical rendering purposes.
High-End Configuration (Workstation):
- Windows 11Pro
- Dual Intel® Xeon® Gold 6426Y Processor, 16 cores per processor, 2.50 GHz base clock
- (OR) Dual AMD EPYC™ 9124 Processor, 16 cores per processor, 3.0 GHz base clock
- GPU acceleration/graphics: NVIDIA RTX™ 6000 Ada**
- 256 GB (16 x 16 GB DIMMs) DDR5 4800 MT/s RAM in case of 4th Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processor
- (OR) 384 GB (24 x 16 GB DIMMs) DDR5 4800 MT/s RAM in case of 4th Generation AMD EPYC™ Processor
- 4TB SSD
High-End Configuration (Server):
- RHEL 9 (or) Windows Server 2022
- Dual AMD EPYC™ 9274F Processor, 24 cores per processor, 4.05 GHz base clock
- (OR) Dual Intel® Xeon® Gold 6444Y Processor, 16 cores per processor, 3.60 GHz base clock
- GPU acceleration/graphics: NVIDIA L40 GPU**
- 384 GB (24 x 16 GB DIMMs) DDR5-4800 MT/s RAM in case of 4th Generation AMD EPYC™ Processor
- (OR) 256 GB (16 x 16 GB DIMMs) DDR5-4800 MT/s RAM in case of 4th Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processor
- 4TB SSD
If a system is used only for results post-processing and analysis, e.g. for distributed computing frontend, then it does not need powerful hardware. A powerful graphics card and enough disk space for storing the results are usually sufficient.
If you have further questions, our technical support engineers are available to review your desired hardware configuration and provide you with feedback and suggestions to improve it.
NOTE: SIMULIA assumes no liability for any problems caused by this hardware recommendations.
*This feature is available for selected solvers in CST Studio Suite only and not available in Opera. Please refer to the relevant guide or online help for more information.
** This GPU has poor double precision and so not recommended for all solvers. Please refer section 2.1 in the GPU computing Guide.
*This feature is available for selected solvers in CST Studio Suite only and not available in Opera. Please refer to the relevant guide or online help for more information.