Hardware Recommendations and Certifications

View the most recent recommended graphic boards, laptops and desktop hardware configurations.

Recommended Graphics Boards

Recommended CAE/CAD graphic boards to use with Altair Simulation applications.

The most recent vendor/manufacturer drivers should be used and all driver support for these cards should be addressed to the appropriate manufacturer of the graphic board.
Note: AMD graphics cards will no longer be supported on Linux x86_64 operating systems in Altair Simulation 2022 and higher products.

AMD Graphics Cards

Products GPU Model Driver Version
Radeon™ Pro W6800

W6600

VII

WX 9100

W5700

WX 8200

W5500

WX 7100

WX 5100

WX 4100

WX 3200

WX 3100

WX 2100
Windows 10 (64-bit)
21.Q4
Linux (64-bit)
Not Supported
Radeon™ Pro Mobility WX 7130

WX 7100

WX 4170

WX 4150

WX 4130

WX 3100

WX 2100
Windows 10 (64-bit)
21.Q4
Linux (64-bit)
Not Supported

NVIDIA Graphics Boards

Products GPU Model Driver Version
M

(Maxwell)

 P

(Pascal)

 V

(Volta)

 RTX

(Turing)

 A*

(Ampere)
Quadro Series M2000

M4000

M5000

M6000

 P400

P420

P600

P620

P1000

P2000

P2200

P4000

P5000

P5200

P6000

GP100

 GV100 RTX 3000

RTX 4000

RTX 5000

RTX 6000

RTX 8000

T400

T600

T1000

 RTX A2000

RTX A3000

RTX A4000

RTX A5000

RTX A6000
Windows 10 (64-bit)
472.47
Linux (64-bit) ODE Long Live
470.94
Quadro Mobility M500M

M520M

M600M

M620M

M1000M

M2000M

M2200M

M3000M

M4000M

M5000M

 P500

P520

P600

P620

P1000

P2000

P3000

P3200

P4000

P4200

P5000

P5200

 N/A T400

T600

T1000

T1200

T2000

RTX 3000

RTX 4000

RTX 5000

 RTX A2000

RTX A3000

RTX A4000

RTX A5000
Windows 10 (64-bit)
472.47
Linux (64-bit) ODE Long Live
470.94
Note:
Minimum OpenGL 3.2 and OpenCL 2.1 Requirement
Virtual server/clients and VirtualGL setups may work, but are not officially tested or supported.
NVIDIA Optimus or AMD Switchable Graphics
In order to ensure best performance, these options should be set to use discrete NVIDIA or AMD GPU and not the Intel GPU.
Power Options and Mobility Center
In order to ensure best performance, these options should be maximum performance for both GPU and CPU.
Graphics Driver Corruption or Installation Issues
In order to ensure best driver compatibility, it is recommended to use “Custom” and “Clean” install options instead of the general “Express” driver installer options.

Recommended Workstation Desktop and Laptop/Notebook Hardware

DELL Workstations - Desktops (1 of 3)

Product Workstation Model
Precision Workstation 3240C 3420T / 3430T 3440 SFF 3450 SFF
NVIDIA Quadro GPU P400

P620

P1000

RTX 3000

 P400

P600

P620

P1000

 P400

P620

P1000

 P400

P620

P1000

T400

T600

T1000
AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU   WX2100

WX3100

WX4100

WX3200 WX3200

DELL Workstations - Desktops (2 of 3)

Product Workstation Model
Precision Workstation 3460 (mini) 3650 3930 Rack
NVIDIA Quadro GPU RTX 3000 P400

P620

P1000

P2200

T400

T600

T1000

RTX 4000

RTX 5000

RTX A2000

RTX A4000

RTX A5000

RTX A6000

 P400

P620

P1000

P2200

T400

T600

T1000

RTX 4000

RTX 5000

RTX A2000
AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU N/A

W5500

W5700

W6600

W6800

WX3200

 W5500

W5700

WX3200

DELL Workstations - Desktops (3 of 3)

Product Workstation Model
Precision Workstation 5810 5820 / 7820 / 7920 7920 Rack
NVIDIA Quadro GPU P400

P600

P1000

P2000

P4000

P6000

 P400

P620

P1000

P2200

T400

T600

T1000

RTX 4000

RTX 5000

RTX 6000

RTX 8000

RTX A2000

RTX A4000

RTX A5000

RTX A6000

 P400

P620

P1000

P2200

T400

T600

T1000

RTX 4000

RTX 5000

RTX 6000

RTX 8000

RTX A2000

RTX A4000

RTX A5000

RTX A6000
AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU W7100

W8100

W9100

WX4100

WX5100

WX7100

W5500

W5700

W6600

W6800

WX3200

 W5500

W5700

WX3200

DELL Workstations - Laptops (1 of 5)

Product Workstation Model
Precision Workstation 3550 3551 3560 3561
NVIDIA Quadro GPU P520 P620 T500 T600

T1200
AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU N/A N/A N/A N/A

DELL Workstations - Laptops (2 of 5)

Product Workstation Model
Precision Workstation 5530 5540 / 5740 5520 AIO 5520
NVIDIA Quadro GPU P1000M

P2000M

 T1000

T2000

RTX 3000*

 N/A M1200M
AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU N/A N/A WX 4150 N/A

DELL Workstations - Laptops (3 of 5)

Product Workstation Model
Precision Workstation 5550 / 5750* 5560 5720 5760
NVIDIA Quadro GPU T1000

T2000

RTX 3000*

 T1200

RTX A2000

 N/A RTX A2000

RTX A3000
AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU N/A N/A WX7100M N/A

DELL Workstations - Laptops (4 of 5)

Product Workstation Model
Precision Workstation 7520 7530 7540 / 7740 7550 / 7750
NVIDIA Quadro GPU P3000M

P5000M

 P2000M

P3200M

P4000M

 T1000

T2000

RTX 3000

RTX 4000

RTX 5000

 T1000

T2000

RTX 3000

RTX 4000

RTX 5000
AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU WX 7100 WX 4150 WX 3200

WX 7130

N/A

DELL Workstations - Laptops (5 of 5)

Product Workstation Model
Precision Workstation 7560 7720 7730 7760
NVIDIA Quadro GPU T1200

RTX A2000

RTX A3000

RTX A4000

RTX A5000

 M1200M

P3000M

P4000M

P5000M

 P3200M

P4200M

P5200M

 T1200

RTX A3000

RTX A4000

RTX A5000
AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU N/A WX 7100 WX 4150

WX 7100

N/A

Lenovo Workstations - Desktops (1 of 2)

Product Workstation Model
Lenovo ThinkStation P320 SFF /

P320 TWR*

 P330 SFF /

P330 TWR*

 P340 SFF /

P340 TWR*

 P348 P350 SFF /

P350 TWR*
NVIDIA Quadro GPU (442.92 or higher) P400

P600

P1000

P2000*

P4000*

 P400

P620

P1000

P2000*

P2200*

P4000*

 P400

P620

P1000

P2200

RTX A2000

RTX 4000*

RTX 5000*

RTX A4000*

T400

T600

T1000

 T400

T600

T1000

 P2200

RTX A2000

RTX A4000*

RTX A5000*

T400

T600

T1000
AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU N/A N/A N/A    

Lenovo Workstations - Desktops (2 of 2)

Product Workstation Model
Lenovo ThinkStation P350 Tiny P520* / P520c P620 (AMD Ryzen PRO 3975X) P720 / P920 NEC (mini)
NVIDIA Quadro GPU (442.92 or higher) P1000

T600

T1000

 P400

P620

P1000

P2200

RTX 4000

RTX 5000

RTX 6000*

RTX A2000

RTX A4000

RTX A4500

RTX A5000

RTX A6000*

T400

T600

T1000

 GP100

P620

P1000

P2200

RTX 4000

RTX 5000

RTX 6000

RTX 8000

RTX A2000

RTX A4000

RTX A4500

RTX A5000

RTX A6000

T400

T600

T1000

 P400

P620

P1000

P2200

RTX 4000

RTX 5000

RTX 6000

RTX 8000

RTX A2000

RTX A4000

RTX A4500

RTX A5000

RTX A6000

T400

T600

T1000

 P1000
AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU   N/A W5500

W5700

N/A N/A

Lenovo Workstations - Laptops (*Windows 10 support only) (1 of 4)

Product Workstation Model
Lenovo ThinkPad P1

Gen1

 P1

Gen2*

 P1

Gen3

 P1

Gen4

 P14s P14s

Gen1

 P14s

Gen2
NVIDIA Quadro GPU P1000M

P2000M

 T1000

T2000

 T1000

T2000

 T1200

RTX A2000

RTX A3000

RTX A4000

RTX A5000

 P520 P520 T500
AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 4750U with Radeon Graphics (2 GB)

AMD APU 4400

 AMD APU 5500

Lenovo Workstations - Laptops (*Windows 10 support only) (2 of 4)

Product Workstation Model
Lenovo ThinkPad P15

Gen1

 P15

Gen2

 P15s

Gen1

 P15s

Gen2

 P15v

Gen1

 P15v

Gen2

 P17

Gen1
NVIDIA Quadro GPU T1000

T2000

RTX 3000

RTX 4000

 T500

T1200

RTX A2000

RTX A3000

RTX A4000

RTX A5000

 P520 T500 P620 T600

T1200

RTX A2000

 T1000

T2000

RTX 3000

RTX 4000

RTX 5000
AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU N/A N/A N/A   N/A N/A N/A

Lenovo Workstations - Laptops (*Windows 10 support only) (3 of 4)

Product Workstation Model
Lenovo ThinkPad P17

Gen2

 P40

Yoga

 P43s* P50 P50s P51 P51s
NVIDIA Quadro GPU T1200

RTX A2000

RTX A3000

RTX A4000

RTX A5000

 M500M P520 M1000M

M2000M

 M500M M1200M

M2200M

 M520M
AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Lenovo Workstations - Laptops (*Windows 10 support only) (4 of 4)

Product Workstation Model
Lenovo ThinkPad P52 P52s P53* P53s* P71 P72 P73*
NVIDIA Quadro GPU (442.92 or higher) P1000

P2000

P3200

 P500 T1000

T2000

RTX 3000

RTX 4000

 P520 M620M

P3000

P4000

P5000

 P600

P2000

P3200

P4200

P5200

 P620

T2000

RTX 3000

RTX 4000

RTX 5000
AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Acer Workstations and Laptops (*Windows 10 support only)

Product Workstation Model
Acer ConceptD

500*

 ConceptD

700*

 Veriton

K8
NVIDIA Quadro GPU RTX 4000 RTX 4000 RTX 4000
AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU N/A N/A N/A
Product Mobile Workstation Model
Acer ConceptD 3

Pro*

 ConceptD 3

Ezel Pro*

 ConceptD 5

Pro*

 ConceptD 7

Pro*

 ConceptD 7

Ezel Pro*
NVIDIA Quadro GPU T1000

T1000

 RTX 3000 RTX 3000 RTX 5000
AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Altos Workstations and Laptops (*Windows 10 support only)

Product Workstation Model
Altos

Computing

 BrainSphere™

P130 F5

 BrainSphere™

P530 F4
NVIDIA Quadro GPU RTX 2000 K420

P400

K620

K1200

P1000

P2000

P4000

P5000

P6000

GP100

RTX 2000

RTX 4000

RTX 5000
AMD Radeon™ Pro GPU N/A N/A

Comments

For NVIDIA GPU based laptops/notebooks the Optimus power saving option in the BIOS should be disabled and the NVIDIA drivers properly installed for optimal performance in Altair Simulation products.

For AMD GPU based laptops/notebooks; the Enduro/Switchable Graphics power saving option should be disabled and the AMD drivers properly installed for optimal performance in Altair Simulation products.

Optimus (Intel/NVIDIA) enabled drivers may create performance issues with notebooks/laptops compared to a dedicated non-shared GPU driver. Disabling the Optimus feature in BIOS, if available, will help give the best overall graphics performance.

Disable nView Window manager under NVIDIA drivers if you experience random crashes and/or issues.

All power saving modes, settings and governors for CPU frequencies and GPU performance should be set to maximum settings in order to get the optimal performance out of Altair Simulation products. This includes smooth graphics and high frame rates (FPS) on Windows and Linux platforms.

Altair Simulation 2022 Solver Hardware Configuration Recommendations

Recommended hardware configurations for Altair Solvers.

AcuSolve Solver

Table 1.
Problem Size Small Medium Large
Typical Workload

Steady State or Transient

 Steady state: Up to 1M nodes

Transient: Up to 100K nodes

 Steady state: Up to 10M nodes

Transient: Up to 1M nodes

 Steady state: Greater than 10M nodes

Transient: Greater than 1M nodes
Throughput 1 Single job Single job Single job
CPU 2 Dual CPU socket

For example, Intel Xeon Gold “Cascade Lake” or “Ice Lake” or AMD EPYC 7002 or 7003 series

 Dual CPU socket

For example, Intel Xeon Gold “Cascade Lake” or “Ice Lake” or AMD EPYC 7002 or 7003 series

 Dual CPU socket

For example, Intel Xeon Gold “Cascade Lake” or “Ice Lake” or AMD EPYC 7002 or 7003 series
Number of CPU / node 1-4 1-4 1-4
Number of cores / node 32 – 128 32 – 128 32 – 128
Number of nodes 1-8 8 – 48 >48
Minimum Memory Configuration / node 3 300MB to 3GB 3GB to 30GB More than 30GB

(3KB per CFD node)
Storage (minimum) 500 GB SATA or SSD 1.5 TB local storage 1.5 TB local storage
Network Interconnect Gigabit Ethernet Or Infiniband Infiniband Infiniband
Operating System Linux kernel 2.6.32 or higher

Windows 7 or 10

 Linux kernel 2.6.32 or higher Linux kernel 2.6.32 or higher
GPU Yes Yes Yes
MPI Intel MPI 2018.4 or higher Intel MPI 2018.4 or higher Intel MPI 2018.4 or higher
Setup

(2000-3000 computational nodes per core)

 Pure OpenMP or Hybrid OpenMP/MPI Hybrid OpenMP/MPI Hybrid OpenMP/MPI
Hyper Threading Not recommended Not recommended Not recommended

Feko Solver

Table 2.
Problem Size Small Medium Large
General recommendations given for MoM and MLFMM dependent on problem size in terms of number of unknowns / mesh elements. For other solution methods (FEM, FDTD, RL-GO, PO, UTD) many factors to be considered. Pure MoM: less than 50k unknowns.

MLFMM: between 100k and 500k unknowns

 Pure MoM: between 50k and 100k unknowns.

MLFMM: between 500k and 5M unknowns

 Pure MoM: >100k unknowns

MLFMM: >5M unknowns
Throughput 1 Single job Single large job or few jobs in parallel Single very large job or multiple jobs
CPU 2 Dual CPU socket

For example, Intel Xeon Gold “Cascade Lake” or “Ice Lake” or later

 Dual CPU socket

For example, Intel Xeon Gold “Cascade Lake” or “Ice Lake” or later

 Dual CPU socket

For example, Intel Xeon Gold “Cascade Lake” or “Ice Lake” or later
Number of CPU / node 2 2 2
Number of cores / node 32 – 56 32 – 56 32 – 56
Number of nodes 1 8 – 16 > 16
Minimum Memory Configuration / node 3 64 GB 128 GB 256 GB
Storage (minimum) 500 GB SATA or SSD 500 GB SATA or SSD 500 GB SATA or SSD
Network Interconnect Gigabit Ethernet Infiniband Infiniband
Operating System RHEL or CentOS 8.3

Windows 10

 Linux kernel 2.6.32 or higher Linux kernel 2.6.32 or higher
GPU Yes No No
MPI Intel MPI 2018.4 or higher Intel MPI 2018.4 or higher Intel MPI 2018.4 or higher
Setup Pure MPI Pure MPI Pure MPI
Hyper Threading Not recommended Not recommended Not recommended

Flux Solver

Table 3.
Problem type Small Medium Large
Typical Workload (depending on number of DOF, element type, and other factors) < 300 000 DOF Around 500 000 DOF Around 5M DOF
Throughput 1 Single Single Single
CPU 2 Dual CPU socket

For example, Intel Xeon Gold “Cascade Lake” or “Ice Lake”

 Dual CPU socket

For example, Intel Xeon Gold “Cascade Lake” or “Ice Lake”

 Dual CPU socket

For example, Intel Xeon Gold “Cascade Lake” or “Ice Lake”
Number of CPU / node 1 2 2
Number of cores / node 8 16 16+
Number of nodes 1 1 1-4
Minimum Memory Configuration / node 3 8 GB 16-32 GB 300GB
Storage (minimum) 500 GB SATA or SSD 1 TB local storage SSD 1.5 TB local storage SSD
Network Interconnect Infiniband
Operating System Linux kernel 3.10.0-693 or higher

Windows 7 or 10 with SSD

 Linux kernel 3.10.0-693 or higher

Windows 7 or 10 with SSD

 Linux kernel 3.10.0-693 or higher

Windows 7 or 10 with SSD
GPU No No No
MPI Intel MPI 2018.4 or higher Intel MPI 2018.4 or higher Intel MPI 2018.4 or higher
Setup SMP SMP or Hybrid 2MPI/node SMP or Hybrid 2MPI/node
Hyper Threading Not recommended Not recommended Not recommended

Radioss Solver

Table 4.
Problem Size Small Medium Large
Typical Workload

Crash & Impact

 Component tests, sled test, drop test, …

Less than 500K elements

 Medium crash model, between 1 and 6 millions of elements model Accurate car crash model (rupture), very large model with size > 6 million elements
Throughput 1 Single job Single large job or few jobs in parallel Single very large job or multiple jobs
CPU 2 Dual CPU socket

For example, Intel Xeon Gold “Cascade Lake” or “Ice Lake” or AMD EPYC 7002 or 7003 series

 Dual CPU socket

For example, Intel Xeon Gold “Cascade Lake” or “Ice Lake” or AMD EPYC 7002 or 7003 series

 Dual CPU socket

For example, Intel Xeon Gold “Cascade Lake” or “Ice Lke” or AMD EPYC 7002 or 7003 series
Number of CPU / node 2 2 2
Number of cores / node 32 – 64 32 – 128 32 – 128
Number of nodes 1 8 – 16 > 16
Minimum Memory Configuration / node 3 64-128GB 64-256GB 64-256GB
Storage (minimum) 500 GB SATA or SSD 1,5 TB local storage 1,5 TB local storage
Network Interconnect Gigabit Ethernet Infiniband Infiniband
Operating System Linux kernel 2.6.32 or higher

Windows 7 or 10

 Linux kernel 2.6.32 or higher Linux kernel 2.6.32 or higher
GPU No No No
MPI Intel MPI 2018.4 or higher Intel MPI 2018.4 or higher Intel MPI 2018.4 or higher
Setup Pure MPI Pure MPI or Hybrid with 2 or 4 OpenMP threads per MPI Hybrid with 2 or 4 OpenMP threads per MPI
Hyper Threading 5 Yes, Hybrid with 2 OpenMP per MPI Not recommended Not recommended

OptiStruct Solver

Table 5.
Problem type Small or medium Large static Large dynamic
Typical Workload (depending on number of DOF, element type, and other factors) Nonlinear - less than 2M DOF; linear static - less than 5M DOF; NVH - less than 5M DOF Nonlinear - more than 2M DOF; linear static - more than 5M DOF NVH - more than 5M DOF
Throughput 1 Single Single Single or few jobs in parallel
CPU 2 Dual CPU socket

For example, Intel Xeon Gold “Cascade Lake” or “Ice Lake”

 Dual CPU socket

For example, Intel Xeon Gold “Cascade Lake” or “Ice Lake

 Dual CPU socket

For example, Intel Xeon Gold “Cascade Lake” or “Ice Lake"
Number of CPU / node 2 2 2
Number of cores / node 8-24 24+ 24+
Number of nodes 1 1-8 1-8
Minimum Memory Configuration / node 3 16-64GB 128GB 256GB
Storage (minimum) 512GB local storage 1TB local storage 3 TB local storage, SSD and RAID0 recommended
Network Interconnect Infiniband Infiniband
Operating System Linux kernel 2.6.32 or higher

Windows 7 or 10 with SSD

 Linux kernel 2.6.32 or higher

Windows 7 or 10 with SSD

 Linux kernel 2.6.32 or higher

Windows 7 or 10 with SSD
GPU Yes Yes Yes (Eigenvalue Extraction – AMSES or Lanczos)
MPI Linux: Intel MPI 2018.4 (recommended)

Windows: Intel MPI 5.1.0.078 (recommended)

 Linux: Intel MPI 2018.4 (recommended)

Windows: Intel MPI 5.1.0.078 (recommended)

 Linux: Intel MPI 2018.4 (recommended)

Windows: Intel MPI 5.1.0.078 (recommended)
Setup SMP or DDM hybrid or SMP+GPU DDM hybrid or SMP+GPU SMP or DDM hybrid or SMP+GPU
Hyper Threading Not recommended Not recommended Not recommended

Recommended GPU Computing Processor List

Recommended graphic boards for use with the Altair Solver applications for high-powered GPU computing.

The following table lists the recommended graphic boards for use with the Altair Solver applications for high-powered GPU computing.
  Manufacturer and Model Graphics Card Driver Version

(Minimum or Higher)
AcuSolve NVIDIA

(Tesla)

 P100

V100

 Linux (64-bit)

418.39

Windows (64-bit)

396.26
NVIDIA

(Quadro)

 GP100

GV100

 Linux (64-bit)

418.39

Windows (64-bit)

396.26
OptiStruct NVIDIA

(Tesla)

 P100

V100

 Linux (64-bit)

440.33

Windows (64-bit)

441.22
NVIDIA

(Quadro)

 GP100

GV100

 Linux (64-bit)

440.33

Windows (64-bit)

441.22
Note:
  • The most recent vendor/manufacturer drivers should be used and all driver support for these cards should be addressed to the appropriate manufacturer of the graphics board.
  • Double Precision GPU cards should be used to run OptiStruct. Single precision GPU cards (such as RTX 600, etc) are not recommended for OptiStruct runs.

Additional Information on Driver Installations

The NVIDIA Driver Update recommendation is to use the Custom installation option and select the Perform clean installation option to validate that there are no conflicts in DLL/drivers.

The same should be done with AMD hardware and drivers as well using AMD’s custom uninstall tools.


Figure 1.
1 Number of simultaneous jobs. Use of a workload management middleware like Altair PBS is highly recommended to insure optimal and dedicated usage of the CPU resource
2 Typical node configuration is based on dual CPU socket processors
3 It is extremely important to populate all the memory banks on the mother board.
4 In Hybrid mode, it is recommended to set a number of MPIs that is a multiple of the number of sockets and then set the number of OpenMP in a way that number of MPIs x number of OpenMP equal number of physical cores.
5 Hyper Threading (HT) may increase performance by around 10% on single node. In this case, recommended setup is to run 2 OpenMP per MPI, with a number of MPIs that matches the total number of physical cores on the node. On multi-node, it is better not using HT