Hardware Requirements

Modified on Wed, 23 Oct at 12:47 PM

DesignBuilder is a professional graphics application requiring a reasonably high computer hardware standard for successful use. This page contains information on the recommended specifications. The main areas you should pay attention to if you are buying or upgrading your computer system to run DesignBuilder are:

Graphics adapter - a good 100% OpenGL-compatible graphics adapter is required to run DesignBuilder. The mid-range and better NVIDIA cards are the most reliable. Some graphics adapters integrated with the motherboard we have tested are unable to run DesignBuilder.
Memory - At least 4GB is required and 8-16GB is recommended for serious modelling and simulations.
CPU speed - get as fast as you can afford. In general i5, i7, i9, and AMD chips are good. For a simulation server consider Xeon chips which can have multiple cores. You can check chip performance on a comparison website if having the most responsive performance is important to you. E.g. https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html
Cores - having multiple processors does not necessarily speed up simulations in DesignBuilder but it does allow you to continue using your computer while simulations are running. Quad (or more) core processors also make the software more responsive in use. If you plan to run optimisations and would prefer to avoid online services then a 16-32 (or more) core server will allow multiple simulations to be run in parallel and allow optimisations to complete much more quickly than on a standard quad-core desktop or laptop.

Recommended

Windows 11
i5, i7, i9, AMD processor with 4 or more cores.
8-16 GB (or more) RAM.
At least 200 GB of free disk space. SSD speeds up software operation and is more robust, especially for laptops.
A pointing device such as a mouse or laptop trackpad. Most users prefer using a mouse to trackpads.
100% graphics adapter with hardware acceleration running in 32-bit colour mode.
17" or more, 1280x1024 pixels or larger screen for efficiency during the modelling process and for displaying high-quality visualisation images and walk-throughs of DesignBuilder models and CFD results. Large screens (e.g. 27") are ideal for use with DesignBuilder.