It means that, as soon as you start to move the assembly in the viewport, certain parts are displayed as simple blocks, only returning to their fully rendered state seconds after the model stops moving. When models reach a certain size, Large Assembly Mode automatically kicks in, disabling RealView and setting Level of Detail (LoD) to fast. To circumvent this issue and improve viewport performance, SolidWorks users have historically needed to compromise on visual quality. The GPU simply can’t respond quickly enough to the movement of the mouse, so the model jumps about on screen. What should be a simple, instinctive flick of the mouse, actually becomes a battle against over-compensation, much like a novice captain steering an ocean liner. And with frequencies reaching a plateau in recent years, this is simply not a viable solution most of the time.ģD performance hasn’t been so much of an issue for those who work with small to medium assemblies, as most GPUs are able to deliver a good viewport experience.īut when models reach a certain size and complexity, the viewport can become choppy, which is frustrating as you struggle to move your model into position. The only way to really boost frame rates in such cases is to increase the frequency (GHz) of the CPU. In such CPU-limited workflows, it doesn’t matter how much GPU hardware you throw at your CAD models 3D performance will not increase, or will only increase a tiny bit. Indeed, with certain SolidWorks models, it’s not uncommon to use around 5% of the GPU’s resources, even when your giant assembly is limping around on screen at a few frames per second (FPS). Sometimes, the GPU never even gets out of first gear.
By this, we mean the CPU becomes the bottleneck before the GPU can get anywhere near full speed. SolidWorks, like most 3D CAD applications, is notoriously CPU-limited. Owning a Ferrari is great, but not if you only get to drive it in the 30mph zone.
But raw graphics horsepower is not enough to deliver a smooth, fully interactive 3D experience the software also has to be tuned to take full advantage of the graphics hardware. GPUs have become phenomenally powerful processors, great for moving huge 3D models around the viewport. But with the new graphics engine this is a thing of the past. The Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer telescope – colossal models like this, with close to 10,000 parts used to grind to a halt unless they were dramatically simplified with a reduced LoD. Greg Corke explores how it can transform 3D performance dramatically, particularly when working with large assemblies, and enable you to get more out of your workstation hardware SolidWorks 2019 includes a brand new graphics engine based on the modern OpenGL 4.5 graphics API.