The SPECapc for Solidworks 2022 benchmark runs on the 64-bit versions of Windows 10 and 11.

By Andy Patrizio

The Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC) today, September 15, has released the SPECapc for Solidworks 2022 benchmark, an add-in benchmark for performance desktops running Dassault Systèmes’ Solidworks CAD/CAM software.

The SPECapc for Solidworks 2022 benchmark comes with 10 models and 53 tests—two new tests from the prior version—covering a full range of graphics and CPU functionality. The two new tests, CPU Boolean Addition and CPU Mass Properties, are multithreaded workloads that are designed to test multicore CPUs—tests SPEC particularly wanted, said Trey Morton, SPEC Application Performance Characterization Committee chair.

“There are a lot of applications out there that are either mostly single-threaded or some with a smattering of multithreaded rendering. These are some good examples of actual multithreaded workflows within the application,” he said.

Other significant updates include support for 64-bit Windows 11 and stability improvements.

SPEC doesn’t need to worry about adding support for new CPUs like Intel’s Alder Lake and AMD’s Ryzen 7000 because it runs on Solidworks. The software has to be installed on the workstation in order for the benchmark to run, so the benchmark gets its CPU support from the app itself.

SPECapc does some GPU testing for different graphics modes like Shaded with Edges or some things to do with graphics rendering, but it is primarily, but not exclusively, focused on CPU testing, said Morton.

Morton noted that no two Solidworks users are the same; one might be designing an iPhone case, and the other person might be working on an airplane fuselage. “And we want to make sure that the right performance information is available to all users. So our goal is for you to get the actual view of how Solidworks performs on your system,” he said.

To do so, the benchmark provides different workloads and different levels of content, like the size of models, which range from 392 MB to 2.3 GB in memory. The tests are:

• Audi R8 (car)—715 MB in memory, exercising graphics and Visualize CPU ray tracing
• Black owl (desktop computer)—1.15 GB in memory, exercising graphics and Visualize CPU ray tracing
• Digger (backhoe)—464 MB in memory, exercising graphics and Visualize CPU ray tracing
• Ferrari (car)—533 MB in memory, exercising graphics and Visualize CPU ray tracing
• Jet engine—665 MB in memory, exercising graphics and Visualize CPU ray tracing
• Menjac (motor assembly)—514 MB in memory, exercising graphics
• Motor—392 MB in memory, exercising graphics
• SpaceShipCrawler (NASA Crawler Transporter model)—2.3 GB in memory, exercising graphics
• Super car (gull-wing door)—822 MB in memory, exercising graphics
• Tesla tower—495 MB in memory, exercising graphics

The SPECapc for Solidworks 2022 benchmark is available as a free download to everyone except vendors of computers and related products and services that are not members of the SPEC Graphics and Workstation Performance Group (SPEC/GWPG). Non-member computer product and service vendors can purchase the benchmark for $2,500. SPEC/GWPG members include AMD, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Intel, Lenovo, and Nvidia.