Being a beginner in the industry myself I have not used a workstation much. But one thing I was certain was the amount of computer resources required to solve complex FEA problems. Over the years the demand of FEA engineers has consistently outgrown the computer technology. As more and more complex problems are being solved there has been a constant need to make optimised use of the limited resources. There are many ways engineers adopt to execute complex problems like upgrading existing systems configuration, optimise the present system to do more or simplify a complex problem in such a way that the results are not affected much. So I was interested in the methods by which I will be able to make maximum use of the current computer configuration for better performance. Below I have listed some of the steps any one can take to optimise their system for better performance. Although this article has been written with solving the problem of FEA engineers in mind the methods mentioned can be used by anyone using heavy applications to optimise their system. Although many of the methods jotted down are common the purpose of the article is to list all the methods available at one place. Below listed are the methods:
- UNINSTALL UNNECESSARY APPLICATIONS
The simplest, most effective way to improve performance is to uninstall unnecessary applications as these take up memory and clog up startup sequences. Make sure you do this in the correct way, through Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs.
- TURN OFF UNWANTED STARTUP APPS
Some applications can’t be uninstalled in the traditional way. To overcome this, click Start > Run and type MSCONFIG. Click the STARTUP tab and you will see all the processes that run at startup before the OS is ready to be used. Here’s the WARNING! Be very careful what you turn off. For example, if you take out ATI.dll, on restart yourscreen will not display! Search the web for details of each process.
- DELETE UNNECESSARY FILES
Hard drives soon fill up, which can slow down performance. Capacity can be a particular challenge with Solid State Drives (SSDs) as price per GB is high so drives tend to be smaller. To start, delete any installation files you have downloaded. CAD software and service packs can soon add up to tens of GBs. Many installers also store temp files in the root of the C drive. Once the application is installed it won’t need them. Delete these files, but before emptying the recycle bin run the application to check it works OK. If it does, it’s safe to permanently delete. To get rid of other unwanted files, including temporary Internetfiles, use the built in Windows tool. Right click on your drive, select properties and disk Clean-up. Third party tools can also help. Try Auslogics’ Duplicate File Finder or for a deeper clean of your drive Piriform’s CCleaner.
- REBOOT REGULARLY
When applications and datasets load they take up valuable memory. Over time this memory can become full, as resources are not always freed up when things are closed. This can slow down your workstation, as new applications will then push some data to a swap file on the hard drive, which is a lot slower. Restarting your workstation periodically can clear up these minor memory leaks, helping ensure you have all of your memory available.
- DEFRAG YOUR HARD DRIVE
Defragmentation can be a great way to increase the performance of a mechanical SATA hard disk drive (HDD). (N.B. do not do this with a Solid State Drive (SSD) as it there is no benefit and it can actually reduce the life-span of the drive).
HDDs are spinning platters with heads that read/write data. The disks spin at a constant rate so the outside edge read/writes more data per revolution than the inside. This difference can be as much as 20%.
As you add and delete data, files can get spread over the disk with one part in the middle and one part at the end. This decreases performance because the head needs to physically move from one part of the disc to another and over a period of time your system can start to feel slower.
Defragmenting your HDD on a regular basis can help with this as it moves all the files back together
- INSTALL THE LATEST DRIVERS
Hardware drivers are important. Windows comes with a base set of drivers but you can still benefit from ones that are more up to date. For 3D apps, graphics drivers, then chipset drivers are the most important.
For graphics, first visit your CAD application’s certification page e.g. SolidWorks (tinyurl.com/cert-Solid) or PTC (tinyurl.com/cert-PTC). These are updated periodically but graphics card vendors might have a more recent one. e.g. AMD FirePro (tinyurl.com/cert-firepro).
Over the life of a pro graphics card, updating to the latest drivers can improve performance dramatically so be sure to check back regularly.
- TURN OFF ENCRYPTION AND COMPRESSION
On NTFS disks save space and increase security by compressing and encrypting files. However, for maximum performance always turn these off
- SET TO MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
By default, the power profile in Windows is set to ‘balanced’, giving a combination of performance and reduced energy consumption. To set these to maximum performance click Start > Settings > Control Panel > PowerOptions. Then click ‘show additional plans’ and set to ‘high performance’.
- DISABLE INTEL SPEED STEP AND C-STEP
Intel Speed Step cuts the processor speed if it thinks the system is idle or running a lightweight application. However, sometimes the GPU might be doing the work and Speed Step might not realize. It can be turned off in the workstation’s BIOS. You can also turn off Intel C-State, which adds additional “wait states” if the CPU thinks nothing is happening. Disabling both will make the CPU run at full speed all of the time but will likely use more electricity.
- SET CPU AFFINITY
Hardcore compute operations like rendering can hog CPU resources, making it almost impossible to work on other tasks. However, by setting specific processes to run on specific cores you will be able to manage your CPU resources and multi-task much more efficiently. Start Task Manager (CTRL, ALT, DEL), select the processes tab, right-click on the process you want to change and ‘set affinity’. You will then be able to select which processors (cores) are used for that particular process. Note that this change is only temporary. Once you close an application, the affinity settings will return to default. prActicAl tip For an 8 core CPU try assigning 6 cores to a rendering app.
- ENABLE/DISABLE HYPER THREADING
Intel HyperThreading technology creates two virtual cores out of each physical CPU core with a view to increasing performance when possible. It can be enabled or disabled in the BIOS. Enabling it can boost performance in multi-threaded applications (e.g. ray trace rendering) but for single threaded applications (e.g. CAD) it is usually best to disable it as it can slow things down. If you are unsure, check with your software supplier
- SPRING CLEAN YOUR MACHINE
Over time, a build up of dust can clog up fans, which are used to cool CPUs and GPUs. This makes them less effective, and in some cases causes processors to slow down to stop them overheating. Cleaning inside the machine can help this, but be very careful. Workstations are delicate and sensitive to static so this should be done by hand using an anti-static cloth or compressed air, not with a vacuum cleaner or cleaning products!
Here’s the disclaimer — proceed with caution and, before you start, make sure all of your data is backed up and that you have a system repair disk!
My aim here was to bring as much points as possible on a single platform so as to make people aware of all the possibilities that are available. But I advice everybody to carry out a thorough research of each of the points before excection so as to have a complete idea the action would have on your system settings.
Please free to point out the errors and enrich the article in the comments section with your experience
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