Workstations for Simcenter STAR-CCM+
STAR-CCM+ is limited by memory bandwidth on the CPU, and it scales across GPUs with the right licence. We size these machines to your licence type first.
What matters for STAR-CCM+
- Your licence: Power Session for unlimited cores, Power Session Plus for GPUs
- Memory channels, at two to four cores per channel on the CPU solver
- GPU memory per million cells for the GPU solver
- At least as many CPU processes as GPUs
Like other CFD codes, the STAR-CCM+ CPU solver is limited by memory bandwidth, so we size at two to four cores per memory channel (CFD Online). A CFD Online thread attributes weak scaling on a four-channel Threadripper to its memory channels. Licensing matters too: Power Session gives unlimited cores for a fixed yearly price (Femto Engineering), while sites licensed per core should favour fewer, faster cores. The GPU solver needs a Power Session Plus or Power-on-Demand licence, and release 2602 officially supports NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs and improves multi-GPU scaling (Volupe). Siemens reports four GPUs delivering up to 4.5x speed-up against 128 CPU cores on a vehicle thermal case (Siemens Simcenter blog). The user guide gives about 1.3GB of GPU memory per million cells for trimmed single-precision runs, and needs at least as many CPU processes as GPUs (Simcenter user guide). The CPU ladder therefore steps up in memory channels, from two to 24, and the GPU ladder in cards, from one to eight.
CPU solver
STAR-CCM+ CPU – Standard
Electron · NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 16GB
For a single artist or engineer
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
- RAM: 128GB DDR5 6000 2x64GB
- PCIe slots (16x): Nvidia RTX Pro 2000 Blackwell 16GB
- NVMe Storage (Gen 5.0): Samsung 9100 Pro Gen 5 2TB
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
£8,608.33 inc VAT
£7,173.61 ex VAT
Built to order · dispatched in 4 working days
STAR-CCM+ CPU – Heavy
Atom · NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 24GB
For professionals and freelancers
- CPU: AMD Ryzen Threadripper 9960X 24 Core
- RAM: 4 × 64GB RDIMM ECC DDR5 6400
- PCIe slots (16x): Nvidia RTX Pro 4000 Blackwell 24GB
- NVMe M.2 Drives (Gen 5): Samsung 9100 Pro Gen 5 4TB
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
£22,211.17 inc VAT
£18,509.33 ex VAT
Built to order · dispatched in 6 working days
STAR-CCM+ CPU – Studio
Nano Pro · NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 24GB
For studios and small teams
- CPU: AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9975WX 32 Core
- RAM: 8 × 64GB RDIMM ECC DDR5 6400
- PCIe Options: Nvidia RTX Pro 4000 Blackwell 24GB
- NVMe M.2 Drives (Gen 5): Samsung 9100 Pro Gen 5 4TB
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
£43,196.33 inc VAT
£35,996.98 ex VAT
Built to order · dispatched in 7 working days
STAR-CCM+ CPU – Team
Molecule Air · NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Max-Q 96GB
For large teams and enterprise
- CPU: AMD EPYC 9575F 64 Core
- RAM: 24 × 64GB RDIMM ECC DDR5 6400
- PCIe slots: Nvidia RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell Max-Q 96GB
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
£119,470.42 inc VAT
£99,558.77 ex VAT
Built to order · dispatched in 14 working days
Each recommended system is a starting point. Select Customise to add components or change the specification before you order.
GPU solver
STAR-CCM+ GPU – Standard
Electron · NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 48GB
For a single artist or engineer
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
- RAM: 128GB DDR5 6000 2x64GB
- PCIe slots (16x): Nvidia RTX Pro 5000 Blackwell 48GB
- NVMe Storage (Gen 5.0): Samsung 9100 Pro Gen 5 4TB
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
£15,270.19 inc VAT
£12,725.16 ex VAT
Built to order · dispatched in 11 working days
STAR-CCM+ GPU – Heavy
Photon · NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q 96GB
For professionals and freelancers
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
- RAM: 128GB DDR5 6000 2x64GB
- PCIe Slot: Nvidia RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell Max-Q 96GB
- NVMe Storage (Gen 5.0): Samsung 9100 Pro Gen 5 4TB
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
£22,577.13 inc VAT
£18,814.28 ex VAT
Built to order · dispatched in 10 working days
STAR-CCM+ GPU – Studio
Nano Pro · 4× NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Max-Q 96GB
For studios and small teams
- CPU: AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9975WX 32 Core
- RAM: 8 × 64GB RDIMM ECC DDR5 6400
- PCIe Options: 4 × Nvidia RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell Max-Q 96GB
- NVMe M.2 Drives (Gen 5): Samsung 9100 Pro Gen 5 8TB
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
£103,327.44 inc VAT
£86,106.23 ex VAT
Built to order · dispatched in 12 working days
STAR-CCM+ GPU – Team
Molecule Air · 8× NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Max-Q 96GB
For large teams and enterprise
- CPU: AMD EPYC 9375F 32 Core
- RAM: 24 × 64GB RDIMM ECC DDR5 6400
- PCIe slots: 8 × Nvidia RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell Max-Q 96GB
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
£224,228.42 inc VAT
£186,857.10 ex VAT
Built to order · dispatched in 14 working days
Each recommended system is a starting point. Select Customise to add components or change the specification before you order.
Tell us what you need for STAR-CCM+
Tell us your STAR-CCM+ release, your licence type (per core, Power Session or Power Session Plus), and your typical cell counts and physics. We will review the right configuration and confirm availability before you order.
Frequently asked questions
GPU use requires a Power Session Plus or Power-on-Demand licence (Volupe). Without one, choose from the CPU solver ladder.
No. CFD solvers are limited by memory bandwidth, and a useful rule is two to four cores per memory channel (CFD Online). If you are licensed per core, fewer and faster cores make better use of each licence. With Power Session, unlimited cores make a high core count worthwhile (Femto Engineering).
Yes. Release 2602 officially supports the NVIDIA Blackwell series (Volupe). If you are on an earlier release, tell us which one before ordering.
About 1.3GB per million cells for trimmed single-precision runs; segregated flow on a trimmed mesh needs about 1.25GB in mixed precision and 2GB in double precision (Simcenter user guide). Each GPU tier shows our estimate of the single-precision cell count it holds.
Without a GPU licence, choose from the CPU ladder: Standard and Heavy for per-core licences, Studio for larger models, and Team only with Power Session. With Power Session Plus, choose from the GPU ladder by cell count, using one card for smaller models and four or eight matched cards for the largest.
Talk to someone at Renderboxes
Not sure which build is right? Speak to our team and we will help you choose the right configuration for your work.
Send us an enquiry
Tell us what you are working on and we will recommend a configuration.
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