Graphics Workstations for Creo

Understand Creo’s hardware requirements and pick the perfect 3XS Systems graphics workstation for your project

What is Creo?

Creo is a family or suite of computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) apps supporting product design for discrete manufacturers and is developed by PTC. The suite consists of apps, each delivering a distinct set of capabilities for a user role within product development. With Creo and it's extensions, you can create, analyse, view, simulate and share designs downstream using 2D CAD, 3D CAD, and parametric and direct modelling capabilities.

What makes the best workstation for Creo?

Although there is no one ideal workstation for Creo, this page will guide you through the most important factors to consider. The best place to start is your intended usage - designing and modelling will work well on a lower powered workstation whereas rendering and simulation will require more powerful hardware. Similarly you should also consider whether Creo will be used standalone or whether other design or rendering packages will be used in your workflow - the below recommendations and guidance focus primarily on the requirements for Creo software alone, so you may want to read other application pages to understand how systems specifications may be impacted if multiple software applications are used together.

What CPU should I choose for Creo?

If primarily doing design and modelling work Creo runs best on CPUs with a high frequency and high IPC, such as an AMD Ryzen 9 or Intel Core i9. Simulation and rendering work will use more CPU cores, so a higher core count CPU such as an AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO or Intel Xeon W is recommended.

What GPU do I need for Creo?

Creo is a software application that relies on the CPU for the majority of tasks so a mid-range professional-grade NVDIA GPU will suffice if working with simple assemblies - such as an NVIDIA T1000. When using 3D models, especially larger ones we would recommend a higher specification GPU, such as an NVIDIA RTX GPU card, to cope with the more complex graphics and larger frame buffers.

How much RAM is recommended for Creo?

The minimum RAM that we recommend for Creo is 32GB. If your Creo usage is heavier than average or if you require several models open alongside each other, or other applications open together then increasing the memory to 64GB is probably wise.

What storage does Creo need?

We always recommend using an SSD for the boot drive that will host your OS, Creo itself, and any active projects you are working on. The high speed of SSDs allows your system to boot, launch applications, and load files many times faster than any traditional hard drive. Alternatively, as your work projects increase you may want to consider a second SSD or higher capacity HDD - depending on your budget - so your OS, Creo and live projects benefit from SSD speed, but your archived work uses the HDD where speed isn’t a necessity and costs can be lowered. Another archive solution could be to employ an external NAS device allowing sharing and RAID protection.

When it comes to deciding on drive capacity, this will very much depend on your number of files and the model sizes. You should also consider the space required by other applications and their associated files too.

Recommended Creo Workstation Specifications

Workstation specifications
	High-End	Mid-Range	Entry-Level
CPU	AMD Threadripper PRO / Intel Xeon W	AMD Ryzen 9 / Intel Core i9	AMD Ryzen 9 / Intel Core i9
RAM	64GB	32B	32GB
GPU	NVIDIA RTX	NVIDIA RTX	NVIDIA T-series