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MicroStation Wiki MicroStation V8i System Requirements and Hardware Recommendations [TN]
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    MicroStation V8i System Requirements and Hardware Recommendations [TN]

      Product: MicroStation
      Version: V8i
      Environment: N\A
      Area: Hardware / Input Devices
      Subarea: N/A

    NOTE: This is accurate as of the date it was published. Advancements in technology may supersede what is identified below. Please refer to this article's history for changes and updates.

    Overview

    This document outlines hardware recommendations for MicroStation V8i versions from SELECT Series 1 up to SELECT Series 4. The info apply to all V8i versions, if not explicitly mentioned otherwise.

    This document includes installation requirements, minimum hardware requirements and recommended requirements for various 2D and 3D workflows.

    Installation Requirements

    CD drive or access to the Internet required for product installation. The minimum system configuration for installation:

    Operating System

    Windows 10 Windows (from SELECT Series 4)
    Windows 10 (64-bit) (from SELECT Series 4)
    Windows 8.1 (from SELECT Series 4)
    Windows 8.1 (64-bit) (from SELECT Series 4)
    Windows 8 (from SELECT Series 3)
    Windows 8 (64-bit) (from SELECT Series 3)
    Windows 7
    Windows 7 (64-bit)
    Windows Vista, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions (up to SELECT Series 3)
    Windows Vista (64-bit) (up to SELECT Series 3)
    Windows XP SP2 or later, Home, Professional, and Media Center editions (up to SELECT Series 3)
    Windows XP Tablet PC Edition (up to SELECT Series 3)
    Windows XP Professional (64-bit) (up to SELECT Series 3)
    Windows Server 2003, SP1 or later (up to SELECT Series 3)
    Windows Server 2003 (64-bit)
    Windows Server 2008 SP2, Standard and Enterprise editions (64-bit)
    Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Standard and Enterprise editions (64-bit)
    Windows Server 2012 (64 Bit) (from SELECT Series 4)
    Windows Server 2012 R2 (64 Bit) (from SELECT Series 4)

    Microsoft Internet Explorer v6.0 or later with 128-bit cipher strength

    Communication Protocols

    Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4)
    Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)

    Software Prerequisites

    The Prerequisites for Bentley Desktop Applications are automatically downloaded and installed to your workstation while you install MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 3). The Prerequisites for Bentley Desktop Applications needs to be installed on your system once, and only needs to be reinstalled if you are installing a later version of MicroStation that requires an updated prerequisite pack.
    The Prerequisites for Bentley Desktop Applications is also available via the Software Downloads link in CONNECTION Center  (up to SELECT Series 3).
    The contents of the Prerequisites for Bentley Desktop Applications include:

    Windows Installer Version 3.1v2 (up to SELECT Series 3)
    Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1  (up to SELECT Series 3)
    Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.1 (from SELECT Series 4)
    Microsoft XML Parser (MSXML) 6 SP 1 (32-bit and 64-bit)
    Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications core
    Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications localized
    DHTML Editing Control for Applications (with Windows Vista compatibility)
    DirectX 9c  (up to SELECT Series 3)

    Microsoft Internet Explorer V6.0 or later (up to SELECT Series 3) and v8.0 (from SELECT Series 4) or later with 128-bit cipher strength is also required. It is not part of the Prerequisites for Bentley Desktop Applications.

    Copyrights in all components are owned by Microsoft Corporation or one of its affiliates, subsidiaries, or licensors.

    Supported Databases

    The database versions supported by MicroStation are subject to updating after the product release. You can refer to MicroStation database support in Bentley Communities for the latest information.

    Minimum Profile

    The minimum recommended workstation profile for running MicroStation V8i is:

    Processor

    Intel® or AMD® processor 2.0 GHz or greater.

    Memory

    512 MB minimum, 2 GB recommended. More memory almost always improves performance, particularly when working with larger models. MicroStation does support more than 2GB of physical RAM on systems running Windows operating systems that support this -- see this article for more information regarding this.

    Hard Disk

    up to SELECT Series 3: 900 MB free disk space (which includes the 400 MB install footprint for a complete installation)
    from SELECT Series 4: 8 GB free disk space (which includes the 6.5 GB install footprint for a complete installation)

    Video

    Graphics card supported by DirectX 9.0c (up to SELECT Series 3). See the graphics card manufacturer for latest information on DirectX drivers. 256 MB of dedicated video RAM or higher is recommended. If insufficient video RAM or no graphics card supported by DirectX can be found, MicroStation attempts to use software emulation. For optimal performance, graphics display color depth should be set to 24-bit or higher. When using a color depth setting of 16-bit, some inconsistencies will be noted.


    To gauge how well MicroStation might perform on your computer, use the MicroStation Graphics Benchmark (link to be added soon), which is a series of tests designed to validate and score your system, as well as gather other important system information that can impact performance and diagnose potential problems. You can also view results of other users' systems to evaluate and compare your system.  

    Recommendations for 2D and 3D workflows

    2D Drafting and Detailing 3D Modeling and some Visualization 3D with heavy Visualization usage

    CPU

    last updated: August 2012

    Intel® Xeon® E3 & E5
    Intel® Core™ i5
    Intel® Core™ i3

    Intel® Xeon® E3 & E5 & E7

    Intel® Xeon® E5-2667 v3 (20M Cache, 3.20 GHz
    Intel® Core™ i7
    Intel® Core™ i5
    Intel® Core™ i5

    Intel® Xeon® E7
    Intel® Core™ i7

    Intel® Xeon® E5-2690 v3 (30M Cache, 2.60 GHz)

    Physical Memory 2 GB

    4 GB

    16GB recommended for visualization

    8 GB (more can be utilized by Luxology Rendering engine on 64bit Windows 7)

    32 GB recommended for visualization

    Graphics Memory 256 MB - 1GB 512 MB - 2GB 512 MB - 6 GB
    Graphic cards Nvidia (Workstation)

    FX370
    FX470
    FX570
    K410*

    K420*
    K610*

    K620*
    Quadro 400
    Quadro 600
    Quadro K610M*

    FX1500
    FX3700
    FX1800

    K620*
    K2000*

    K2200*
    K4000*

    K4200*
    Quadro 2000*
    Quadro 4000*
    Quadro K1100M*

    FX3700
    FX4500
    FX4600
    FX4700
    FX5500
    FX5600
    K2000*

    K2200*
    K4000*

    K4200*
    K5000*

    K5200*
    K6000*
    Quadro 2000*
    Quadro 4000*
    Quadro 5000*
    Quadro 6000*
    Quadro K2100M*
    Quadro K3100M*
    Quadro K4100M*
    Quadro K5100M*

    Graphic cards Nvidia GeForce (gaming) 8600 GTS
    8600 GT
    8500 GT
    8400 GS
    9500 GT
    9600 GSO
    8800 Ultra
    8800 GTX
    8800 GTS 
    8800 GT
    9800 GTX
    9800 GT
    9600 GT
    8800 Ultra
    9800 GTX+
    9800 GTX
    GTX 280
    GTX 260
    Graphic cards AMD/ATI FireGL (FirePro) Workstation

    V3600
    V3700
    V3750
    V3800
    V3900

    W2100*

    V5600
    V5700
    V5900 *
    V7300
    V7600
    V3900

    W2100*

    W4100*

    W5000*

    W5100*

    V7600
    V7350
    V8600
    V8650
    V8700
    V3800 *
    V3900 *
    V4800 *
    V5800 *
    V5900 *
    V7800 *
    V7900 *
    V8800 *
    V9800 *

    W4100*
    W5000*

    W5100*
    W7000*
    W8000*
    W9000*
    HD 4000 Series

    Graphic cards AMD/ATI Radeon (gaming) HD 2000 Series HD 3000 Series HD 4000 Series
    Graphic cards Intel®

    Intel® HD Graphics 3000
    Intel® HD Graphics P3000
    Intel® HD Graphics P4000
    Intel® HD Graphics P4600
    Intel® HD Graphics 4000
    Intel® HD Graphics 4400
    Intel® HD Graphics 4600
    Intel® HD Graphics 5000
    Intel® HD Graphics IrisTM Pro 5200

    Intel® IrisTM Pro Graphics P6300
    Intel® IrisTM Pro Graphics P580
    Intel® HD Graphics P530

    Operating System 32bit or 64bit
    Windows 7
    Windows 7 (64bit) for MicroStation V8i SS2
    32bit or 64bit
    Windows 7 (64bit Strongly recommended) for MicroStation V8i SS2
    64bit
    Windows 7 (64bit Strongly recommended) for MicroStation V8i SS2

    * = Certified to work with Windows 7 and MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 2).

    See Also

    Product TechNotes and FAQs

    MicroStation Desktop FAQs

    External Links

    MicroStation Graphics Benchmark (link to be added soon)

    MicroStation ReadMe

    Intel Workstations

    ATI FirePro™ Professional Graphics Product comparison

    Other language sources

    French    Deutsch  Español

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    • Elisa McGraw Created by Elisa McGraw
    • When: Tue, Aug 10 2010 4:58 PM
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    • When: Tue, Jun 30 2020 6:05 AM
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