You are currently reviewing an older revision of this page.
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.
This document outlines hardware recommendations for MicroStation V8i. It includes installation requirements, minimum hardware requirements and recommended requirements for various 2D and 3D workflows.
CD drive or access to the Internet required for product installation. The minimum system configuration for installation:
Operating System
Windows 8 Windows 8 (64-bit) Windows 7 Windows 7 (64-bit) Windows Vista, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions Windows Vista (64-bit) Windows XP SP2 or later, Home, Professional, and Media Center editions Windows XP Tablet PC Edition Windows XP Professional (64-bit) Windows Server 2003, SP1 or later 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)
Microsoft Internet Explorer v6.0 or later with 128-bit cipher strength
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 Web downloads/MySELECT CD area of SELECTservices Online. The contents of the Prerequisites for Bentley Desktop Applications include:
Windows Installer Version 3.1v2 Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Microsoft XML Parser (MSXML) 6 SP 1 (32-bit and 64-bit) Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications core Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications localizedDHTML Editing Control for Applications (with Windows Vista compatibility)DirectX 9c
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
900 MB free disk space (which includes the 400 MB install footprint for a complete installation)
Video
Graphics card supported by DirectX 9.0c. 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, 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.
CPU
last updated: August 2012
Intel® Xeon® E3 & E5 & E7Intel® Core™ i7Intel® Core™ i5Intel® Core™ i5
FX370FX470FX570K410*K610*Quadro 400Quadro 600Quadro K610M*
FX1500FX3700FX1800K2000*K4000*Quadro 2000*Quadro 4000*Quadro K1100M*Quadro K2100M*
FX3700FX4500FX4600FX4700FX5500FX5600K2000*K4000*K5000*K6000*Quadro 2000*Quadro 4000*Quadro 5000*Quadro 6000*Quadro K3100M*Quadro K4100M*Quadro K5100M*
V3600V3700V3750V3800V3900
V5600V5700V5900 *V7300V7600V3900W5000*
V7600V7350V8600V8650V8700V3800 *V3900 *V4800 *V5800 *V5900 *V7800 *V7900 *V8800 *V9800 *W5000*W7000*W8000*W9000*HD 4000 Series
Intel® HD Graphics 3000Intel® HD Graphics P3000Intel® HD Graphics P4000Intel® HD Graphics P4600Intel® HD Graphics 4000Intel® HD Graphics 4400Intel® HD Graphics 4600Intel® HD Graphics 5000Intel® HD Graphics IrisTM Pro 5200
Intel® HD Graphics P3000Intel® HD Graphics P4000Intel® HD Graphics P4600Intel® HD Graphics 4000Intel® HD Graphics 4400Intel® HD Graphics 4600Intel® HD Graphics 5000Intel® HD Graphics IrisTM Pro 5200
* = Certified to work with Windows 7 and MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 2).
Product TechNotes and FAQs
MicroStation Desktop TechNotes and FAQs
MicroStation Graphics Benchmark
MicroStation ReadMe
Intel Workstations
ATI FirePro™ Professional Graphics Product comparison
Bentley's Technical Support Group requests that you please confine any comments you have on this Wiki entry to this "Comments or Corrections?" section. THANK YOU!