General Requirements
These requirements are common to all platforms:
- A working network card and internet connection is recommended during installation.
- At least 1 GB memory, but 4 GB per processor core or more is recommended.
- 1-5 GB of disk space, depending on your licensed products and installation options.
- Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 or later to view and print the COMSOL documentation in PDF format.
Floating Network Licenses
Floating network licenses are supported on heterogeneous networks of Windows, Linux, and Mac computers. Both the license manager and the COMSOL application can run on either Windows, Linux, or Mac, and a single computer can run both of them.
COMSOL Multiphysics System Requirements for Windows
System Requirements for 32-bit Windows
- The following 32-bit Windows operating systems are supported:
- Windows 8
- Windows 7
- Windows Server 2008 R2
- Windows Server 2008
- Windows Vista
- Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 or later
- Windows XP with Service Pack 3 or later
- Intel Pentium IV or AMD Athlon XP processor or later.
System Requirements for 64-bit Windows
- The following 64-bit Windows operating systems are supported:
- Windows 8
- Windows 7
- Windows Server 2012
- Windows Server 2008 R2
- Windows Server 2008
- Windows HPC Server 2008 R2
- Windows HPC Server 2008
- Windows Vista
- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition with Service Pack 2 or later
- Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 or later
- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition with Service Pack 2 or later
- A PC with one of these processors: AMD with AMD64 or Intel with EM64T.
Graphics System Requirements
COMSOL recommends hardware rendering for performance reasons. Hardware rendering requires drivers that support OpenGL version 1.4 or DirectX version 9 on the local console. Alternatively, software rendering can be used. The Optimize for Quality setting in graphics preferences requires OpenGL 2.0. Hardware rendering requires at least 24-bit color graphics. Software rendering also supports 16 bit color graphics. For performance reasons, we recommend that the graphics card has at least 512MB memory.
Tested AMD Graphics Cards
| Card Model | Operating System | Driver Version |
|---|---|---|
| FirePro™ V3900 | Windows 7 | 8.911.3.1-120116a-132089E |
| FirePro™ V4900 | Windows 7 | 8.85.7.1-110717a-124599C |
| FirePro™ V5900 | Windows 7 | 8.85.7.2-110901a1-125182C |
| FirePro™ V7750 | Windows Server 2008 R2 HPC | 8.540.0.0 |
| FirePro™ V7800 | Windows 7 | 8.85.7.1-110717a-122786C |
| FirePro™ V7900 | Windows 7 | 8.83.5.4-110520a-119550C |
| FirePro™ W5000 | Windows 7 | 8.982.2 |
| FirePro™ W7000 | Windows 7 | 8.982.2 |
Tested NVIDIA® Graphics Cards
| Card Model | Operating System | Driver Version |
|---|---|---|
| Quadro™ FX 3800 | Windows Server 2008 R2 | 8.17.12.7614 |
| Quadro™ FX 540 | Windows XP 32-Bit | 6.14.12.7614 |
| Quadro™ FX 540 | Windows XP 64-Bit | 6.14.12.7565 |
| Quadro™ FX 550 | Windows Vista Pro 64 Bit | 7.15.10.9746 |
| Quadro™ FX 580 | Windows 7 | 8.16.11.9175 |
The graphics cards listed above have been rigorously tested for compatibility with COMSOL Multiphysics. Please note, however, that other AMD or NVIDIA graphics cards may also be compatible with COMSOL Multiphysics. Graphics cards that belong to the same model series as one of the cards listed above are more likely to be compatible with COMSOL Multiphysics.
External Function C Compiler
Visual Studio 2010 is officially supported.
COMSOL Java API Requirements
The COMSOL Java API requires that you compile your Java files with JDK 1.6 or lower.
LiveLink™ for MATLAB® Requirements
LiveLink™ for MATLAB® is compatible with the following versions:
| COMSOL Version | Supported MATLAB versions |
|---|---|
| COMSOL 4.3b | R2012b + R2013a |
| COMSOL 4.3a | R2012a + R2012b |
| COMSOL 4.3 | R2011b + R2012a |
| COMSOL 4.2a | R2011a + R2011b |
| COMSOL 4.2 | R2010b + R2011a |
| COMSOL 4.1 | R2010a + R2010b |
| COMSOL 4.0a | R2010a + R2010b |
| COMSOL 4.0 | R2010a + R2010b |
LiveLink™ for Excel® Requirements
LiveLink™ for Excel® is compatible with Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010 and 2013 on Windows. Excel 2010 Starter is not supported. Internet access is required for the installation.
Products for CAD Interoperability
The following products support import of 3D CAD files on Windows platforms:
| Product | Supported file formats | Required products |
|---|---|---|
| CAD Import Module | ACIS (SAT), Creo Parametric, IGES, Inventor, Parasolid, Pro/ENGINEER, SolidWorks, and STEP | COMSOL Multiphysics |
| LiveLink™ for SolidWorks® | Same as above | COMSOL Multiphysics |
| LiveLink™ for SpaceClaim® | Same as above | COMSOL Multiphysics |
| LiveLink™ for Inventor® | Same as above | COMSOL Multiphysics |
| LiveLink™ for AutoCAD® | Same as above | COMSOL Multiphysics |
| LiveLink™ for Creo™ Parametric | Same as above | COMSOL Multiphysics |
| LiveLink™ for Pro/ENGINEER® | Same as above | COMSOL Multiphysics |
| LiveLink™ for Solid Edge® | Same as above | COMSOL Multiphysics |
| File Import for CATIA® V5 | Catia® V5 | CAD Import Module, or a LiveLink product for a CAD package |
LiveLink™ for SolidWorks®
LiveLink™ for SolidWorks® is compatible with SolidWorks 2012 and 2013.
LiveLink™ for SpaceClaim®
LiveLink™ for SpaceClaim® requires SpaceClaim 2012 or 2012+, and the Data Exchange II module available from SpaceClaim.
LiveLink™ for Inventor®
LiveLink™ for Inventor® is compatible with Autodesk Inventor 2013 and Autodesk Inventor 2014.
LiveLink™ for AutoCAD®
LiveLink™ for AutoCAD® is compatible with AutoCAD 2013 and AutoCAD 2014.
LiveLink™ for Creo™ Parametric
LiveLink™ for Creo™ Parametric is compatible with Creo Parametric 1.0 and 2.0.
LiveLink™ for Pro/ENGINEER®
LiveLink™ for Pro/ENGINEER® is compatible with Wildfire 4.0 and Wildfire 5.0.
LiveLink™ for Solid Edge®
LiveLink™ for Solid Edge® is compatible with Solid Edge ST5.
Parallel System Requirements
COMSOL supports shared-memory parallelism and distributed-memory parallelism on 32-bit and 64-bit Windows. Distributed-memory parallelism requires Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 with Service Pack 1, Windows HPC Server 2008, or Windows HPC Server 2008 R2.
Internet Protocol Support
IPv4 and IPv6 are supported on all Windows platforms.
