Performance Options

Changes to these options do not affect documents that are already open.

To specify performance options:

Click Options or Tools > Options > System Options and select Performance.

Click Reset to restore factory defaults for all system options or only for options on this page.
Verification on rebuild (enable advanced body checking) Controls the level of error checking when you create or modify features. For most applications, the default setting (cleared) is adequate and results in a faster rebuild of the model.

To control verification on rebuild for Large Assembly Mode, click Tools > Options > System Options > Assemblies and under When Large Assembly Mode is active, select or clear Disable verification on rebuild.
Ignore self-intersection check for some sheet metal features Suppresses warning messages for certain sheet metal part. For example, when flanges share a common edge and the part flattens correctly but displays a warning message.

Transparency

High-quality transparency is similar to looking through clear glass. Low-quality transparency (the default) is similar to viewing an object through a mesh or screen. This option is not available when Large Assembly Mode is on.
High quality for normal view mode While the part or assembly is not moving or rotating, the transparency is high quality. When moving or rotating with the pan or rotate tools, the application switches to low-quality transparency, enabling you to rotate the model faster. This is important if the part or assembly is complex.
High quality for dynamic view mode High-quality transparency is retained while moving or rotating the model with the pan or rotate tools. Depending on your graphics card, this option may result in slower performance.
If the display is slow when using transparent planes in Shaded With Edges or Shaded mode, it may be because of the transparency that you specified. With some graphics cards, the display speed improves if you do not use high-quality transparency.

Curvature generation

Select one of the following options. This option is not available when Large Assembly Mode is on.
Only on demand Initial curvature display is slower, but uses less memory.
Always (for every shaded model) Curvature displays more quickly on the first display, but uses extra memory (RAM and disk) for every part that you create or open.

Level of detail

Move the slider to Off or from More (slower) to Less (faster) to specify the detail level during dynamic view operations in assemblies, multi-body parts, and draft views in drawings. This option is not available when Large Assembly Mode is on.

Assemblies

Automatically load components lightweight Loads all the individual components and subassemblies in assemblies that you open as lightweight. However, if you select Always resolve subassemblies, subassemblies are not opened lightweight. See Lightweight Components.
Always resolve subassemblies Subassemblies resolve when an assembly opens lightweight. The components in the subassemblies are lightweight.
Check out-of-date lightweight components Specifies how you want the system to load lightweight components that are out-of-date. This option is not available when Large Assembly Mode is on.

Don't Check

Loads the assemblies without checking for out-of-date components.

Indicate

Loads the assemblies and marks them with an icon if the assemblies contain an out-of-date component, even if the assembly is not expanded. You can right-click an out-of-date top-level assembly and select Set Lightweight to Resolved.

Always Resolve

Resolves all out-of-date assemblies during load.

Resolve lightweight components Some operations require certain model data that is not loaded in lightweight components. This option controls what happens when you request one of these operations in an assembly that has lightweight components.

Prompt

Resolves lightweight components each time you request one of these operations. In the dialog box that appears, click Yes to resolve the components and continue, or click Cancel to cancel the operation. If you select Always resolve (before you click Yes or Cancel), the option is set to Always.

Always

Automatically resolves lightweight components.

Rebuild assembly on load Specifies whether you want assemblies to rebuild, so components update when you open them.

Prompt

Asks if you want to rebuild each time you open an assembly. Click Yes or No in the dialog box that appears when you open the assembly. If you select Don’t ask me again (before you click Yes or No), the option updates to reflect your choice (Yes changes the option to Always, No changes the option to Never).

Always

Never

This option also affects rebuilding of parts. When you select Never, if a part had rebuild errors in an earlier save, the part does not rebuild when you open it.
Mate animation speed Enables animation of mates and controls the speed of the animation. When you add a mate, click Preview or OK in the PropertyManager to see an animation of the mate that you created. Move the slider to Off to disable mate animation.
SmartMate sensitivity Specifies the speed at which the software applies SmartMates.
Magnetic mate proximity Specifies the distance at which the software detects and initiates a Magnetic mate.
Purge cached configuration data Automatically purges the cached configuration data of inactive configurations each time you save the document.
  • If you select the purge option:
    • Purges data is purged for all inactive configurations that are flagged or .
    • Saves data only for the active configuration ( or ) and inactive configurations marked .
  • If you do not select the purge option:
    • Rebuilds and saves data for all configurations flagged , , , or .
    • Purges data for all configurations that are flagged .
Update mass properties while saving document The next time you access the mass properties, the system does not need to recalculate the properties if the document has not changed. The updating may slow the save operation. This option is not available when Large Assembly Mode is on.
Use shaded preview You can rotate, pan, zoom, and set standard views while maintaining the shaded preview.
Use software OpenGL Disables the graphics adapter hardware acceleration and enables graphics rendering using only software. For many graphics cards, this results in slower performance. Select this option only if instructed to do so by technical support. You can only select this option when there are no documents open.

If you select Use software OpenGL, the SOLIDWORKS software changes some of your options for optimum software performance. You can override any of these options. See Performance Settings with OpenGL.

This option is automatically selected and unavailable for change if your graphics card does not support hardware acceleration, or does not support it for the current combination of resolution, number of colors, refresh rate, and so forth.

Magnetic mate pre-alignment Orients a component to align with the predefined magnetic mate. When enabled, the speed of the orientation is based on the SmartMate sensitivity option.
Go To Image Quality Switches to the Image Quality options.

Enhanced graphics performance

Enhanced graphics performance (Beta functionality, requires SOLIDWORKS restart)
This is beta functionality that is not intended for production use.

Improves graphical performance. This option affects rotate, pan, and zoom for parts and assemblies, and the display of drawings that have shaded or draft quality views.

You must join the SOLIDWORKS Customer Experience Improvement Program to use this option.

Beta Functionality Dialog Box

The Beta Functionality dialog box opens when you select Enhanced graphics performance (Beta functionality, requires SOLIDWORKS restart) but you have not joined the SOLIDWORKS Customer Experience Improvement Program.
  • To join the program, select Join the SOLIDWORKS Customer Experience Improvement Program.

You can also join the program by clicking System Options > General > Help make SOLIDWORKS products better by automatically sending your log files to DS SolidWorks Corporation.