{"id":198368,"date":"2026-04-30T03:27:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T03:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/?post_type=topic&p=198368"},"modified":"2026-05-05T15:19:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T15:19:50","slug":"freeflow-gpu-buying-guide","status":"publish","type":"topic","link":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic\/freeflow-gpu-buying-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"FreeFlow GPU Buying Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

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With Ansys FreeFlow\u2122 <\/strong>smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulation software you can use one or more Graphic Processing Units (GPUs)<\/strong> to process your simulations.\u00a0Before investing in new hardware, see the FAQs below to find guidelines and recommendations.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\/<\/span> FreeFlow GPU Performance Benchmark<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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  1. FreeFlow GPU Performance Benchmark<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. The benefits of GPU<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Performance Benchmark<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Benchmark results for Ansys FreeFlow 2026 R1<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. Relevant conclusions on simulation performance<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \/<\/span> FreeFlow GPU FAQs<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    FreeFlow GPU FAQs<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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    1. Which license is required to run FreeFlow on GPUs?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
    2. Which GPU cards are recommended for use with FreeFlow?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
    3. What are the minimum requirements for GPU cards that will be used for running FreeFlow?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
    4. Which cards are best for running SPH?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
    5. Can you provide some examples for comparison?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
    6. There are a lot of cards on that list! How do I choose the one that is right for me?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
    7. I have only a mid-range budget. Can you recommend a card for me?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
    8. If you had to recommend one, all-around best card for most situations, which would it be?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
    9. Won\u2019t the (non-recommended) card I already have work just as well as a recommended one?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
    10. Assuming I use a recommended GPU card, how much faster can I expect my simulations to run?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      <\/div>\n
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      \/<\/span> FreeFlow GPU FAQs<\/strong><\/h2>\n
      <\/div>\n

      \/<\/span>1. Which license is required to run FreeFlow on GPUs?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      The Ansys FreeFlow follows the Ansys HPC pack, besides that one Ansys FreeFlow license allows the user to run a single job with up to 75 graphic cards SM\u2019s (Streaming Multiprocessor)*. It is indifferent whether this is with a single or multiple GPU cards.<\/p>\n

      For example, you do need 3 Ansys HPC Pack licenses to run your FreeFlow simulation in one A100 card (108 SMs) or in four RTX 3060 (28 SM\u2019s each). However, if you want to run one or two RTX 3060, you will not need to buy any Ansys HPC pack.<\/p>\n

      To sum up, if you want to run any FreeFlow simulation in more than 75 SMs, you will need to get a new Ansys HPC pack. In the table below, we listed the amount of Ansys HPC Pack Licenses that you will need, accordingly, with the SMs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      SM\u2019s<\/strong><\/td>\nAnsys HPC Pack License<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      1 \u2013 75<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      76 \u2013 83<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      84 \u2013 107<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      108 \u2013 203<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      204 \u2013 587<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      588 \u2013 2123<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

      Now consider another situation, in which you have one RTX 4090 card (128 SM\u2019s) or five RTX 3060 cards (140 SM\u2019s). In both cases you will need to invest in 3 Ansys HPC Pack Licenses (see the table below).<\/p>\n

      HPC features required according to the card(s) SM count<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      RTX 3060<\/strong><\/td>\nRTX 4090<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      Cards<\/strong><\/td>\nSM Count<\/strong><\/td>\nAnsys HPC Pack License<\/strong><\/td>\nCards<\/strong><\/td>\nSM Count<\/strong><\/td>\nAnsys HPC Pack License<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      1<\/td>\n28<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n128<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      2<\/td>\n56<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n256<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      3<\/td>\n84<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n384<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      4<\/td>\n112<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n512<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      5<\/td>\n140<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n640<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      6<\/td>\n168<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n768<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

      *For more information about SMs, refer to the APPENDIX section.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Notes:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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      • When using multiple GPU\u2019s, licensing is based on the total number of SM\u2019s across all GPU\u2019s irrespective of the number of GPU\u2019s.<\/em><\/li>\n
      • All available SM\u2019s are used on a GPU card. It is not possible to restrict usage to a subset of SM\u2019s.<\/em><\/li>\n
      • All GPU cards should reside on a single server, i.e., Ansys FreeFlow does not support distributed GPU computing.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n