TransModeler System Recommendations

We recommend Windows 11 for new machines. Windows 10 is acceptable, but Microsoft in October 2025 will stop general support. We do not recommend 32-bit versions given their limited memory capacity. Server versions of Windows 2016/2019/2022 are supported only with a special TransCAD Remote Desktop license. At Caliper, we use the 64-bit Professional or Workstation version of Windows 11. 

TransCAD/TransModeler benefit from the fastest processors, and we recommend the latest multicore machines for running large models. TransCAD and TransModeler have key multi-threaded procedures that automatically sense and take advantage of multiple cores and multiple CPUs. In particular, the default (n-conjugate) user equilibrium (UE) traffic assignment in TransCAD will scale almost linearly with the number of cores. Microsimulation and mesoscopic simulation will also run faster by utilizing all the cores. The matrix engine in TransCAD is also multi-threaded and benefits greatly from multi-core hardware although there may be decreasing returns from using more than 8 cores. There are also computations whose performance scales with the clock speed of the CPU, so higher clock speeds are always desirable. The boost speed is an important aspect of the latest processors, and boost speeds for a single core or multiple cores above 5GHz are very attractive.

Many chips support hyperthreading in which certain cores each run two threads. We have found hyperthreading to be underwhelming for TransCAD procedures but marginally useful for TransModeler DTA runs. It can also slow things down as can also occur if too many threads are used for computations that don’t warrant it. Consequently, we recommend turning off hyperthreading unless you can establish that it is beneficial through your own testing on specific problems.

Not every process is computationally demanding enough to benefit from using all the available cores for multi-threading. For example, some gravity models run in only a few seconds. For procedures that take only a few seconds to run, multi-threading can actually increase the run times since there is always some overhead that is associated with it. Also, for heavier calculations, due to Amdahl’s law, there will be diminishing returns to using an increasing number of threads above a certain point. One reason is that some operations like reading and writing data to disk may take a constant amount of time, and so overall computing time will level off after the numerical calculations are efficiently threaded. If there are spare cores not needed for some procedures, they can be used for parallel processing with TransCAD computing engines. For example, one could run AM and PM peak traffic assignments simultaneously. Parallel processing makes it highly attractive to have many cores as long as there is no great reduction in clock speed (dropping below 3GHz). 

We have recently tested computers having the fastest Intel 15th generation processor and the latest AMD Ryzen 9-9950X and can enthusiastically recommend both alternatives.

The Intel Core Ultra 9-285K processor (as its 3and 14th gen predecessors) has 8 performance (P) cores and 16 efficiency (E) cores.  It omits the hyperthreading of the P cores that was previously available. This P cores have a base clock of 3.7GHZ and a max speed of 5.5GHZ and 5.7GHZ in boost mode.  The E cores have a base clock of 3.2GHZ and a max speed of 4.6GHZ.

The AMD Ryzen 9-9950X has 16 cores with hyperthreading.  The cores have a base clock of 4.3GHZ and a max speed of 5.7GHZ.

To facilitate our testing, both processors were installed in otherwise identical computers that we purchased from Puget Systems with the same SSD drives and the same speed RAM. Puget is an American firm that was able to provide computers with the latest chips 6 months earlier than manufacturers such as Dell and HP.

Excellent compute times were turned in by both processors but neither dominated the other in the range of model task computations that we performed. Below we show some results for a multinomial destination choice model that are illustrative.

The fastest time of 43 seconds is turned in by the Intel 15th generation CPU and that time is achieved using 16 threads.  The AMD is almost identically fast and clearly the earlier Intel chips are quite fast, too.  These results indicate that hyperthreading with the AMD chip provides no benefit for this test case nor does the use of the maximum number of threads available. Of course, these results might change if the test problem were significantly larger.

In other tests, the AMD and the 14th generation Intel CPUs come first when the use of 32 threads provides a marginal benefit as it does for computing network travel time matrices. The older Intel chip has excellent performance but there have been some reports of instability, so it might be best to avoid them in the future.  We most certainly are not replacing them as they are an important part of our computing arsenal.

Our most recent purchase for our own use was a Dell Tower Plus EBT2250 running Windows 11 Pro with an Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 9 285K processor, 64 GB DDR5, a 2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive, and a NVIDIA(R) GeForce RTX(TM) 4060 8GB GDDR6 graphics card.  This cost under $3500 and provides considerable computational performance for the fraction of a modeler’s monthly salary.

For notebooks, we recommend the fastest Intel (14th generation) Core Ultra 7/9 processors, since they have significantly longer battery life and can be nearly as fast as a desktop. Like the desktops, they have both performance and efficiency cores.

Both TransCAD and TransModeler are highly efficient with respect to memory utilization, a legacy of the past when only limited amounts of memory were useable by DOS and earlier versions of Windows. As TransCAD is a fully 64-bit application, however, we recommend a minimum of 16-32GB of RAM and 64-bit Windows 11. If you have a machine with many cores, please be aware that some procedures will require more memory to run more threads. For example, 64GB or more is recommended when running assignments or transit skimming with more than 5,000 zones or on large networks, when running path-based assignments, or when saving paths from the regular conjugate assignment. All bets on memory needs are off when TransCAD is used with certain third party ABMs, some of which might require 200+GB for large models. 

For most TransModeler simulations, 8GB will be sufficient, but we would recommend the same amount of memory as for TransCAD since the two products are often used together. 

We do not recommend 32-bit machines. We have phased out 32-bit versions of our products.

500GB or more of storage space is recommended. If you will be working with many large data sets, you will want more storage. It is always wise to backup your important data frequently.

The biggest performance improvement of the past few years has been the widespread availability of SSDs, especially the latest M.2 NVMe SSDs, that can be ten or more times faster than the older 7200rpm mechanical drives. We no longer bother with RAID for our workstations. The new PCIe 4.0 and 5.0 based SSDs (e.g., Samsung 980 Pro and 990 Pro) are even faster but require a motherboard with PCIe 4.0/5.0 support. We recommend at least a SATA-based SSD and strongly suggest a NVMe SSD in any new machine. 

For replacement SATA SSDs, we like the Samsung 870 EVO and 860 Pros. We have had great success with the Samsung Data Migration Software to clone existing boot drives to a new Samsung SSD.

A DVD drive is no longer required, since with the COVID pandemic, TransCAD and TransModeler are supplied via download.

For TransModeler, a good graphics card is critical for the animation of the simulation. TransModeler has full 3D animation that requires hardware-based graphics acceleration. For the best 3D performance we recommend the latest nVidia gaming cards that fit your budget. A minimum of 128MB of video memory is required, but 1+GB is recommended. 

For good 3D animation with TransModeler on a notebook, we recommend a high-end nVidia graphics card. Many older laptops cannot animate complex 3D simulations.

For TransCAD, any of video adapters mentioned in the preceding paragraph will provide good 2D performance and limited 3D visualization. 

This is very dependent on user preferences. A 20” or larger monitor that can display at least 1280x1024 is recommended. We like the 23 or 24” wide-screen panels that can display 1920x1080. We mostly purchase Dell UltraSharp LCD monitors. Dual monitors can be very useful for heavy interactive use. For the higher 4K resolution, we liked the Dell 27” U2723QE. Windows 10 or 11 is required for 4K.

This is site dependent. Gigabit Ethernet is a good choice for new installations. Faster connections could be useful if distributed processing is to be used.

TransCAD should work with any printers that work well with Microsoft Windows. Caliper produces large format maps and exhibit graphics using a Hewlett Packard DesignJet Z9. We also use HP Color Laserjets for smaller maps.

Many of our above suggestions also apply to notebook computers. We recommend Intel’s 13th generation 14-core Mobile Core i7/i9 and 14th generation Core Ultra 7/9 processors with a fast NVMe SSD. It is also important to have a good video processor with nVidia graphics (for TransModeler or TransCAD).

We are currently purchasing Dell Precision Mobile 5690 notebooks with CoreUltra 9 185H 16-core processors, 64GB of memory, a 1TB NVMe SSD, and 64-bit Windows 11 Professional. These are very similar to the Dell XPS 16” models.

We do not recommend running large TransCAD models or TransModeler simulations in a virtual computing environment (Citrix, VMWare, Windows Terminal Server, etc). Our compute-intensive engineering applications will at times make use of all the resources available to them. This is especially true of CPU, and for TransModeler GPU, resources. While key components are multi-threaded, other portions are not and benefit from the fastest clock speeds available. Typical virtualized servers have no more CPU capacity than high-end engineering workstations, so it is not feasible to replace multiple workstations with a single server, and it makes little financial sense to do so.

We use a UPS with all of our workstations. This helps protect against power spikes as well as providing backup power for 15-30 minutes, which is very important for long model runs. We mostly use APC units with a 1500VA rating, such as the BX1500M ($200).