I have several PCs I have to support running WinXP SP1 and CFX5.7. The specs are P4 2.8GH, 1Gb of RAM and a Hercules (ATI) 9800XT or Pro resp. One of them suddenly switches of while the solver is running, the other crasches with a blue screen. Other applications like CATIA R13SP5 run just fine. The rest of the computers with the same specs and installation run fine under CFX. Has anyone heard of such erratic problems, and where could the problem really be?

It could be the memory in one of your PCs. Why don't you run a memtest in your system. I'm almost sure that is not an OS problem.

Good luck, S. W.

Most likely a dodgy memory chip. CFD stresses memory more than most other applications. The fault can be difficult to find, but try swopping memory modules between machines.

I had the same trouble with several PC's that would over heat. The solver stresses the CPU to 100% and requires the maximum airflow through the chassis. If the vents or fans get plugged up with dust over time, the chips can overheat and either shut down (black screen) or give the windows "blue screen of death".

Honest! I've had both of these occur. I opened the cases and the CPU fans were occluded to about 25% with dust. Once cleaned (with small hand vacuum) the CFX solver ran fine. Take a look. It's worth a try.

Jeff