System Requirements
Windows OS: Windows 10 or 11 64-bit (all Windows updates must be installed).
macOS: macOS 10.14 or later with 64-bit Intel or ARM processor.
Memory: Recommended 8GB or more.
Hard Drive: TradeTek requires 1 GB of free hard drive space to install and operate.
Solid state drive is recommended.
Graphics: TradeTek requires a minimum of a 512MB dedicated graphic card. A minimum of 1GB of dedicated graphics memory is recommended.
Internet Connection: An unrestricted connection is required for activating the product, receiving updates and accessing the Help and Plugin tabs in the software.
Web Browser: Any current browser. We recommend Microsoft Edge, Safari or Google Chrome.
Additional Software: To use the export to Excel report functionality, a local installation of a supported version of Microsoft Excel is required.
Performance: TradeTek is designed to take full advantage of your computer's processor and graphics card capabilities. Software performance will be directly affected by both the processor and graphics card.
Graphics Performance
Most features in TradeTek perform well on any modern computer even for very large projects. If a computer is not well equipped to run an engineering application like TradeTek, you may notice lags in graphics speed (cursor tracking, panning and zooming). There are free benchmark applications (such as Unigine Heaven) that can be downloaded and run for a few minutes to present an FPS number ranging from about 2 (slow) to 75 (fast) to objectively quantify a computer's graphic speed.
Here are the main factors that affect graphics speed:
- Dedicated GPU with Video RAM vs "Integrated Graphics"
- CPU Speed and System RAM Size
- Standard vs 4K Monitor, Display Resolution and External Monitors
- Page Drawing Size
Most entry level computers, low cost laptops and business computers do not have a dedicated GPU or Video RAM. Instead, in the Graphics Adaptor screen of the control panel you will see something like "Intel(R) UHD Graphics Family". This indicates that the computer allocates part of the slower system RAM for use by the graphic system. The Display Adapter Properties screen shows a faked Available Graphics Memory value that allows games to launch on entry level computers. The smaller Dedicated Video Memory value assigned by the integrated graphics chip is more meaningful.
Workstations designed to run engineering applications, video processing, CAD or gaming computers will include a dedicated GPU with high speed video RAM. For high speed graphics, there is no substitute for a dedicated GPU and video RAM.
A dedicated graphics card can be added to most desktop computers for a couple hundred dollars to provide a major performance gain in graphics speed (cursor tracking, panning and zooming). Most laptops or micro desktop units without a factory installed GPU generally cannot be self upgraded.
The Internet offers suggestions on how to optimize graphics speed on a computer with Integrated Graphics. For example, setting the control panel power option to optimize for performance may help. For most computers, changing registry or the Bios Setup is unlikely to achieve results. Upgrading a computer to 64 GB of system RAM is an inexpensive way to get modest improvements since the integrated graphics system will allocate more RAM to graphics processing.