Release 2026 R1 includes the following improvements to high-performance computing (HPC):
Enhancements include:
The default support for message passing interface (MPI) software has been updated to Intel MPI 2021.16.1 for both Linux and Windows. Previously, the default was Intel MPI 2021.14.2.
When using AMD processors, the default support for message passing interface (MPI) software has been updated to Open MPI 4.1.8. Previously, the default was Open MPI 4.0.5.
New Support
Windows now supports ROCm libraries version 6.4.2.
Updates
For Linux, the ROCm libraries have been updated to 7.0.2. The previous release used version 6.3.3.
For Windows and Linux, the CUDA libraries have been updated to 13.0.2. The previous release used version 12.8.
The recommended GPU cards table now includes detailed specifications on performance metrics, memory size, and bandwidth.
Performance Improvements
The performance of the PCG solver has improved with GPU acceleration, as the Mechanical APDL application now dynamically offloads as many equation solver calculations as possible onto the GPU. This enables the solver iterations to run entirely on the GPU with minimal CPU communication.
For more information on GPU cards and their updates, see Requirements for the GPU Accelerator in the Mechanical APDL Application (Linux) and Requirements for the GPU Accelerator in the Mechanical APDL Application in the Ansys, Inc. Installation Guides (Windows).
New Feature
The Mechanical APDL application now supports GPU acceleration on Windows for AMD GPUs.
Added Cards
The following cards have been tested and added to the list of recommended GPU devices for the GPU accelerator:
Windows:
AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700
AMD Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395
AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395
AMD Radeon PRO W7900
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
Linux:
AMD Instinct MI355X
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
For the complete list of recommended GPU accelerators, see Requirements for the GPU Accelerator in the Mechanical APDL Application (Windows) and Requirements for the GPU Accelerator in the Mechanical APDL Application in the Ansys, Inc. Installation Guides (Linux).