SC20 — 24-Core, 128 GB CFD HPC Node for Large, Fast ANSYS Fluent Simulations

The SC20 node is the flagship of our dual-Xeon range — built to deliver both speed and capacity for serious CFD work. It pairs 24 cores and 48 threads of high-clocked compute with a substantial 128 GB of RAM and 2 TB of SSD storage. That means you can load large meshes in ANSYS Fluent and solve them fast, with room for the big data files that large and transient simulations generate.

Where most nodes ask you to choose between cores and memory, SC20 gives you a strong measure of both. It is the tier for large, time-sensitive CFD — when the case is big and the deadline is real.

Specifications

SC20 leads the dual-Xeon range on every front: the most cores (24), the highest clock speed (2.7 GHz base, 3.5 GHz turbo), and the largest cache (30 MB per CPU) of the Ivy Bridge nodes — combined with 128 GB of RAM and 2 TB of SSD. More, faster cores plus large memory means large cases that both fit and solve quickly.

What this node is built for

SC20 is the large-case, high-performance tier — strong on both capacity and speed. It suits:

• Large meshes solved fast — into the high tens of millions of cells, with 24 high-clocked cores keeping solve times down.

• Multiphase flows — VOF, Eulerian, and particle models (DPM/DDPM) that demand more memory per cell.

• Combustion and reacting flows — detailed chemistry and species transport at real scale.

• Conjugate heat transfer and thermal models — large coupled fluid-solid domains.

• Long transient simulations — many time steps writing many data files, with 2 TB of SSD to hold the output.

• Deadline-driven professional CFD — when the case is large and turnaround matters, SC20 delivers both capacity and speed.

With 24 cores at 2.7 GHz (turbo to 3.5 GHz) and 128 GB of RAM, large cases both fit and run, then solve fast across all cores.

Both speed and capacity — the flagship balance

In CFD, memory sets the largest mesh you can run — roughly 1 GB of RAM per million cells for a typical steady, single-phase case, more for complex physics — while cores set how fast it solves. SC20 is built to lead on both: 128 GB loads large meshes, and 24 high-clocked cores solve them quickly.

• It is a clear step up from the 20-core 128 GB node (SC10): more cores, higher clock, more cache, at the same memory and storage.

• If your case is truly enormous or extremely memory-bound — meshes in the hundreds of millions of cells — our 1 TB high-memory node trades cores for maximum memory.

• If your cases are moderate, a lower-memory node will serve you for less.

Tell us your cell count and physics, and we will match you to the right tier.

Fast, roomy SSD storage

The two 1 TB SATA SSDs (about 2 TB total) give both speed and space: responsive read/write for loading and saving large Fluent files, and enough capacity for long transient runs that write data at many time steps. On a high-performance node like this, fast and roomy storage keeps the solve from being held up by disk I/O.

How parallel solving works on this node

When you run Fluent in parallel, the solver partitions your mesh across all 24 cores (using algorithms such as METIS), each core solving its share of cells and exchanging boundary data each iteration via MPI. On a single node, that communication runs through fast on-board channels rather than a network, keeping parallel overhead low. With 128 GB of memory behind 24 high-clocked cores, large cases load comfortably and solve fast.

Why rent instead of buy

A dual-CPU server with 128 GB of ECC RAM and 2 TB of SSD is a significant purchase that depreciates between projects. Renting matches cost to workload:

For teams that run large CFD cases on deadlines, SC20 provides flagship dual-Xeon performance on demand — with the 1 TB node available for the occasional extreme-memory case.

How it works — you're in full control

SC76 is yours to drive directly. You connect to the node over a secure remote desktop connection and run everything yourself, exactly as you would on a local workstation:

1. Connect via remote desktop — you get full remote access to the SC76 node.

2. Set up your simulation — load your geometry and case, configure your solver settings, and run ANSYS Fluent with all 6 cores at your command.

3. Run and monitor in real time — start, pause, adjust, and watch the solution as it progresses, with complete control throughout.

4. Keep your results — post-process on the node or download your solution and data files whenever you're ready.

You have full authority over the node for the duration of your rental: we provide the hardware and the support, and you run the simulations your way.

Frequently asked questions

What makes SC20 the top dual-Xeon node? It leads the dual-Xeon range on cores (24), clock speed (2.7 GHz base, 3.5 GHz turbo), and cache (30 MB per CPU), while matching the top memory and storage (128 GB, ~2 TB). It is the strongest balance of speed and capacity in the dual-Xeon lineup.

How is SC20 different from SC10? Both have 128 GB of RAM and ~2 TB of SSD. SC20 has more cores (24 vs 20), a higher clock, and more cache, so it solves large cases faster. Choose SC20 when you want maximum solve speed at large memory.

How large a mesh can it handle? With 128 GB of RAM, count on large meshes — into the high tens of millions of cells for simpler steady single-phase cases, with complex physics needing more memory per cell and so supporting a somewhat smaller mesh. As a guide, allow about 1 GB of RAM per million cells. Send us your case for a precise estimate.

When would I need the 1 TB node instead? For very large, memory-bound simulations where even 128 GB is not enough. We will tell you honestly which tier your case needs.

Is my data kept confidential? Yes

Get started with SC20

If you run large CFD cases on tight deadlines and want both the memory to fit them and the cores to solve them fast, SC20 is the flagship dual-Xeon node built for exactly that.

Contact MR CFD to run your large ANSYS Fluent case on SC20 — and we'll help you confirm it's the right tier for your simulation.