Hardware Options

Choosing the right hardware for your MD simulations depends on the scale of your system, the length of the simulation, and the required turnaround time. The following options are available to SWZ researchers, ordered from most accessible to most powerful:

Tier	Resource	Cores	GPU	Access
Local	Personal PC/Laptop	4-16	Optional	Immediate
Institutional	SWZ Rechencluster	Up to 64/node (5 nodes)	T4, A100, H100	Request via email
National	HLRN / NHR-Nord@Göttingen	Thousands	Yes (Grete)	Project application

When to Use Each Tier

• Personal PCs -- code development, debugging input scripts, small test runs (<1000 atoms), visualization with OVITO

• SWZ Cluster -- production runs up to ~64 cores, GPU-accelerated simulations, medium-scale systems (up to ~10M atoms)

• HLRN/NHR -- large-scale production runs requiring hundreds to thousands of cores, very large systems (>10M atoms), or extensive parameter studies