Hardware for fast AutoCAD 3D modeling

[ncsengineering]

I'm currently running a computer with a 3.4GHz P4 (Pentium 4 630), 1GB PC-4200 DDR 400 RAM, and a Sapphire ATI Radeon X600XT graphics card with 256MB memory and use AutoCAD 2006 to create very complex 3D models of entire facilities including machinery, piping, building structures, etc. As the models get larger and more complex, drawing regeneration slows down dramatically and things like 3dorbit become somewhat painful to use. I am considering upgrading to 2GB of RAM and purchasing an ATI FireGL graphics card to try to get some more speed out of AutoCAD when working in 3D. Can anyone offer any suggestions or tell me what hardware might make a real difference? I am also considering building another machine for the same purpose with a Xeon dual core 3.2GHz processor, faster memory and a FireGL card. Any help is appreciated.

 

[John2004]

I think getting the fastest processor, the largest amount of RAM, and the best video card / graphics accelerator your budget will allow, is about all you can do to really make a difference in speed, along with performing all maintenance on your computer, disk defrag if it needs it, etc..

It sounds like you need all the power you can get.

Your AutoCAD rep may be able to tell you from experience what computer specs work well for the type of assembly files you are making.

Sincerely,
John

 

[Ratso]

First of all, which version of AutoCAD are you using? I am asking this because if you install more RAM, you will still be limited to 2 gigs if you are running on 32 bit Windows XP. Only AutoCAD 2007 is a 64 bit compatible version, but to use that ability and utilise more than 2 gigs of ram, you will need to have Windows xp 64 bit version installed - the catch being that not all drivers are 64 bit rated - a bit of a catch 22 situation.

Have a look at the following site for help:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=5182483

Hope this helps.

Cheers


Ratso
AutoCAD and Inventor

 

[ctopher]

I know this is for SW, but works for ACAD also.
faq559-974

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks 06 4.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 06-21-06)

 

[ncsengineering]

I am going to be switching to AutoCAD 2007 very shortly. Will it run faster on WinXP Pro x64 than on standard WinXP Pro? I was only planning on installing 2GB of RAM -- would more help? I'm currently leaning towards the recently released Core 2 Duo 6600 CPU with a FireGL V7200 graphics card.

 

[dik]

My desktop uses the Asus A8N32-SLI mboard... driven by my son's gaming... slikker than doggie poop... Check out some of the hardware dedicated to gamers...

Dik

 

[looslib]

WinXP64bit may actually run slower than the 32bit version. You have to move twice as much data through the system on a 64bit system than a 32bit system.

From what you have posted, a better graphics card would be the first step towards improvemnet followed by an increase in RAM. Your CPU at 3.4Ghz is okay.

If you really do need more RAM, then you need to go to WinXP64bit on a 64bit CPU. Your CPU may be a 64EMT, which will allow you to upgrade to WinXP64bit for the OS and take advantage of increased memory allocation to the AutoCAD process. A 32bit application is limited to 2GB of memory by the OS and will usually crash at about 1.5GB of memory used.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli
Sr IS Technologist
L-3 Communications

 

[dik]

the SLI board allows two graphics cards and is quite fast...

Dik

 

[ncsengineering]

I've heard about the SLI boards and ATI Crossfire, but have also read that gaming cards do nothing to provide hardware graphics acceleration in AutoCAD. I did find some utility that would take certain Radeon cards and reflash them with FireGL bios, but my X600XT isn't supported. From what I've read the only real solutions for graphics acceleration in AutoCAD are the FireGL or Quadro FX cards (and a few others dedicated to workstation graphics). It's a shame, because those SLI boards have large, fast memory and are less expensive than the workstation ones.