System Requirements

[qball]

I've read what my system requirements are supposed to be for Autocad here: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?siteID=123112&id=13784795

 

and attached is what I currently have. I don't know much about the insides of computers so I need a little help. How is the Intel i7? Any good? What is the difference between "860 @ 2.80GHz" and "1.17GHz" on the line below?

 

My computer seems to get jammed up when I do anything that I still consider to not be overly complicated. I'm sure some of you guys have far more complex stuff than this.

 

The 3d stairs attached is about a 5.5MB file.

 

What system do some of you have?

[ReMark]

The i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80GHz is your main processor (CPU). The 2.80GHz is the processor speed.

 

The 1.17 GHz, 2.96 GB of RAM refers to the speed of the RAM (1.17GHz) and the amount of RAM (2.96GB) recognized by your operating system which is WinXP Pro SP 3.

 

The i7 860 consists of a quad-core with a 4x256KB L2 cache and a 8MB L3 cache. Your system is at the low end of the performance curve.

[ReMark]

I assume you are running a 32-bit system unless you were savy enough to jump to a 64-bit OS before most of us. You are probably also running a 32-bit version of AutoCAD too. Am I right?

[Cad64]

What are your video card specs? That could be a big part of your problem because even with a low end system, a simple model like those stairs should not be bogging down your computer. Unless you have a low end video card.

[ReMark]

Why is the file size so big? I've got more detailed 3D drawings than the one you show that are nowhere near that size.

[ReMark]

Do you have 3GB or 4GB of RAM installed? My guess it is 4GB.

 

Are you getting any "out of memory" errors yet?

 

Have you shut down all other programs and killed any unnecessary processes running in the background?

 

I noticed you have a Dell Vostro 430. I looked up the system specs. The mainboard can accommodate up to 8GB of 1333MHz of DDR3 SDRAM provided you are running a 64-bit operating system. The base system actually comes with an onboard GPU (graphics processing unit) which is basically a graphics chip hardwired into the motherboard. Did you opt for one of the optional dedicated video cards when you bought your system? If so, which one?

Edited October 22, 2010 by ReMark

[qball]

32 bit OS, 32 bit acad

 

"Do you have 3GB or 4GB of RAM installed? My guess it is 4GB." ---> 2.96 isn't it?

 

Video card: http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gts_240_us.html that comes up under Control Panel, Display, Settings tab.

 

As far as the file goes, I erased the 2d Flatshot blocks, 2d text, and Section Planes and it reduced the file to under 3MB and runs a lot better now. Seems like I'd like to leave those section planes in so I can quickly make a new block if I make any changes to the model.

 

I should have closed down some other programs but didn't. When it gets bogged down the Task Manager Performance is about 13% CPU usage and Autocad is "Not responding".

 

"Your system is at the low end of the performance curve" - this kind of sums up what I suspected.

 

Apologies as this thread is becoming similar to my other thread which pertained only to the stairs.

[ReMark]

The 2.96GB is what Windows recognizes and is usually a lower number than the actual installed amount of RAM. In your case my guess is you have 4GB installed which would make the number recognized about right.

 

The only other ways to improve performance would be...

 

1) Switch to a 64-bit OS and 64-bit AutoCAD.

 

2) If you do #1 then you can swap out the 4GB of RAM for 8GB.

 

If you do not do #1 then your options are...

 

3) Add the 3GB switch parameter to your boot.ini file and...

 

4) Increase your virtual memory (page file/swap file) settings. This would require disabling Windows ability to control virtual memory (which is the default all new computers ship with).