Hardware requirements

[bruce13557]

I've been having some issues with autocad so I posted a ticket with Autodesk which replied as I suspected that my system isn't handling the work I'm giving it.
I currently have:
Intel Core i5-8400 CPU
16 GB ram
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 3GB Video card
Intel SSDPEKKW 512GB HARD DRIVE
I am using fairly large files, my current one is 11,699KB and working in 3D.
Does anyone have recommendations on what I can suggest to the owner as an upgrade that won't give him a heart attack?
Obviously I want the system to work for the next few years so it will need to have enough spare power to handle growth.
Thanks
Bruce

[bruce13557]

I just saw the extra "e" in the title.

Sorry about that.

[tombu]

Check out: https://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?169462-Civil-3D-High-Performance-Workstations

 

[f700es]

It's not your hardware unless something is failing. Your specs are more than enough for AutoCAD usage. An 11 mb file is not really large. What exactly is going on?

[Cad64]

13 hours ago, bruce13557 said:

I am using fairly large files, my current one is 11,699KB and working in 3D.

 

What visual style are you using? It has been my experience that Conceptual and Realistic are not good to use while working. Stick with Shaded while you're working and switch to Conceptual or Realistic only when you're ready to view what you've done.

 

You could also try enabling or disabling hardware acceleration and see if that has any effect.

[bruce13557]

I have occasional freezes, probably at least weekly where when I do something like change the change the visual style autocad will take 5 to 10 minutes to complete the action.
More frequently, up to several times a day, things like the view cube will disappear, or not respond at all to any command, the cursor will disappear on any autocad item, or it will remain visible on anything except the drawing where it will still be active and allow me to select items, I just can't see where it is. These bugs are resolved by closing the drawing and reopening it.

I use wire frame visual style unless I need to clarify some detail or show someone what the item looks like.

[Cad64]

You said your file size is 11,699KB, but what type of models are you creating and how complex are they? Also, how large are they and how far away from the origin are they? I used to have a lot of trouble in 3ds Max with models that were far away from the origin. It's best to work at X0,Y0,Z0 if possible.

[bruce13557]

I draw a model in 3D solids arranged in blocks for the various grouped parts. Then I copy the blocks to a separate part of the drawing for fabrication views, copy them one more time and explode the block to pull out the individual solids for detailed fabrication drawings. 

[bruce13557]

I have noticed that if I select an item then change view using the view cube the new view is ready in a couple of seconds. If I simply change the view using the view cube it can take 1.5 minutes for the view to be ready. If I use the view manager the change is almost instantaneous. 

[Cad64]

Honestly, I've never used the viewcube for anything. In fact, I have it disabled so I don't even see it. When I need to orbit around a model I would select a part of it and then hold down Shift and middle mouse to orbit around. When you select an item, it isolates it during orbit so that's probably why it works better without freezing up to calculate all the other various parts of the model.

[f700es]

1 hour ago, Cad64 said:

Honestly, I've never used the viewcube for anything.

This

[bruce13557]

I didn't use the viewcube either but now I find that I can select an object that I'm working on then choose one of the "primary" views and the focus of the screen stays on my object but the orientation remains in line with the cursor axis. Orbit works well too but often I want to keep the view aligned with the axis.   

[pattyandme]

Your graphics card is built for frames per second not handling large amounts of data in the same way.

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 3GB Video card

 

3 Gig vram in the GPU- once that is used the system ram which is slower starts to be used.

Quadro workstation cards are what?

 

different in that they structure the data differently and more productively to this environment

upgrade your graphic card to a workstation card that what to tell him

 

[f700es]

Nope, I’ll post some results that show GeForce cards out performing Quadro cards in AutoCAD. 

[ammobake]

Personally, I ran Autocad on a machine with a GTX 1060 for 8 years without any issues.  I upgraded my video card last year but I can say with certainty that it can handle large files and 3d modeling without any issues.

 

One solution might be for the op to freeze any layers possible.  It will remove that data from active memory.

I would also recommend freezing any XREF layers that aren't relevant to the 3d modeling portion of your workflow.

 

If I may ask - why are you copying the 3d solids for fabrication views?

You can set up standard views from paperspace by creating separate viewports for your various projections and isometric views (you can then tweak the display settings for each independent viewport to display the 3d solids as intended).

 

So, for example, your orthographic projections can be wireframe or 3d hidden (depending on what you want to show).  Your isometric view can be a 3d hidden, realistic, etc... You can also apply textures if you want more of a realistic 3d portrayal for the isometric.

 

But it is possible to do this all with one solid or group of solids.

It sounds like grouping is how you are combining these which is a good option.  But don't be afraid to block out each individual 3d "part" which will save it as a separate DWG.  I don't know if blocking it in would make things run smoother but it does keep things cleaner.

 

And if you do edit or need to change your 3d "parts" you can just overwrite the old block file and you're good.

 

-ChriS

[bruce13557]

I'm having continued issues, while I do most of my work in wireframe occasionally I need to view in shaded, conceptual or some other visual style. On this job it has started displacing items and generally making the view unusable. The file size is 26476KB. If I chose to print a view port in a different visual style the print preview shows parts displaced but the print shows all parts correct.  I have attached some screen shots to show the issue.

I need to be able to show individual parts for cutting, grouped parts for component assembly and overall  assembly of components 

Edited January 21, 2021 by bruce13557

[ammobake]

Are you using any XREF's that are PDF attachments?

 

In the viewport that is causing hiccups, if you look closely on your screenshot the viewport is active and you can see the WCS on the bottom left of the active viewport.

This may be causing memory issues when you go to print - especially given the size of the file.

 

Make sure your viewports are inactive in paperspace before plotting/publishing and locked for posterity.

 

There are a few different ways/tricks to make the file size smaller.  Given the size of the DWG I would definitely go step by step to utilize those options in an effort to lower the overall size.

 

These options include, but are not limited to...

 

1 - block out assemblies into other DWG files.  There are LISP routines that can do this for you.  You select what you want to block out, it will save that content as a separate DWG at the same coordinates using the same layers.  it just brings up a dialog for where u want to save the new block and automatically replaces the selection set with the new block.  OR you can manually block out each assembly/subassembly.

 

2 - to save your memory, freeze layers that you can to remove them from active memory.  It won't lower the file size, specifically, but will help.

 

3 - purge all - There's multiple ways to do this but easiest is probably the purge command, then use the purge all button in the dialog box (may need multiple runs).

 

4 - if you absolutely need to you can lower the overall file size by saving as an earlier version DWG.  2004 DWG can sometimes cut the file size almost in half (just depends).  But I would avoid this in your case unless absolutely necessary.  The good thing is you can test this on a copy of your DWG to see what the file size reduction would be and ensure everything is working as intended - safely - before you actually apply the changes to your working files.

 

If you notice, in your viewport that is problematic, it is using a realistic visual style.

 

This implies your model space is using realistic visual style when it really doesn't need to.  Your visual style I would set up to be viewport specific with wireframe being default in model space (if that makes sense).

This way, your viewports can be realistic or 3d hidden, etc... on the sheets.  But your model space is always 2d wireframe using less system resources.

 

-ChriS

 

[Handiman]

Autodesk Autocad is a single core product, your processor is a base freq. of 2.8ghz.

That is part of it, an SSD would also help.

Your best bet is to buy a CAD machine from a company that understands how to run the software best.

You will pay a lot of money because some many think a computer is just a computer and they should all work.

If this is your tool to do a job then buy a good quality tool or deal with the hiccups.

Your best bet is to talk to the builder of the computer and they will taylored it to your needs. I studied up about 3-4 years ago and built a machine to run CAD and REVIT and it has been great but I studied up for close to 6 months reading and researching Motherboards, Processors, Memory, Solid State Drive, NVME Drives and Video Cards and now its time to get a new machine and I don't want to invest the time again so I'm looking a Boxx and just going to pay for it, my time is worth more than it will cost to pay the pro builders.

I did save about 2k on the one I built and I enjoyed doing it but it was a lot of time invested.

So good luck with which way you decide to take.

[f700es]

On 11/20/2020 at 8:18 PM, f700es said:

Nope, I’ll post some results that show GeForce cards out performing Quadro cards in AutoCAD. 

[tombu]

Of course the Quadro cards which have the most RAM for large files are every single Quadro card is manufactured internally by NVIDIA, whereas GeForce cards are often built and sold by third-party vendors. NVIDIA keeping the Quadro cards isolated in this way ensures a consistent level of quality, which is important to businesses that are always looking for a stable, long-term solution. In that vein, Quadro cards also offer longer warranties, enhanced IT management capabilities, and even come with drivers that are designed with longevity in mind. Basically, they come with all the features you’d want in a professional environment.