REAL system recommendations?

[Shawn_SunsetAir]

It would be nice if Autodesk would go beyond the usual "System Requirements" and give us some actual REAL system recommendations.

Something like.....

Here are the base system requirements.... This configuration will allow you to run the program properly.
If you plan on bringing in 3D reference files, you may want to consider this configuration....
If you plan on bringing in large multi-floor 3D reference files, and working in multiple rendered view ports, then you should consider this....

- If not that, then it would at least be helpful to find more info on how Autocad or Autocad MEP uses it's resources. Should I invest in a dual quad-core processors, or should I get a faster single quad-core processor? Does Autocad run faster on a direct 3d graphics card or an open gl card? etc......

[Mike.Whitfield]

I too would like info like this. Autodesk's minimum requirements are clearly designed to not exclude any more machines than absolutely necessary, thus maximizing sales. And it's damned hard to find actual benchmarks using AutoCAD. It would be immensely useful to know whether scarce upgrade dollars are better spent on more cores, more clock speed, more graphics card power, faster hard drives, or more RAM. I realize that this is extremely hard to quantify, but an honest attempt would be nice. A downloadable set of sample drawings of various sizes together with a table of times for some useful features would be very useful.

Autodesk working with computer enthusiast sites, making sure that they have copies of Autodesk software and know how to configure it (and have sample drawings) would also help immensely. These people have expertise in testing everything PC and don't have to worry about upsetting a vendor. As it stands, specifying an AutoCAD station is largely a matter of making a semi-educated guess through clouds of FUD.