Models and Specs for a Good Revit Workstation?

[DGabrielTMT]

Revit MEP 2009 is running rather slowly, especially when zooming in/out of complex views, on a workstation (formerly used for AutoCAD ) with the following specs:
Processor: Dual-Core Xeon 5130 2.0GHz
RAM: 4 GB DDR2
Operating System: Windows XP Pro (32-bit)
Graphics Card: NVidia Quadro FX 3450 w/ 256MB
HDD: 80GB - SATA-300 – 7200 rpm

We're working on files upwards of 100MB (and that's after stripping out the views and other data that we don't need).

So, we're looking to replace the current Revit workstation with something that will handle the software better. Quality and reliability, of course, is important, but we're looking to spend $1,000 to $3,000.

If you have Revit running well on a machine, can you give me the models and specs of the workstation?

[Anonymous]

One thing I will suggest is to get an ssd drive. Back it up regularly
since ssd drives supposedly have a limited life expectancy, but are much
faster.

dgabrieltmt wrote:
> Revit MEP 2009 is running rather slowly, especially when zooming in/out of complex views, on a workstation (formerly used for AutoCAD ) with the following specs:
> Processor: Dual-Core Xeon 5130 2.0GHz
> RAM: 4 GB DDR2
> Operating System: Windows XP Pro (32-bit)
> Graphics Card: NVidia Quadro FX 3450 w/ 256MB
> HDD: 80GB - SATA-300 – 7200 rpm
>
> We're working on files upwards of 100MB (and that's after stripping out the views and other data that we don't need).
>
> So, we're looking to replace the current Revit workstation with something that will handle the software better. Quality and reliability, of course, is important, but we're looking to spend $1,000 to $3,000.
>
> If you have Revit running well on a machine, can you give me the models and specs of the workstation?

[Anonymous]

Let me start off by saying I don't work with Revit, but my comments applies
for general AutoCAD. Are you using Revit Architecture or Revit Structural?
Here are the AutoCAD links for Revit System Requirements:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?siteID=123112&id=12431819
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=12538734


My comments:
Xeons are a waste of money. Get a similar Core series processor. My
preference would be a Core i7 940.

Go with a 64 bit operating system and Revit 64, either Vista Business 64 or
Windows 7 in order to use much more ram. Windows XP is pretty much dying
out.

Go with more RAM. Some processors like the Core i7 are triple channel, so
you need to buy ram in 3 GB units. I would go with at least 6 GB (three 2
GB modules) and possibly 12 GB given your file sizes. If you stick with a
dual channel processor, get 8 GB or more.

Normally I recommend not paying the extra for OpenGL cards, like the Quadro,
but Autodesk is recommending it for Revit Structural. For Revit
Architecture, they don't recommend OpenGL, so I would save the money and go
with a NVIDIA Geforce GTS 250 or higher. While most if not all come with
two DVI outputs, I would make sure the one you get has two so you can go to
dual monitors. Duals are the best bang for the buck hardware investment
that you can make in my mind.

Definitely get a bigger and faster hard drive or two. I assume you will put
your data on a server, but the hard drive speed still impacts performance.
80 GB is really small now days. I would look for 250 GB or larger. I was
not sold on the solid state hard drive performance the last time I looked,
but it has been awhile. I would rather go with a mirror raid so that you
are less venerable to crashes while on deadlines. I believe that Murphy's
law trumps Ohms law! Of course if you have several workstations you may not
need the mirrored raid.

Brad
C3D 2010 on Vista Business 64 SP 2
LT 2010 on XP Pro SP 3

wrote in message news:6269012@discussion.autodesk.com...
Revit MEP 2009 is running rather slowly, especially when zooming in/out of
complex views, on a workstation (formerly used for AutoCAD ) with the
following specs:
Processor: Dual-Core Xeon 5130 2.0GHz
RAM: 4 GB DDR2
Operating System: Windows XP Pro (32-bit)
Graphics Card: NVidia Quadro FX 3450 w/ 256MB
HDD: 80GB - SATA-300 - 7200 rpm

We're working on files upwards of 100MB (and that's after stripping out the
views and other data that we don't need).

So, we're looking to replace the current Revit workstation with something
that will handle the software better. Quality and reliability, of course, is
important, but we're looking to spend $1,000 to $3,000.

If you have Revit running well on a machine, can you give me the models and
specs of the workstation?