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Recommended PC for 3D Autocad 2011

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Message 1 of 6
Rafsmag
1736 Views, 5 Replies

Recommended PC for 3D Autocad 2011

Hi all,

 

I need help figuring out what sort of hardware upgrades or possibly a new PC I would need to run 3d drawings in AutoCAD 2011.

 

The current system I am using is:

 

Dell Inc. OptiPlex 745

3.40 gigahertz Intel Pentium D
16 kilobyte primary memory cache
2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache
3 GB RAM

256MB ATI Radeon X1300PRO [Display adapter]
256MB ATI Radeon X1300PRO Secondary [Display adapter]

 

AutoCAD 2011 on Windows XP

 

Cadalyst Total Index of 103

 

AutoCAD runs extremely slow and crashes while working on 3D drawings. I mainly work on 3D drawings of electrical enclosures in the 2D wireframe view I don't need to do any rendering or anything like that.

 

Any suggestions for hardware upgrade or recommended PC requirements to run 3D CAD efficiently?

 

Thanks,

 

Raf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

5 REPLIES 5
Message 2 of 6
OMCUSNR
in reply to: Rafsmag

Do you have a budget in mind?

 

I put the system in my sig together for just under $1400 USD by ordering parts from Newegg.com and assembling them myself (add a DVD burner & a card reader to what's listed - &, my degree is in studio art, not engineering, so it's not hard to put stuff together if you can use a screwdriver, and are patient.).  It would handle straight ACAD w/ 3d wireframe pretty well.

 

If you're looking to save a bit, look for an I-3 system, but add a decent video card.

 

Most would advise a system with Win 7 64 & 8 gig of ram as a minimum.  Many are going with a SSD for faster program loading, but I'd rather spend the money on a faster HD. 

 

HTH,

 

Reid

Homebuilt box: I5-2500k, MSI P67A-GD65, 12gig DDR3 1600 ram, ASUS ENGTX460 Video card, WD Velociraptor WD4500HLHX HD, Win 7 64 pro.
Message 3 of 6
Rafsmag
in reply to: OMCUSNR

What do you guys think of this as an upgrade:

 

Dell Precision 690 Tower

  • Dual (2x) Intel Xeon 5150 @ 2660Mhz (2.66 Ghz) Processors Installed
  • 8GB DDR2 RAM (4 x 2GB PC4200F modules)*
  • 250 GB SATA Hard Drive*
  • NVIDIA FX 4600 Video Card 768MB RAM
  • Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
  • DVDRW Optical Drive
  • Floppy Drive
  • 750W power supply
  • Windows Vista Business Edition COA *

 

With option for swapping th FX4600 for a FX 3450 (not sure which card would be better?)

 

Price $550 CAN

Message 4 of 6
OMCUSNR
in reply to: Rafsmag

It has cheap going for it, but it's older tecnology - basically one step above what you have & one step behind what you need.

 

You don't need the dual xeon processors for acad - acad uses one core only.

 

The 8 gig of ram is good

 

250 GB SATA HD - is a bit light.  I'd go with a Western Digital Caviar drive with at least 500 gig of storage, spining at 7,500

 

The video card is good, but won't do a lot of rendering.

 

The 750 Watt ps is overkill for that system.

 

Vista is a dead OS - Go with Win 7 64 bit Pro (no home editions or 32 bit)

Homebuilt box: I5-2500k, MSI P67A-GD65, 12gig DDR3 1600 ram, ASUS ENGTX460 Video card, WD Velociraptor WD4500HLHX HD, Win 7 64 pro.
Message 5 of 6
Rafsmag
in reply to: OMCUSNR

We are most likely going to go with the following system from newegg

 

quad i7 3.4GHz

2 x 4gb DDR3 SDRam

max smilodom ATX case w/ 500W power

GeForce GTX 560 1gb Gddr5

Western Digital Caviar 2TB HD

Win 7 64bit Pro

 

All for $1300 can

 

Thanks for all the feedback!

Message 6 of 6
seskinner
in reply to: Rafsmag

I have 2 machines with the dual xeon 5150s. I am diappointed. I agree with the other posts. The Optiplex and Precision lines have the same failure rate as consumer grade machines. Look into a Dell Studio or Alienware, or as previously mentioned, configure and build one yourself. Newegg can help make sure everything is compatible.

 

There is an Acer Predator on Amazon for under $1,000, but it is Win 7 Home Premium.

 

Win 7 x64 Pro

Intel Core i5 or i7

Minimum 8 GB triple channel RAM (make sure chip set supports it)

Consumer-grade graphics card (FireGL and Quadro are overpriced) nVidia GTX 560 or better

Solid-State Hard Drive for OS and apps, and second standard 7,200 rpm drive for file storage.

 

I think that RAM is the most important. Always leave room for more.

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