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Compatible mobile workstations for AutoCadLT 2012

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Message 1 of 8
larryalbrecht
490 Views, 7 Replies

Compatible mobile workstations for AutoCadLT 2012

I run a small landscaping business and am planning to purchase a mobile workstation so I can upgrade to AutoCadLT  2012 (I am currently running LT 2005 on an old desktop).  The notebook computer I have been considering is a Levono ThinkPad W520.  It has an i7 2720QM/2.2 GHz processor, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD, a Nvidia Quadro 1000M / HD Graphics 3000 -3G upgradable and Windows 7 Pro 64-bit.  From the AutoDesk web site it appears that this machine should have no problems running LT 2012 but I wanted a second opinion (past experience tells me that the graphics card is the key component).  

7 REPLIES 7
Message 2 of 8
gccdesign
in reply to: larryalbrecht

I recently got a Dell M6600 with Win7 64 bit, 8 GB RAM (1600) and an NVidia Quadro 3000 graphics card, 2GB graphics memory. It has a 500 GB HD, and a 256GB SSD.

 

In comparison to my desktop WinXP machine (which normally runs ACAD LT 2011 just fine). The desktop has always been snappy until a recent problem.

 

Pretty much everything is about the same.

The new laptop is faster at starting up, opening and closing programs, and also when saving, regen, switching from layout to layout or to model space on large files.

 

The laptop does not have any wierd problems with the graphics or anything, just works great.

 

The older WinXP machine is having an irritating recent problem with a mouse cursor lag when selecting objects, but has not always had that problem, have not solved that yet. Laptop has no such problems.

 

GChapp

Message 3 of 8

I have just done literally exactly what you described.  I was running LT05 on a desktop and chose to upgrade to a Lenovo W510 with LT12.  The place where I'm running into trouble is in the Options-System-Performance Settings tab.  If I click on 'Performance Settings,' I get a dialogue box that pops up, but I can't see the whole window.  There's no way to maximize the box to select the options and apply them.  The problem I'm trying to address is the horrible jerkiness the program exhibits whenever I'm trying to draw...  Under any circumstances; o-snap, ortho, grid  all toggled on or off.  I'm definitely looking for some help to solve this if anyone has any ideas.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

CY

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Message 4 of 8
heinsite
in reply to: larryalbrecht

Most people these days worry a lot about processor speed and RAM when they consider a new computer for AutoCAD... and iti is important.  But most important nowadays is to make sure that you have Windows 7 64-bit OS, at least 8 GB of RAM (more is better but 8 GB is the sweet spot), and specify a video board that is on the Autodesk approved list.  It really does seem like the majority of the problems people have are related to the display. 

 

While AutoCAD still does not utilize more than one core it doesn't really matter how many are in your processor.  But if you are like most of us and typically have several other programs (a word processor, spreadsheet, email, and other) running while you work on a drawing, those extra cores will come in handy.

 

From there my recommendation would be for you to get as much horsepower as you can afford.  AutoCAD will still run.

 

Dave.

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Dave Hein, P.E.
Message 5 of 8
CuriousYellow
in reply to: heinsite

Hi Heinsite,

 

Thanks for the response!  I am running Windows 7 64 bit, but I've only got 4 gigs of ram.  I'm running a 

NVIDIA Quadro FX 880M for my card, which seems to check out fine on the approved list.  Do you think it's a simple matter of not enough ram?

 

Thank you again!  I really appreciate the response!

 

CY

Message 6 of 8
heinsite
in reply to: CuriousYellow

If you're not seeing any display problems then any troubles will likely be related to too little RAM.  Windows 7 can access up to 32 GB I believe... but with LT you probably won't need anywhere near that.  For most users 8 - 16 GB should be fine.

 

To be honest here I have to admit that none of the four computers I have used AutoCAD on over the years have had an  Autodesk certified graphics card.  But I have never had any display issues on any of them either.  So in my personal experience the program has been very forgiving.  But unless you get a Lenovo or an HP laptop you'll probably be somewhat limited in what graphics cards you can get.

 

There was a session at AU this year that talked all about how to configure new systems... but for the life of me I can't find the handout now.  I would suggest signing onto the AU site and searching thru the database for articles.  The 2011 sessions won't be available for a while yet, but last year's issues will still be there and I'd be surprised if you couldn't find something helpful.

 

Dave

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Dave Hein, P.E.
Message 7 of 8
CuriousYellow
in reply to: heinsite

Hi Dave,

 

Again, I appreciate the replies!  Thank you!  I think I've solved my problems.  The screen on this laptop has pretty incredible resolution, so the default text size is quite small.  When I was initially setting up my preferences, I scaled the text up, and it adversely affected some of the message panes in LT so that I wasn't able to select options or apply them.  I also followed your advice and went to the approved graphics card list and found a driver for my card.  Now that I've got the right driver and my text size is back to default, LT is running perfectly.  Even with 4 gigs of RAM, it's super fast.  I'm stoked to see it working so well, and thanks again for your advice, it really helped!

 

CY

Message 8 of 8
heinsite
in reply to: CuriousYellow

Glad I was a little bit of help, CY.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

Dave.

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Dave Hein, P.E.

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