hardware requirements--Autocad civil 3D 2018

[Anonymous]

We are looking to upgrade to the most current version of AutoCad civil 3D. (2018). The listed desktop requirements are pretty low, anything we have is sure to be above the recommended, but  I would like to know the real world experience of users and what organizations are using to successfully run the software.

Thanks in advance for any input that the community can provide.

-G

[dgorsman]

What do you already have for hardware and Civil3D?

What are your typical projects like - small?  Big?

Do you use the preferred workflows?

[M_c3d · Accepted solution]

We run;

• Intel i7's
• 32gb RAM
• K2000 Quadro graphics card.
• SSD hard drive

I run 64gb RAM but even the guys with 32gb works absolutely fine.

I know guys who run i5's with 16GB RAM that is a bit slow

[michael_robertson]

All our testing through the years at FDOT we've come to the following conclusion in order of measured performance:

Fastest single core processor you can afford

minimum 16gb ram, 32gb or more preferred

SSD harddrive

Decent gaming video card, we've testing against true workstation cards and they were always slower except when rendering.

[AllenJessup]

We find the same. Except because we orbit large drawing in 3D and use Leica Cyclone and Cloudworx we use Nvidia Quadro cards.

[neilyj666]

Lots of good advice given here but also (and perhaps more importantly) is how you manage the Civil objects i.e. maximise data shortcuts and xrefs.

My own laptop runs 2018 with 8Gb of RAM and mostly runs without issue although corridor rebuilds can be slow whilst my desktop has 32Gb and corridor rebuilds are speedy.

[ChrisRS · Accepted solution]

If you are looking at new hardware, I suggest that you not ignore InfraWorks requirements as well as Civil 3D requirements.

Infraworks: NVIDIA Quadro® 5000 or 6000 for desktops and NVIDIA Quadro 2000M or GeForce® GT 650M for laptops.

I am not very familiar with InfraWorks, but it seems to want more power than Civil 3d. I also do not know if it is multi threaded.

I can not find recommended hardware for Civil 3D 2018 or Infraworks 2018.

[M_c3d]

Sorry that should have said a NVIDIA Quadro K2200 graphics card

[BushW]

Hello @Anonymous

I'm just checking in to see if you need more help with this. Did the replies of @ChrisRS and @M_c3d  provided work for you?  

If so, please hit the ‘Accept as Solution’ button if/when relevant so, that others can more easily benefit from the information and thank you for doing so. 

Best Regards,

Wendell

[dgorsman]

For completeness, from Infraworks hardware requirements:

Any DirectX® 10.1 capable graphics card with 2 GB (or more) graphics memory, supporting 8x Antialiasing (8x AA), such as NVIDIA Quadro® 5000 or 6000 for desktops and NVIDIA Quadro 2000M or GeForce® GT 650M for laptops; (Any DirectX 10.1 capable graphics card with 1 GB graphics memory supporting 2x antialiasing (2x AA) minimum)

I find it quite interesting that the desktop requirements are for Quadro 5000 or 6000, vs. 2000M-series for the laptop.  There's a huge difference between them in terms of capability and price, enough to question if there was a typo.  If a laptop can run a 2000M, then a 2000 should be suitable for light work on a desktop as well.  I'll also note the mid- to high-end GTX series qualify, and can run circles around more expensive Quadro cards.

From memory, the above-mentioned Lecia Cyclone still uses OpenGL in viewer mode so that usually means it performs best on a Quadro (full OpenGL support is one of their main claims to fame, the other being higher precision calculations).

[AllenJessup]

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@dgorsman wrote:

From memory, the above-mentioned Lecia Cyclone still uses OpenGL in viewer mode so that usually means it performs best on a Quadro (full OpenGL support is one of their main claims to fame, the other being higher precision calculations).

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Correct. It even comes with an Open GL tuner. We ended up upgrading to Quadro P4000s with 4GB Memory.