Looking for Advice on Optimizing AutoCAD Performance for Large-Scale Projects

[daisynaive96]

Hello Autodesk Community,

I’ve recently encountered some challenges while working on large-scale projects in AutoCAD, and I’m reaching out to this knowledgeable community for advice.

I’m working on a project that involves complex architectural layouts with a significant number of layers, blocks, and external references (Xrefs). The file sizes often exceed 500 MB, and I’ve noticed that performance begins to degrade significantly as the complexity increases. Specifically, I’m experiencing:

1. Lagging and freezing during zooming, panning, or switching between layouts.
2. Long save times and occasional crashes when saving files or autosaving.
3. Slow rendering of layouts and viewport regenerations.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

• Auditing and purging files regularly to remove unused objects and layers.
• Switching to 2D wireframe mode when working in complex areas.
• Increasing the available memory on my system (currently 32GB RAM with a dedicated graphics card).
• Adjusting system variables like WHIPTHREAD and CACHEMAXFILES.

Despite these efforts, the performance issues persist, especially when collaborating with team members who use different AutoCAD versions and standards.

I’d love to hear how others have tackled similar challenges. Are there specific workflows, best practices, or settings you recommend to improve performance? Have you used any third-party tools or plugins to manage large projects more effectively?

Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I’m open to rethinking my approach if it helps streamline the process and reduce the frustration caused by these slowdowns.

Thanks in advance for your help! I look forward to learning from your experiences.

Regards

Daisyqlik