LINKED MODELS - REVIT PERFORMANCE

[cbt990]

I am working with a project with about 50 linked models, each one is a separate building module that uses the same link. The performance on my computer is very slow when I try to view in 3D. Currently, the models are linked with only the most critical model categories enabled (walls, roofs, door/fenestration), but the computer, which is powerful, struggles even with this. I am looking for any and all suggestions how to improve graphic performance because the usability is very poor right now.

Thank you

[RDAOU]

@cbt990 

Before anything else Define Powerful?! I will give you a benchmark. My office workstation specs as follows

1. CPU AMD Thredripper 2990 WX
2. GPU Nvidia RTX 3090
3. RAM 4x16 3200Mhz Corsair Vengence
4. Both CPU and GPU are Liquid Cooled
5. PS 1600Watts
6. 4 x 2tb Samsung EVO+ SSD 

And I find it not really fast on the current project which has 42 Linked Buildings models + 1 infra

[cbt990]

Office laptop specs:

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10850H CPU @ 2.70GHz 2.71 GHz
Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.7 GB usable)

NVIDIA Quadro T2000 with Max-Q Design

[RDAOU]

So here is point 1...from my experience that is a an average built... It wont digest large scale projects so well. Its upper limit a 500-800 Mb model. No Graphics 

50 linked models...what is the built up area of this project? and how big is the site?

[cbt990]

Would it be more efficient to work with unit modules as families instead of linked files? 

My intuition is that 30 family instances would be lighter than 30 linked files. Is this possible?

[cbt990]

its a decent-sized urban parcel

[syman2000]

Ouch...50 links? Normally I would treat links as it's own separate Revit model. If you split the component into granular level(IE: walls, floors, tree and etc) and treat it like AutoCAD XREF, your performance will take a hit. Think of Revit having to open 50 models at one time. I would keep it down to 10 or less. Usually I would split the model if you have complex site with different phase of the project.

[ToanDN · Accepted solution]

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@cbt990 wrote:
its a decent-sized urban parcel

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Create a workset for a link or a group/cluster of links so that you can close the worksets where you need to.  I imagine the only time you need to show all 50 links is an overall site plan or an aerial 3d view.  I have found working with a view with closed worksets is less sluggish than a view with elements (including links) turned off, even though they appear visually identical.

[jvpantin2 · Accepted solution]

Hi, @ cbt990, first question: how big is your project, I mean, the sum (in MB) of host / linked models? Second: are you using hardware acceleration, smooth lines with anti-aliasing? Third: wich detail level/visual style are you using for 3D views, fine or coarse, hidden line or shaded?

1, If your project is about 1.2GB or more, it exceeds 20X RAM memory rule and your PC is being overloaded for shure,

2, Review graphic & hardware settings in Revit options menu. Check / uncheck those wich help inproving performance,

3, Change the detail level and visual style of 3D view to coarse/hidden line in order to reduce RAM / GPU load