Users either upgrading or starting new projects on the Revit 2009 platform should be aware of a display performance degradation problem that is affecting this version of Revit. The problem is partly fixed in Web Update 1, which users should use rather than the initial release of the software.

All view types are affected, and in many cases wheelmouse zooming can be quite unresponsive in comparison to Revit 2008. Users are reporting sluggish performance in zooming, panning and in framerate when doing walkthroughs using the Steering Wheel tool.

The Factory is aware of the problem and is working on a fix.
In the meantime:
  • update your graphics drivers to the latest possible version
  • install Revit 2009 Web Update 1
  • turn off the View Cube, which does have a slight negative impact on view performance
  • experiment with turning OpenGL acceleration on and off in Revit's options
  • submit support requests on the problem, with sample data for the developers to analyze -- include the specifics of your OS version, video card make and model, and driver version
Threads addressing this problem: