RE: 2010 + XP64 + 12GB and still lagging...

[snowyweston]

I'm presently running one of Dell's M6400 (not the Covet edition) - specced with a 2.66ghz C2D P8800, 12GB RAM & a 1GB 3700M - running XP Pro 64, and 2010. I have been for some 5 months now. In the first instance I wasn't blown away by it's performance - and now that we're starting to see M&E and S.Eng models come our way, to tell the truth I'm actually pretty horrified by the performance.

Back at our office in the UK I was running a E6700 w/ 3.5GB RAM & a 256MB FireGL card of some description - admitadly I was still using 2009 back then, on smaller models; but having been out in Oz on work placement with this far higher-specc'd machine, I've been doubting 2010's coding efficiency...

I still suffer incredible lags on some of the most "basic" of operations - and it's frustrating beyond belief - especially because I'm championing Revit to another firm.

A lot of the time I'm prepared to put it down to networking - but occasionally when I go remote and take local copies of model files to work with / do show&tells with; I'm not seeing massive jumps in performance "going local". Suffice to say I'm not looking forward to when the M&E models start to get busy. (our architecture models range from 20-60MB and we're some way off getting them close to "built")

Beyond the raising the virtual memory "trick" (which shouldn't be needed surely as I have physical in abundance) Are there any other methods known to squeeze the very last drop of system performance?

[trombe]

Yo snowy in Radelaide !

see attached AutoDesk Model Performance Technical Note for 2010 products attached however I think there about 15 -20 people here who are particularly well versed with larger commercial practice teams using large and many Worksets, and loads of Linked Files plus particularly how to deal with big office templates, making lighter weight families devoid of extraneous geometry and good practices for inserted dwgs and how to get them sorted before, they come in as well as network tweaking.

Also, it seems obvious probably, but anything that involves far away / remote datums for either linked files / surveys slows things down. I always insist (now after learning the hard way and being saved by my current reseller !!) the Surveyor is ruthless about stripping out unnecessary datums and other stuff which just get in the way and also slow Revit down.

Don't laugh about VM though. The AutoDesk technical note regarding 32 bit platforms and the 3Gb switch (from their knowldege based articles) has some useful points about VM for the average workstation type set up or those with even up to the minute spec machines, but who don't have the expertise to tweak them (cpu overclocking, video card overclocking, and a few other sneaky tricks with hardware and networks). So its a sort of safe practice to follow until you know better.

I expect the BIM Boys (and girls) will chime in now. You'll be sweet.
cheers
trombe

[samov]

We have ONE BIG project.

Only one rule:

NO UNCROPPED PLAN/ELEVATION/SECTION VIEWS.
NO 3D VIEW WITHOUT SECTION ENABLED.

TO SPEED UP LOADING TIMES EVERY AND ALL DWG HAVE TO BE STRIPPED DOWN TO THE BARE MINIMUM (ONE LAYER :))

From what i "feel" about Revit 2011. I am channelling my wishes now... 2011 MUST be faster. 2010 is just buggy...

[Scott Womack]

Some of it is actually affected by the methods of modeling. I've seen 1 40 meg, non-effieciently modeled project take forever, while a 200 meg file flies by comparison. This was in the same office on identical machines.
Look for warnings in the file. In-place families, and walls/curtainwalls made from masses, too many filled regions, and too many model lines are prime culprits. 3D Views with shadows turned on, or more than one or two "live" 3D views placed on sheets are also cuprits. A number of linked, or imported AutoCAD files is also a culprit.

Good Luck!

[Hulston1982]

Just out of curiosity....when you say going local are you working directly form a memory stick/disc?

It's just that when i do some small private jobs i sometimes work direct from the memory stick, and this is a lot slower than if i saved off a copy to any hard drive?

If i save it to the computer the whole file runs much smoother.

Just a thought?

[cdatechguy]

XP64 should have been the first clue...I can open projects with 8gb of RAM and 2009 no problem using Win7 64bit that would have hosed a XP64 machine with the same amount of RAM and dual Xeon processors. (Yes, we have one and tested it when I installed Win7 for the first time.)

Update to Windows 7 64bit, you will be a lot happier ;)

[dzatto]

I'm running an M6500 covet, i7 / 820 quad core, Quadro FX 3800M 1G video card, 8G ram and Revit seems to be pretty smooth. Granted, I'm a Revit newbie (just switched from ACA), but it seems to fly. Could it be a bad install? Maybe a repair will do the trick.

[btrusty]

i do a ton of warehouses that we get a DWG file from a sub that has racking
this racking includes everything (racking bolts, columns, bolts, etc)

the latest project i was working on was pretty simple
±30,000 sf, IMP walls, ±50 columns, 8 overhead doors, 6 personnel doors, 2 sheets, no details yet.
it works great, its fast, its easy. but when i load in the racking - it all falls down
it takes 2-10 seconds to redraw the plan view, where before the racking was loaded - it was doing it instantaneously.

so i only load it to check some things and if i need it when printing

there are several projects that its just easier to do
do you need racking on when working on the office layout, even if its in the same plan (no)

also, do you really need to do the 3gb fix for winxp x64? (i havent used winxp x64, but would think that since its x64 it doesnt have the 3gb fix that winxp 32bit does)

[snowyweston]

making lighter weight families devoid of extraneous geometryWe do this already - much to me & my fellow architect's frustration (the want for pretty drawings & models) - it's that tricky balance of modeling vs drafting - and since both my firm and the office hosting me would like to employ Revit in all guises (construction drawings, clash coordination AND 3D visualisation) sometimes you just have to take a hit on your families. That said, I have of late been a bit better with my coarse/fine visibility settings in my families, and since customising company object styles have been very militant on culling unneeded linestyles from everywhere.

good practices for inserted dwgsThis is a good point - we are stuck on the fence between the fields of BIM & CAD on this project, with interiors and landscape working in dwg forcing us to reference their drawings. They're not the cleanest, leanest dwgs and they are the usual suspects when things start to lag - but I encourage everyone we unload all links until needed - and they're controlled through view template-level VG control only to appear in the proper place when loaded anyhow.

AutoDesk technical note regarding 32 bit platforms and the 3Gb switch Noted - and I've applied this to the workstations not using either 64bit OS and Revit. I am, (by the way) using the 64bit version of Revit - with a VM set to 24560MB, and every graphical flourish stripped out so my computer looks like it's running win'95! :D

We have ONE BIG project.

Only one rule:

NO UNCROPPED PLAN/ELEVATION/SECTION VIEWS.
NO 3D VIEW WITHOUT SECTION ENABLED.
Good practice - and one I will take note of in future - but I imagine it'll be very hard to actively enforce.
Look for warnings in the file. In-place families, and walls/curtainwalls made from masses, too many filled regions, and too many model lines are prime culprits.Funnily enough, we employ none of the above modelling methods, and I've culled our palette for drafting down substantially.
A number of linked, or imported AutoCAD files is also a culprit.As before, I think this could be key. (we never import though)
Just out of curiosity....when you say going local are you working directly form a memory stick/disc?No, I mean copying the model files off of the server to my desktop - v.naughty I know - but this is often only for presentations, coordination review, or extra-curricular design studies - so it's not jeopardisinng the "live" project copy. When doing it I see the same performance "gain" as you do when working with local copies from central files; but we aren't employing worksets on this project - and won't be because of the London/Adelaide 24 hour rolling office sync we're using.

Update to Windows 7 64bit, you will be a lot happierYou're talking to a guy who runs Revit 2008 on Win2K sP4 at home, on a 5 year old machine with a 4400+, 2gb DDR2 and an aged 256mb 7800GTX without one moment of dissatisfaction.... in other words, I'm very much of the mold who does not adhere to all this "buy the next best thing" just to get things working - I shouldn't need a new OS to exploit the raw power of my components when running one particular application. Autodesk need to make write leaner code. It's like when id made Quake III - it looked better and ran better than anything else at the time - because it was coded well. Then they messed up with their overbloated Doom 3 that made us all upgrade our machines.
I'm running an M6500 covetV.nice spec. you have there my friend - they're not particularly portable are they though! As for a bad install, possible, but unlikely.
the latest project i was working on was pretty simple
±30,000 sf, IMP walls, ±50 columns, 8 overhead doors, 6 personnel doors, 2 sheets, no details yet.
it works great, its fast, its easy. but when i load in the racking - it all falls down
it takes 2-10 seconds to redraw the plan view, where before the racking was loaded - it was doing it instantaneously.
Our projects are worlds apart* - but linked dwgs appear to cripple us both the same.
*I've a host of 2 storey buildings (of similar design); ranging from 600-4000m2 in footprint - the largest of which has over 200 rooms, nearly 300 doors, near equal that in windows, sizeable areas of (default, as yet defined) curtain walling, 40 or so basic wall types, multiple floor types etc... and employs multiple model groups, constructed in different configurations of hosted groups (to reduce repititive editting and maintain modular consistency - but very little else at this point - that's 43MB so far.

As you suggest, (and as we try to do) we use a lot of control over linked files, (unloading them) view-templates set to not show linked files as defulat, and linked-dwg layer control in views where they are needed, closing hidden windows, midday shutdown/restarts....

But sometimes, it's just "not enough" to blame linked .dwgs - because sometimes I get lag on view redraws irrespective of their existence....perhaps I'm just wanting too much?

Thanks for all your responses anyways.

I'm now off to go read the 2011 hyperbole.

[dzatto]

.V.nice spec. you have there my friend - they're not particularly portable are they though!
Not at all, especially when you add a charger that weighs as much as a cinder block! But it runs so good I forget about the weight. I also opted for the edge to edge display, which is pretty nice. Plus I get hypnotized by the cool orange aluminum case. :shock:

[snowyweston]

Not at all, especially when you add a charger that weighs as much as a cinder block! It certainly made shopping for a bag that didn't scream "mug me I've got a laptop" a challenge.


I also opted for the edge to edge display, which is pretty nice.[/Plus I get hypnotized by the cool orange aluminum case. :shock: Show off - my bosses wouldn't go for the fancy pants case - but I would have preferred the extra ram anyways. :D

[Jun Austria]

Not at all, especially when you add a charger that weighs as much as a cinder block! But it runs so good I forget about the weight. I also opted for the edge to edge display, which is pretty nice. Plus I get hypnotized by the cool orange aluminum case. :shock:

I go to gym, maybe thats why I didnt notice the weight :-). ( I carry two laptop M6500 and M4300 ). edge to edge not good (IMHO). You will catch the habit of cleaning it everytime somebody poke there finger on it.

Snoweyweston, how do you incorporate the M&E and Structural? Are they coming from Revit or DWG? Coz on my laptop (M6500 i7 820 w/ 8 Gig W7 x64) working on 120meg file is a breeze. The file got 9 imported DWG (topo, 4 floors of dwg from structural engineers and M&E).

[snowyweston]

Snoweyweston, how do you incorporate the M&E and Structural? Are they coming from Revit or DWG? w/ our last project (in 2009) structure was revit so worked like a dream, but M&E was cadduct so we worked with Navisworks to do those reviews - having found on a previous project (in 2008) that Revit + 3D dwg = headache.

In this one, so far we've got little bits of M&E in revit - they're quite new to Revit and are using quite ornate families (that look like they've been aquired from product/manufacturer sites) - and are supposed to be seeing some s.eng stuff soon...

Perhaps I'm just forgetting one of the first lessons of Revit - that it's not as fast as CAD because each command is doing so much more than CAD ever did... I guess I'm just getting to the point of day-in-day-out solid use after 2 years that I'm no longer accepting of that fact - and tired of thinking faster than the program/computer will let me work.

[troberts]

I go to gym, maybe thats why I didnt notice the weight :-). ( I carry two laptop M6500 and M4300 ). edge to edge not good (IMHO). You will catch the habit of cleaning it everytime somebody poke there finger on it.

Snoweyweston, how do you incorporate the M&E and Structural? Are they coming from Revit or DWG? Coz on my laptop (M6500 i7 820 w/ 8 Gig W7 x64) working on 120meg file is a breeze. The file got 9 imported DWG (topo, 4 floors of dwg from structural engineers and M&E).

I'm interested. What Graphics card did you choose? and what Hard drive setup?
Thanks, Tim