Is Xeon Processor good enough for AutoCAD 2006

[zellingj]

I need a new video card or processor I think. Here's the Specs:

Intel Dual Xeon 3.00 GHz (Dell)
2.00 GB of RAM
ATI FireGL V3100

Right now I'm using AutoCAD for Civil drawings and it's really slow and crashes often, especially when theres aerial drawings. Does anyone know if it's a poor processor for running AutoCAD, or if it's the video card, or something else?

~JZ

EDIT:

System requirements for AutoCAD 2007 for users who are focusing on 2D drawing creation are as follows:

* Intel® Pentium® IV processor recommended
* Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional or Home Edition (SP1 or SP2), Windows XP Tablet PC Edition (SP2), or Windows 2000 (SP3 or SP4)
* 512 MB RAM
* 750 MB free disk space for installation
* 1024x768 VGA display with true color
* Microsoft® Internet Explorer 6.0 (SP1 or higher)

I think my video card is the problem, it's a ATI FireGL 3100.

[madcadder]

In the BIOS is hyperthreading enabled? some BIOS's you have to turn it on for it to use both chips for one application.

Are your video drivers hyperthreaded?

Per ATI the video card is 128MB; I'd like to see 256MB if it was me. And I like nVidia a lot better than any ATI product, but that is just opinion. (Quadro FX 3500)

[madcadder]

I just noticed on the autodesk site that ATI driver version 6.14.0010.6561 does not support hardware acceleration.

6.14.0010.6599 has this disclaimer:

Smooth line display is disabled due to performance and stability problems. ATI refers to driver 6.14.0010.6599 as ATI FireGL Unified Driver Version 8.223.6.14.0010.6613 does not show any issues per autodesk web site.

6.14.0010.6618 has this disclaimer:

Smooth line display is disabled due to performance and stability problems. ATI refers to driver 6.14.0010.6618 as ATI FireGL Unified Driver Version 8.263.You might check your ATI driver version.

[robert.1.hall72202]

I have the similar pc specs and notice things being slow.
For really great pc specs, I am amazed at how poor AutoCad performs.

[sinc]

I have the similar pc specs and notice things being slow.
For really great pc specs, I am amazed at how poor AutoCad performs.

Autocad doesn't seem to take good advantage of dual processors. I have a single-core 3.4GHz Xeon and it's decent. I think the Athlon64 4000+ I have at home outperfoms it a bit, though.

I also don't really notice much difference in Autocad between my Athlon64 4000+ and an Athlon X2 4600+ we have here at the office...

[Mike.Perry]

Hi "zellingj" ( Sorry, I do not know your real name )

Please note I have *moved* this thread from the AutoCAD General (http://forums.augi.com/forumdisplay.php?f=120) forum to this one, as I feel this particular forum is a more appropriate place for such a topic.

Thanks, Mike

Forum Manager

[Ogre]

I have an Athlon64 3800+ socket AM2 and I never have problems...Well, I have had problems with my machine, but that is because the RAM in "not-compatable" with my MB, so I had to tweak the settings and now it is extremely stable...

The ATI FireGL V3100 is not that good a card...The nVidia Auadro FX 540 (or 560 now) is a lot better...If you are sticking with ATI, then go with the FireGL V3400...It has 12 pixel pipelines instead of 4, but will run you about US$100 more...The V3400 and the FX 560 run about the same price...

AutoCAD seems to run better on nVidia cards (IMHO)...

[madcadder]

The ATI FireGL V3100 is not that good a card...The nVidia Auadro FX 540 (or 560 now) is a lot better...If you are sticking with ATI, then go with the FireGL V3400...It has 12 pixel pipelines instead of 4, but will run you about US$100 more...The V3400 and the FX 560 run about the same price...

AutoCAD seems to run better on nVidia cards (IMHO)...I'd have to vote for a minimum of a Quadro FX 1500 for that type of work.

[Ogre]

I'd have to vote for a minimum of a Quadro FX 1500 for that type of work.
I concur...I misread the original post...The 1500 will do you good...

[thomas.glasgow]

Actually AutoCAD runs slower on dual processors system. Try it and you will see it by yourself.

[Ogre]

I am sure there is a way to assign AutoCAD to one processor...At least that would be a cool feature...Is having a Dual Core system the same as a Dual Processor??? I have not done that much research and it seems that the latest trend is dual core...I think the thing that makes dual cor that much better in AutoCAD is the saving ability...Saving seems to be a lot faster on a DC than a SC...IMHO...

[Mike.Perry]

Is having a Dual Core system the same as a Dual Processor???Hi

Simple answer "no".

Plug the following into the forum search (http://forums.augi.com/search.php?) facility ( maybe limit your search to this actual forum - Hardware (http://forums.augi.com/forumdisplay.php?f=36) )...

Key Word(s): Core + Dual + Processor

Plus...

Dual Processor vs Dual Core (http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles.php?id=23)

Have a good one, Mike

[madcadder]

WHIPTHREAD System Variable
Type: Integer Saved in: Registry Initial value: 1

Controls whether to use an additional processor to improve the speed of operations such as ZOOM that redraw or regenerate the drawing. WHIPTHREAD has no effect on single processor machines.

0 No multithreaded processing; restricts regeneration and redraw processing to a single processor. This setting restores the behavior of AutoCAD 2000 and previous releases.

1 Regeneration multithreaded processing only; regeneration processing is distributed across two processors on a multiprocessor machine.

2 Redraw multithreaded processing only; redraw processing is distributed across two processors on a multiprocessor machine.

3 Regeneration and redraw multithreaded processing; regeneration and redraw processing is distributed across two processors on a multiprocessor machine.

When multithreaded processing is used for redraw operations (value 2 or 3), the order of objects specified with the DRAWORDER command is not guaranteed to be preserved for display but is preserved for plotting.

[madcadder]

So what will the task manager look like with dual dual-core xeons?
Will it have four screens for CPU Usage History?
Will max per proc now be 25% instead of the 50% for duals or dual-cores?