will autocad 2008 make use of a gfx card?

[MikeHunt79]

I'm building a rig for someone who uses Autocad 2008, and I was wondering if it would be worth putting a half decent card in there like a 8600gt?

 

[kylew]

I would say no, autoCAD is pretty basic and doesn't require a "decent" GPU.

 

[rexehuk]

I don't know tbh. I have AutoCad 2009 and it is VERY intensive rendering wise. On 2 4890s I get some lag still. This could be down to using hard drives though? Maybe an SSD would cut down some of the lag.

 

[kylew]

I don't know tbh. I have AutoCad 2009 and it is VERY intensive rendering wise. On 2 4890s I get some lag still. This could be down to using hard drives though? Maybe an SSD would cut down some of the lag.

It's not lag that you're getting .

Also, I can't comment on 2009 as I haven't had the displeasure of using it.

Looking at google images, it seems autoCAD 09 does indeed use a lot of 3D perspectives. I assume that AutoCAD 09 uses OpenGL? Seems odd that a 4890 would have difficulties.

 

[magicroundabout]

bring back R12 i say

 

[kylew]

bring back R12 i say

Revit?

When I was looking at those AutoCAD 09 images on google, I did think that it appeared to be exactly like Revit.

Have they merged them in to one now then?

I don't keep up with Autodesk stuff really, I use ArchiCAD for any of my architectural work.

 

[MikeHunt79]

I would say no, autoCAD is pretty basic and doesn't require a "decent" GPU.

Cheers, looks like I'll be using a 7300gt in that case.

 

[jeggsy]

I would say spend extra on a faster CPU/more RAM than a faster VGA card for AutoCAD. Make sure you have 2Gb RAM minimum, 3Gb+ RAM will be ideal.

I would have thought the 7300GT would work OK. We use 8600GT's at work on our AutoCAD PC's without any issues.

We have a mix of AutoCAD 2008 & 2009 at work. 2008 runs much better than 2009. Less buggs and uses far less system resources even with all the latest Service Packs.