New Laptop slow with Autocad 3D

[daveyboyd]

Ok, I have had my new laptop for around 5 months now and I am not overly impressed with its performance at all. Here is the spec:

ACER Aspire 6530G
AMD Turion X2 Dual Core (2.0Ghz, 1MB L2 Cache)
4GB DDR2 Ram
250 GB HDD
ATI Radeon HD3650 512MB Graphcs Card
Windows Vista 32Bit OS

I put Autocad 2008 on the other day and I have almost snapped it in half several times since as it is so slow. I ask it to do a simple thing in 3D like zoom in and out and it thinks for about 2 minutes before it complies, if I want to render something I have to book time off work!

Seious though, it is driving me nuts, my question is this, is it just the operating system (ie Vista) or do I need to take it back to the place who sold me it and demand a new one?

I have tried all the vista trics to make it faster but the spec on the machine doesn't warrant this plus nothing worked anyway, its still slow.

I have a copy of XP Pro I could put on but 1. It invalidates my warranty 2. XP can only uttilise 3 GB of RAM (so I am told) so 1 GB will be redundant

Advice is welcome

Dave

[StykFacE]

I went to see if your graphics driver had an Autodesk Certified Graphics Driver - it does not. However, type 3DCONFIG and click the "Check for Updates" button to make sure your performance tuner file is up to date.

One thing to remember, in 3D, do not use certain Visual Styles like the Conceptual one. Oh Lord, how that does bog down a system.

Also, be sure your computer is in tip top shape. There are many enhancements that can help overall performance, such as:

MSCONFIG:
http://netsquirrel.com/msconfig/msconfig_xp.html

/3GB Switch (get an extra gig use out of your RAM)
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.mspx

Bure sure to defragment often as well. Other than that your computer has plenty of good specs to be running AutoCAD 2008 just fine. :)

[Cad64]

ACER Aspire 6530G
AMD Turion X2 Dual Core (2.0Ghz, 1MB L2 Cache)
4GB DDR2 Ram
250 GB HDD
ATI Radeon HD3650 512MB Graphcs Card
Windows Vista 32Bit OS

I have a copy of XP Pro I could put on but 1. It invalidates my warranty 2. XP can only uttilise 3 GB of RAM (so I am told) so 1 GB will be redundant



Windows Vista 32 bit and XP Pro 32 bit both have the same RAM limitations. You can only effectively utilize about 3.25GB RAM with either OS.

[ReMark]

From AutoDesk for running AutoCAD 2008:

Intel® Pentium® 4 processor, 2.2 GHz Recommended

System requirements for Windows Vista or 3D Modeling:

Intel® 3.0 GHz or greater

[daveyboyd]

Thanks for the advice, I am taking the laptop back and asking why they have sold me a product which cant utilise all its hardware (thanks CAD64) and also if I can put XP Pro on without penalty . . .

[Cad64]

Thanks for the advice, I am taking the laptop back and asking why they have sold me a product which cant utilise all its hardware (thanks CAD64) and also if I can put XP Pro on without penalty . . .

Let us know how it turns out, but be aware that trying to do 3D work on a laptop is rever going to be as quick and seamless as it would be on a desktop PC. Laptops just don't pack the same horsepower as desktops, due to space limitations. Desktops have lots of room for fans and cooling units, so they are more suitable for 3D work which is very processor and graphics intensive.

And forget about rendering, especially large or complex scenes. Rendering is extremely processor intensive which tends to generate a lot of heat. You'll be lucky if you can get through a large render without your laptop overheating and shutting down. I've heard many stories on other forums of this very thing.



I put Autocad 2008 on the other day and I have almost snapped it in half several times since as it is so slow. I ask it to do a simple thing in 3D like zoom in and out and it thinks for about 2 minutes before it complies, if I want to render something I have to book time off work!

[ReMark]

Now this is a serious laptop. Xi Computer's Intel Core i7 quad core (3.2GHz w/8MB L3 cache). Anyone got a spare $2500 hanging around?

http://www.xicomputer.com/products/PowerGoIntelXT.asp