CAD: Leap Over the Bar of System Requirements ...

Every piece of software has its minimum requirements. We tell you where to find them.

It seems as if the world of CAD professionals becomes more and more complex with each passing day. Faster workstations, more complex applications, and new industry paradigms have put our little corner of existence in fast forward permanently. Here at Kung Fu Drafter, we know from experience that the faster the gears of progress turn the more attention they require from the local IT support professional. We know because we are the local IT support professional.

The number one question we hear is “Will my computer run this new CAD application?” Any IT professional in the CAD world will tell you that is not an easy question to answer. In fact, it’s hard for IT to give the question the correct amount of time in order to determine if a particular workstation is up to the task. We are just too busy bouncing from issue to issue to be able to weigh all the factors. Thankfully, for us there are resources our clients can refer to for help.

If you are thinking about installing that new 2011 CAD package be sure to check the minimum system requirements. Check below for the system requirements of some of Autodesk’s most popular CAD packages:

• AutoCAD
• AutoCAD Civil 3D
• AutoCAD Map 3D
• Autodesk Inventor
• Autodesk Network Manager
• Revit Architecture
• Revit MEP
• Revit Structure

While these recommendations are a great place to start, we always suggest investing beyond the “system requirements”. Minimum investment in minimum requirements yields minimum performance. However, investing in quality workstation components will give you a CAD workstation that is resilient to the increasing demands of CAD applications.

We hope that our readers find this list of popular Autodesk CAD applications useful. If you are a CAD professional using an application not listed be certain to check the Autodesk site for the system requirements of that application. If you have recently built a CAD workstation, leave us a comment below and let us know what you are sporting at the office. Of course, if you have a pimping PC case, then leave us some photos also …

- KFD -