#AUTODESK APPROVED GRAPHICS CARDS UPGRADE#
#AUTODESK APPROVED GRAPHICS CARDS PRO#

Yes, if I enable realistic shading and try to walk through the model using the Navigation Wheel then it will take a while to get going, but realistic walkthroughs aren’t really the reason for using Revit. I work with some pretty big Revit models, around 1 GB in size, which grow significantly once the linked survey and consultant models are loaded too, and I don’t experience any significant slowdown when carrying out general tasks. I’m generally using Revit most of the time, sometimes several copies at once, along with PDFs, AutoCAD, and all the other typical workday apps.

#AUTODESK APPROVED GRAPHICS CARDS UPGRADE#

The machine is a few years old now, and probably due an upgrade soon, but this set-up still works well for me. I also have two high-definition monitors connected via a docking station so, together with the laptop panel, the graphics card is driving three displays.

#AUTODESK APPROVED GRAPHICS CARDS PRO#

I’m using an HP ZBook 15u G5 mobile workstation with an AMD Radeon™ PRO graphics card. The other thing to consider is the system you’re working on. Orbit or pan around a large model with any of these settings and you’ll appreciate the need for a capable card. As soon as you start to use realistic shading, enable shadows or turn on anti-aliasing, the graphics card will come into play. However, this doesn’t mean we can just ignore the graphics card completely and use the cheapest one we can find. Its viewports are vector data with the object representation precalculated by the CPU, meaning that Revit will rarely fully utilize the capabilities of a high-end graphics card. Revit doesn’t fall into any of these categories. They are also key for video and photo editing with high resolution data. High-end graphics cards are aimed at displaying fast moving, real-time renderings for games and animations. Now we have a better understanding of how Revit works, we can move on to the graphics card itself. Multiple cores are used where possible – for example, opening, saving and exporting files, rendering, applying colour fills, and displaying point cloud data. Rather, the frequency (GHz) of the processor is the most important factor to influence the performance of Revit.īut don’t dismiss having a CPU with multiple cores. So even if your CPU has multiple cores, they can’t all be fully utilised. With all the relationships between the objects, views, and annotations, driven by parameters, the CPU has to do a lot of work before it can send the resulting data to the graphics card to process and display.Īnd because the relationships in the model are interdependent, the CPU must carry out all of these calculations in one linear thread.

However, that’s not necessarily the case, as we learn by looking at how Revit uses the CPU and how that relates to 3D graphics.įirst, think about the parametric, bi-directional aspect of the Revit model. Make a change somewhere in the project and it’s instantly reflected throughout the entire model.īearing this in mind, and considering the size and complexity of modern construction projects, it seems logical to presume you’ll need a high-end graphics card for Revit. Revit has been around for over 20 years now and although it has changed a lot in that time, the core idea remains the same – that of a 3D parametric building model with bi-directional associativity between the model, views, and annotation. Instead of blowing your budget on a top-of-the range graphics card, you could be better off spending a little extra elsewhere. With all the 3D models, renderings, games, and virtual reality (VR) applications that are now part of the modern world, you need the best one you can possibly afford, right?īut before you rush out to buy a new workstation to run Revit, let’s take a quick look at how 3D graphics actually works in Autodesk’s popular BIM software. The graphics card might go by many names – GPU, video card or display adapter – but it’s basically the device that generates what we see on the screen of a computer. Paul Grimston, Revit Specialist, gives his recommendations

Autodesk approved graphics cards