AutoCAD 2013

Autodesk releases a new version of its flagship design software AutoCAD every year, as it has since AutoCAD 2004 came out in 2003. This yearly cycle poses a dilemma for CAD and IT managers because new software may require new hardware. Before you install AutoCAD 2013, you need to know if your current hardware can handle it. Budgets are tight (when aren't they?), and production cannot stop.

Topics: Workstations, Autodesk, Hardware, AutoCAD, Operating Systems, Upgrade, Operating System, Windows, CAD

The old adage about getting a hard drive at least twice as big as you think you’ll need still holds true.

The longtime, tried-and-true hard drive remains the backbone of a workstation's storage subsystem, but a new breed of solid-state technology is pushing its limits. Although they share the same basic technology as their ancestors, today's drives are much bigger, faster, and cheaper. Traditional workstation hard-disk drives (HDDs) primarily come in a 3.5" form factor, supporting SATA or SA-SCSI standards.

SATA Drives

Topics: Workstations, Hardware, Hard Drive, CAD

In Part 3 of this series, I showed you some of the collaboration functionality of Autodesk 360. We are now going to look at how we can synchronize our documents and drawings using Autodesk 360, using a fixed location (PC on a network) and a mobile location (iPad on a remote site with Wi-Fi), like in Part 3.

Topics: Workstations, Autodesk, Hardware, Facilities Management, AutoCAD, Mobile Workstations, Connectivity, Laptops, CAD

Here at CADspeed, we get a lot of questions about buying new hardware for CAD applications. While the answer to, "What CAD hardware should I buy?" varies widely based on the person asking the question, it always starts in the same place: with the requirements of the CAD software you plan to use.

Topics: Workstations, Autodesk, RAM, Hard Drive, AutoCAD, Processors, Revit, GPU, Inventor, Graphics Cards, Benchmark, Mobile Workstations, Video Cards

The most compelling reason to install multiple GPUs is to drive multiple high-resolution displays. The secret's out that "multi-mon" is the single best way to improve your productivity. Anyone who's gone to two displays (or three — or more!) will tell you they could never go back to one. And more graphics cards can display more pixels across more monitors.

Topics: Workstations, Hardware, Displays, Graphics Card, GPU, Graphics Cards, Eyefinity, AMD, Video Cards, Display, CAD

Topics: Workstations, Hardware, Graphics Card, Processors, GPU, Graphics Cards, AMD, CAD

Topics: Workstations, Autodesk, RAM, Hardware, Graphics Card, Hard Drive, Processors, GPU, Memory, Graphics Cards, AMD, Connectivity, Video Cards, Intel, CAD

It's about time. After a hiatus from its role as a viable alternative to Intel for workstation-class CPUs, AMD is back. Instead of its traditional server/workstation focused Opteron line, this time the company is — quite wisely — choosing to target the market with a combination CPU/GPU part, what AMD refers to as an Accelerated Processing Unit, or APU.

Topics: Workstations, Graphics Card, GPU, Graphics Cards, AMD, Dell Workstations, CAD

Topics: Workstations, Hardware, Displays, Graphics Card, Processors, GPU, Graphics Cards, Eyefinity, AMD, Video Cards, CAD

Topics: Workstations, Displays, Graphics Card, GPU, Graphics Cards, Eyefinity, Mobile Workstations, AMD, CAD