Autodesk has released it's juicy new 2012 software upgrades, and you finally have that software license in your hand. Here's a few tips from the Autodesk folks on preparing your system before installing Autodesk software.

Topics: Workstations, Autodesk, RAM, Hardware, Graphics Card, Hard Drive, AutoCAD, Processors, Operating Systems, GPU, Memory, Graphics Cards, Upgrade, Video Cards, Operating System, Windows, CAD

In September we announced the release of the 2012 version of Vectorworks® software. The release contains more than 100 performance and usability improvements to help users save time and increase their productivity. If you’re thinking about trying one of the Vectorworks design series programs, or if you’re ready for an upgrade, you may have some questions about hardware selection. Here is a brief overview to get you started.

Topics: RAM, Hardware, Hard Drive, Processors, SSD Drive, Memory, Video Cards, Vectorworks, CAD

In this series, I discussed ways to determine your needs and the different types of wide-format printers. Now let’s talk about setting it up.

Topics: Accessories, Hardware, Wide-Format Printers, Printers, Plotting, Large Format Printers, CAD

In part one of this series, I discussed ways to determine your needs. This is the most important step. It won’t matter what printer is purchased if it can’t do what you need it to do. This post will cover the different types of large format printers.

Topics: Accessories, Hardware, Wide-Format Printers, Printers, Plotting, Large Format Printers, CAD

Before CAD became our main design tool, we drew our creations on “the board.” Once drawings were complete, there was a physical product -- the drawing itself. It was very likely a piece of vellum or mylar or perhaps just a simple sheet of bond paper. I have even worked with drawings on linen. These drawings could be presented to a client, approval board or municipality. All you needed were copies. That was easy -- fire up the diazo and try not to inhale too many fumes.

Topics: Accessories, Hardware, Wide-Format Printers, Printers, Plotting, Large Format Printers, CAD

We're talking about remote graphics in this series. We've outlined the potential benefits for CAD users, the reduced hardware costs and the security advantages. This post will wrap up this discussion with some details about sustainability as well as some final comments.

Topics: Workstations, Hardware, Graphics Card, Remote Graphics, GPU, Graphics Cards, AMD, Connectivity, Upgrade, CAD

CADspeed editors would like to pay tribute to Apple cofounder and former CEO Steve Jobs, who passed away on Wednesday. Although PC users outnumber Mac users in our field, often it was technology conceived by Jobs and developed by Apple that influenced and even transformed the CAD world over the years.

Topics: Workstations, Apple, ArchiCAD, Hardware, AutoCAD, Vectorworks, CAD

We're talking about remote graphics in this series. We've outlined the potential benefits for CAD users and the reduced hardware costs, and now we're going talk about the benefits for the heavy-duty 3D users.

Topics: Workstations, Hardware, Graphics Card, Remote Graphics, GPU, Graphics Cards, AMD, Connectivity, Upgrade, CAD

We're talking about remote graphics in this series. We've outlined the potential benefits for CAD users, and now we're going to get more specific.

Topics: Workstations, Hardware, Graphics Card, Remote Graphics, GPU, Graphics Cards, AMD, Connectivity, Upgrade, CAD

There is a growing demand for portability, energy conversation and cost savings in the CAD world — hence the movement to small form factor devices use of the cloud for review and commenting. But there still remains the need for complex 3D graphics, security and high performance computation. Hence killer workstations and professional graphics cards like the FirePro or Quadro.

Topics: Workstations, Hardware, Graphics Card, Remote Graphics, GPU, Graphics Cards, AMD, Connectivity, Upgrade, CAD