Things that can slow functioning in Civil 3D/AutoCAD

Last updated: 2020-x-26

There are many factors that contribute to overall organisation speed which can affect Civil 3D/AutoCAD performance.

  1. Hardware (CPU, hard drive, RAM, video card)
  2. Network (cablevision, switches, server)
  3. Operating system
  4. Software

  5. Files (number, size, objects within files, connections to other files)

The problems and solutions in this topic are not a complete list of every possible upshot, simply they give a good sampling of common issues and how to fix them.

ClosedIssue: Optimize the performance of your AutoCAD-based program in Windows

Solution

Follow these guidelines to better your AutoCAD performance. Determine which of them provides the all-time results for your surround. Not all guidelines have the aforementioned result on all systems, so test and compare results.

Windows environment guidelines

  • Verify that your hardware meets or exceeds AutoCAD's minimum organization requirements. See System requirements for AutoCAD.
  • When running other applications at the same fourth dimension as AutoCAD, be sure at least 2GB of RAM is available to AutoCAD.
  • Update your computer'due south graphics carte commuter to the latest version available. See How to update to the latest certified video driver.

  • Turn off all compatibility settings except for Run This Program Every bit Administrator:

    1. File Explorer > Right-click AutoCAD executable file > Properties

      1. Compatibility tab > Deselect all options except Run This Program As Ambassador

  • Stop the Windows Presentation Foundation Font Cache:

    1. Windows Starting time > Search for \'Services\' > Click View Local Services

      1. Services dialog box > Scroll down to Windows Presentation Foundation Font Cache iii.0.0.0 > Right-click > Cease

  • Delete the contents of the Windows TEMP binder. See How to delete temporary files in Windows.
  • Disable your antivirus programme to see if information technology'south slowing down your AutoCAD software. If it is, set upwards antivirus exclusions. Run into How to set upwards Antivirus (AV) exclusions to improve stability and performance of Autodesk software.
  • Eliminate wearisome network functioning. See Working with shared contents: eliminating slow network performance (blog).
  • If yous're using Windows vii, change the desktop theme to Windows Basic.

Civil 3D/AutoCAD guidelines

  • Toggle hardware acceleration on and off to see which setting improves your performance. Run across How to enable or disable hardware dispatch in AutoCAD.
  • Download and install the latest service pack and any hotfixes for your AutoCAD software. Run into Install Updates, Add together-ons, and Enhancements.

  • Options dialog > Display tab > Turn off

    1. Bear witness Tool Tips
    2. Show Rollover Tool Tips
  • Turn off Quick Backdrop QPMODE set up to -1
  • Remove network paths from Options dialog > Files tab > Support File Search Path.
  • Remove any third-party plugins that are installed.
  • Make clean up drawings with performance issues. See How to repair decadent AutoCAD files. Examine highly nested blocks and consider exploding and purging them.
  • Use the UCSICON command to activate the origin in the cartoon. Determine whether any data or XREFs are located far from the origin. If and then, use the Motion control to relocate the data closer to the origin. Choose coordinates close to the origin when loading drawings via XREF.
  • Disable one or more than organization variables which may impact graphics performance: Come across Improving AutoCAD performance with older or low-end graphics cards

ClosedIssue: Large amounts of text or hatches degrading performance

AutoCAD drawings which incorporate large amounts of text or hatches may dethrone performance. In about cases this is due to older or low-terminate video cards, yet, depending on the corporeality of data beingness displayed high-end graphic cards may exist affected as well.

Causes

Several new system variables were introduced with AutoCAD 2015. These variables will brandish information near selection sets in the backdrop palette or high light objects when selected or hovered over. This may affect functioning with some graphic cards.

Solution

  1. Close or Autohide the Backdrop palette until it's needed.

  2. Change the following variables to off within AutoCAD (blazon them on the control line) until they are needed: 

Closed ANNOALLVISIBLE set up to "0"

Hides or displays annotative objects that do non support the current annotation scale.

The ANNOALLVISIBLE setting is saved individually for model space and each layout.

NOTE: When ANNOALLVISIBLE is set to ane, annotative objects that support more than 1 calibration will only brandish one scale representation.

Closed COMMANDPREVIEW set to "0"

Controls whether a preview of the possible outcome of the control is displayed.

Note: The SELECTIONPREVIEW system variable value is ignored when COMMANDPREVIEW is on.

Closed DRAWORDERCTL set to "0"

Controls the default display behavior of overlapping objects when they are created or edited.

Info: Full draw club display may slow some editing operations.

Closed DYNMODE set to "0"

Turns Dynamic Input features on and off.

When all features are on, the context governs what is displayed.

If dynamic prompts are on ( DYNPROMPT is set up to 1), they are displayed when DYNMODE is set up to ane, 2, or 3.

When DYNMODE is set to 1, ii, or 3, yous tin plough off all features temporarily by holding down the temporary override fundamental F12

Closed ISAVEPERCENT set to "0"

Controls the amount of space allocated in DWG files for incremental saves, which affects the number of quick save operations that can be performed before a full relieve is required.

When the file save estimate exceeds the specified percentage, the side by side relieve volition be a total save. Valid values can range from 0 to 100 percent.

  • A value of 0 means that all save operations are full saves. A full salvage optimizes the size of a DWG file, but is noticeably slower on large drawings.

  • A value of 100 increases the space available to append changes to the maximum possible. This value results in the greatest number of incremental quick salvage operations between full saves at the expense of larger file sizes.

Info: Saving to a unlike format always results in a full save.

Closed LAYOUTREGENCTL set to "0" or "1"

Specifies how the brandish list is updated in the Model tab and layout tabs.

For each tab, the display list is updated either past regenerating the drawing when you switch to that tab or past saving the brandish list to memory and regenerating simply the modified objects when you switch to that tab.

The performance gain achieved by changing the LAYOUTREGENCTL setting is dependent on several factors, including the cartoon size and type, the objects contained in the cartoon, the amount of available retention, and the effect of other open drawings or applications. When LAYOUTREGENCTL is set to ane or two, the corporeality of additional memory used is the size of the Model tab's display list multiplied by the number of viewports in each layout for which the display listing is saved.

If LAYOUTREGENCTL is set to 1 or ii and performance seems slow in general or when you switch between tabs for which the display list is saved, consider changing to a setting of 0 or ane to find the optimal balance for your work surround.

Regardless of the LAYOUTREGENCTL setting, if you redefine a block or undo a tab switch, the drawing is regenerated the first time you switch to any tab that contains saved viewports.

Closed ORTHOMODE set to "0"

Constrains cursor movement to the perpendicular.

When ORTHOMODE is turned on, the cursor can move just horizontally or vertically relative to the UCS and the current grid rotation angle

Closed PALETTEOPAQUE set to "ane"

Controls whether palettes can be made transparent.

When transparency is bachelor and turned on, apply the Transparency option on the shortcut menu to set a dissimilar degree of transparency for the electric current palette or for all palettes.

When hardware acceleration is enabled, the settings ii and 3 are bachelor; when disabled, only the settings 0 and 1 are available.

Closed PROPERTYPREVIEW set to "0"

Controls whether y'all can preview the changes to currently selected objects when you whorl over drop-down lists and galleries that control properties.

Info: Holding previews are displayed simply from the ribbon and the Properties palette. They are not available from other palettes.

Closed QPMODE set to "0"

Controls whether the Quick Properties palette is displayed when objects are selected.

Closed ROLLOVERTIPS set to "0"

Controls the display of rollover tooltips when the cursor hovers over an object.

The content in tooltips tin can be customized in the Customize User Interface (CUI) Editor.

Closed SAVEFIDELITY set to "0"

Controls the visual fidelity for annotative objects in AutoCAD 2007 and earlier.

This setting affects drawings but when saving to AutoCAD 2007 or earlier file formats.

Closed SELECTIONCYCLING set to "0"

Controls the display options associated with overlapping objects and selection cycling.

Ctrl+W to toggle the current setting on and off.

When y'all roll over overlapping 2nd objects, options are available to alert you and let you select between the objects.

Closed SELECTIONPREVIEW set to "0"

Controls the display of option previewing.

Objects are highlighted when the pickbox cursor rolls over them. The highlighting indicates that the object would be selected if you clicked it. The setting is stored equally a bitcode using the sum of the following values:

Info: The SELECTIONPREVIEW system variable value is ignored when COMMANDPREVIEW is on.

Closed UCSDETECT prepare to "0"

Controls whether dynamic UCS acquisition is agile when creating objects involving 3D planar surfaces.

You can marshal the UCS dynamically when your cursor hovers over a planar face on a 3D solid, a planar mesh element, or a planar point deject segment while equally you create an object.

Info: Dynamic UCS alignment does not discover planar surface objects or 2nd geometry.

Closed WHIPTHREAD set to "3"

Controls whether to use an additional processor to improve the speed of operations such as ZOOM that redraw or regenerate the cartoon.

WHIPTHREAD has no effect on single processor machines.

When multithreaded processing is used for redraw operations (value two or 3), the order of objects specified with the DRAWORDER command is not guaranteed to exist preserved for brandish, only is preserved for plotting.

If you are running Windows Vista or Windows 7, try turning off Aero by setting your desktop theme to Windows Basic.