2013

Table Of Contents

AutoCAD requires at least 2 GB of physical memory (RAM) for working in 2D.

For 3D modeling, at least 4 GB of RAM is required.

The size and complexity of a model often defines how efficiently an application

runs. If you notice increased hard drive activity, it means that physical memory

has been exceeded and data is being passed to a swap file (virtual memory).

A swap file is an area on the hard drive that the operating system uses as if it

were physical memory (RAM). The swap file size is basically a limit which

restricts the total virtual size of the AutoCAD process. A good rule of thumb

for configuring your swap file is three times the amount of physical memory

on your system. This usually sets the limit high enough that AutoCAD does

not run out of swap space.

Graphics cache files are created and maintained to optimize performance and

increase the regeneration speed of objects with complex geometry such as 3D

solids, non-mesh surfaces, and regions. These cache files persist between

drawing sessions and are saved in /Users/<user name>/Library/Application

Support/Autodesk/local/<product name>/<release>/<language>/GraphicsCache. The

maximum number of these cache files are limited in number and total size

by the CACHEMAXFILES and CACHEMAXTOTALSIZE system variables. If the

limits are exceeded, the oldest cache files are automatically deleted.

NOTE If you ever need to delete the graphics cache files, you can temporarily set

CACHEMAXFILES or CACHEMAXTOTALSIZE to 0.