TIP: Optimizing performance for Mobile Workstations [laptops] + Desktops + Drivers

Autodesk products work best with the Professional GPUs (Graphics Processor Unit). There are some instances in which you can get adequate performance on Consumer GPUs but be prepared from some drawbacks. i.e. intermittent crashing, display issues, etc.

Nvidia Geforce (Consumer CPU)  vs   Nvidia Quadro (Professional GPU)
AMD Radeon (Consumer GPU)    vs   AMD FirePro (Professional GPU)

We often will use the following sites to show you what we have officially tested our software on:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/syscert?id=18844534&siteID=123112

http://hardware.autodesk.com/

Some notable articles for each graphics vendor is noted below:

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/article/Autodesk-Software-and-Activation-freezes-on-laptops-with-Geforce-GT-series-cards

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Orbit-hangs-for-several-minutes-in-AutoCAD-with-an-NVIDIA-graphics-card.html

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit-products/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/For-NVIDIA-Graphic-Card-users-Revit-fails-to-start.html

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/AutoCAD-Help-Feed-Welcome-and-New-Tab-screens-appear-all-black.html  via Zarchary Travis (AutoCAD guru)

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/search-result/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Blank-material-tab-in-Simulation-Moldflow-Adviser-2013-2014.html

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Starting-AutoCAD-based-products-without-hardware-video-acceleration.html

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-enable-or-disable-hardware-acceleration-in-AutoCAD.html

When re-installing a video driver, I prefer this old school method:

http://upandready.typepad.com/up_and_ready/2013/08/tip-reinstalling-a-video-driver.html

Reference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5Npt1BSF04

http://fireuser.com/blog/professional_firepro_cards_vs_consumer_radeon_cards_whats_the_difference/