Harware spec for Autocad 2006?

Contrary to popular belief, Autocad is not high tech, system intensive software. Have a commercial machine that was made in the last couple of years? It will run it just fine.

His current machine has W2000 with SP4; 256MB RAM & 20GB HDD. I upgraded IE to v. 6 with SP1. I can't remember what CPU he has but it is running something over 1GHz.
Autocad 2006 installed like a dream and ran. However, when he got to the college (live in) he was told he would need a P4 CPU (must have hyperthreading they say) and a GB RAM. I have not had a chance to test it myself because his 'puter is still at his college.
I could upgrade to a Celeron board with 600MB RAM (approx £120) or to a P4 board with 1GB RAM (upwards of £350). However, going on what you say I might get away with a RAM upgrade? What do you think? TIA.

You read my mind. Double the ram, more if you want to. Other than that, you have a fine system there. I have seen these "college computer requirements" before and have to wonder what they are thinking. It's highly unlikely that the person giving the recommendation (guidance counselor, head instructor, ect) is a computer tech. It's likely that they go to the IT department and ask them "what's the hottest system going" and that's what they base the recommendations on. Either that or they get kickbacks from the computer manufacturers. I have run programs far hotter than AutoCAD on machines that were no more than what you describe with no problems at all.

I myself have found that if MS paint works well on a machine AutoCad will also run fine on that machine. AutoCad is a vector program but does not require any where near the resource of say Adobe Illustrator. The only thing you might need for AutoCad is a little more RAM if your son gets into doing a lot of 3D drawing. I have done a lot of drawing at home for work on a 1.8Gig system with 512meg ram with out a single lockup or crash.
Richard
Also, send him a link to my site for a free lisp program that I'm sure he'll be able to use.

Here are the AutoDesk recommendations: (Read as minimum)
Recommended System Requirements:
a.. Intel® Pentium® III or later, with 800 MHz or faster processor, or compatible b.. Microsoft® Windows® XP (Professional, Home Edition, or Tablet PC Edition with SP1 or SP2), Windows® 2000 Professional with SP4 c.. 512 MB RAM d.. 500 MB free disk space for installation e.. 1024x768 VGA with true color f.. Microsoft® Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 or later g.. CD-ROM drive h.. Mouse, trackball, or compatible pointing device

Hi Guys, Thank you for all your advice. I am going for the lighter option like you suggest. Best regards, Bill.