The system requirements for AutoCAD 2012 are pretty much the same as the last release. If you are using AutoCAD 2011 or AutoCAD 2010 just fine, you should be good to go with AutoCAD 2012. Remember system requirements are not a one size fits all as there are a number of factors that affect how much resources you require. The factors can be from the complexity of your drawings, 2D or 3D, visual styles such as a 3D part as wireframe takes less than one with a smooth shaded view, and certainly the size of your drawings. These requirements are also the lowest suggested system optimal requirements, so use it as a suggested baseline.

AutoCAD 2012 32-bit

• Microsoft® Windows® 7 Enterprise, Ultimate, Professional, or Home Premium (compare Windows 7 versions); Microsoft® Windows Vista® Enterprise, Business, Ultimate, or Home Premium (SP2 or later) (compare Windows Vista versions); or Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional or Home edition (SP3 or later)
• For Windows Vista or Windows 7: Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon® dual-core processor, 3.0 GHz or higher with SSE2 technology; for Windows XP: Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon dual-core processor, 1.6 GHz or higher with SSE2 technology
• 2 GB RAM
• 2 GB free disk space for installation
• 1,024 x 768 display resolution with true color
• Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 7.0 or later
• Install from download or DVD

AutoCAD 2012 64-bit

• Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise, Ultimate, Professional, or Home Premium (compare Windows 7 versions); Microsoft Windows Vista Enterprise, Business, Ultimate, or Home Premium (SP2 or later) (compare Windows Vista versions); or Microsoft Windows XP Professional (SP2 or later)
• AMD Athlon 64 with SSE2 technology, AMD Opteron® processor with SSE2 technology, Intel® Xeon® processor with Intel EM64T support and SSE2 technology, or Intel Pentium 4 with Intel EM64T support and SSE2 technology
• 2 GB RAM
• 2 GB free space for installation
• 1,024 x 768 display resolution with true color
• Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 7.0 or later
• Install from download or DVD

• Intel Pentium 4 processor or AMD Athlon, 3 GHz or greater; or Intel or AMD dual-core processor, 2 GHz or greater
• 2 GB RAM or more
• 2 GB hard disk space available in addition to free space required for installation
• 1,280 x 1,024 true color video display adapter 128 MB or greater, Pixel Shader 3.0 or greater, Microsoft® Direct3D®-capable workstation-class graphics card

Again your mileage and requirements may vary.

Cheers,
Shaan

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