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RLedu's avatar
RLedu
Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
2 years ago

Use more RAM for compilation time improvement

Hello,

I just upgraded my computer (Ubuntu 16.04) from 64Gb to 256Gb of RAM. I use Quartus Prime Pro 22.4, and I didn't gain not even 1 sec on compilation time, it still takes 13min05 exactly.
I thought this would make it faster so it's a bit frustrating.

I ensured that I use the 16 cores for parallel compilation (Intel® Xeon(R) W-2245 CPU @ 3.90GHz × 16).

I don't know where to check in the compilation flow report the amount of RAM memory used during compilation ?
I know that this can depend also on the design, constraints, etc... but I expected at least a small improvement !

Any suggestion ? Can I specifiy the amount of RAM memory used during compilation ?

Thanks !

Hdl

3 Replies

  • sstrell's avatar
    sstrell
    Icon for Super Contributor rankSuper Contributor
    2 years ago

    You don't mention what device you are compiling for, but you were already at 64 GB which is good for up to Stratix 10. Newer devices (like Agilex) would probably benefit from more RAM. So I'd bet you're limited by compute/processor power, not RAM, at this point.

    The compilation report that pops up at the end of compilation should show RAM usage.

  • RLedu's avatar
    RLedu
    Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
    2 years ago

    Sorry completely omitted this, it's Arria 10. But as you mention and I could read this also, I believe 64GB is enough for such devices. I don't want to modify compilation settings with optimizations because I'm afraid of performances alterations, so I'll keep with that, 13min is not so bad !

    Thanks

  • RichardT_altera's avatar
    RichardT_altera
    Icon for Super Contributor rankSuper Contributor
    2 years ago

    I also believe you are gated by the number of processor. 13 min is also not a very long compilation time.

    If you interest to reduce the compilation time, you may refer to the "Reducing Compilation Time" in volume 2 of the Quartus II Handbook.

    https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/jp/ja/programmable/support-resources/bulk-container/pdfs/literature/hb/qts/qts-qii5v2-03.pdf


    Best Regards,

    Richard Tan


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