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Altera_Forum
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9 years ago

Using a GPU to improve compile time

Hello, It seems Quartus II standard and pro version allow for multiprocessor use to speed compiling times. Does this include using a graphics card or GPU to compile. Modern GPUs have 1000+ co...
Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
9 years ago

I agree with Galfonz. When shopping for a fast build machine look for a CPU with good single-thread performance:

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singlethread.html

I just built a new machine with a Core i7-6700K (#3 on the single-thread performance list above) and a Z170 gaming motherboard that allows overclocking. I compared compile times at various CPU clock frequencies and found that compile time scales almost exactly (inversely) with CPU clock frequency. Also get as much fast memory as you can. Mine has 64GB, which these days costs about $250. I've experimented over the years with hard drives, and now SSDs, and have found that drive throughput has a negligible effect on compile times. So it's not worth throwing a bunch of money at a fast SSD RAID setup, for example.