Power and Thermal Calculator User Guide

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ID 683445
Date 5/08/2025
Public
Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
Answers to Top FAQs 1. Overview of the Power and Thermal Calculator 2. Estimating Power Consumption with the Power and Thermal Calculator 3. Power and Thermal Calculator Graphical User Interface 4. Power and Thermal Calculator Pages 5. Factors Affecting the Accuracy of the PTC 6. Power and Thermal Calculator User Guide Archive 7. Document Revision History for the Power and Thermal Calculator User Guide A. Measuring Static Power
1. Overview of the Power and Thermal Calculator x
1.1. Accessing the Power and Thermal Calculators 1.2. PTC Power Model Status 1.3. Definitions of Power Terms Used in this Document
2. Estimating Power Consumption with the Power and Thermal Calculator x
2.1. Estimating Power Before Starting the FPGA Design 2.2. Estimating Power While Creating the FPGA Design 2.3. Estimating Power After Completing the FPGA Design 2.4. Estimating Power for Dual-Core Devices
2.2. Estimating Power While Creating the FPGA Design x
2.2.1. Importing a .qptc File Generated in the Quartus® Prime Power Analyzer
3. Power and Thermal Calculator Graphical User Interface x
3.1. PTC Select Family Dialog Box 3.2. PTC Primary GUI Components 3.3. PTC - IP Wizard 3.4. PTC Searchable Drop-Down Lists 3.5. Deleting Rows from Data Entry Pages 3.6. Finding Resources Using the Find Dialog Box
3.2. PTC Primary GUI Components x
3.2.1. PTC Data Entry Pages 3.2.2. PTC Design Hierarchy 3.2.3. PTC IP Power Summary 3.2.4. PTC Field Types 3.2.5. PTC Data Entry Error Messages
3.2.2. PTC Design Hierarchy x
3.2.2.1. Using Design Hierarchies in the Power and Thermal Calculator (PTC) 3.2.2.2. Entering Hierarchy Information Into the PTC 3.2.2.3. Exporting, Importing, Duplicating, Renaming, and Deleting Hierarchies in the PTC 3.2.2.4. Bulk Editing Hierarchies in the PTC
3.2.4. PTC Field Types x
3.2.4.1. PTC Input Field Dependencies
4. Power and Thermal Calculator Pages x
4.1. PTC - Power Summary/Navigation 4.2. PTC - Common Page Elements 4.3. PTC - Main Page 4.4. PTC - Logic Page 4.5. PTC - RAM Page 4.6. PTC - DSP Page 4.7. PTC - Clock Page 4.8. PTC - PLL Page 4.9. PTC - I/O Page 4.10. PTC - Transceiver Page 4.11. PTC - HPS Page 4.12. PTC - Crypto Page 4.13. PTC - NOC Page 4.14. PTC - HBM Page 4.15. PTC - Thermal Page 4.16. PTC - Report Page
4.3. PTC - Main Page x
4.3.1. PTC - Device Selection and Thermal Analysis Windows
4.10. PTC - Transceiver Page x
4.10.1. Estimating E-Tile Channel PLL Power with the Power and Thermal Calculator
5. Factors Affecting the Accuracy of the PTC x
5.1. Toggle Rate 5.2. I/O Bank Allocation
Answers to Top FAQs
1. Overview of the Power and Thermal Calculator
2. Estimating Power Consumption with the Power and Thermal Calculator
3. Power and Thermal Calculator Graphical User Interface
4. Power and Thermal Calculator Pages
5. Factors Affecting the Accuracy of the PTC
6. Power and Thermal Calculator User Guide Archive
7. Document Revision History for the Power and Thermal Calculator User Guide
A. Measuring Static Power

1.1. Accessing the Power and Thermal Calculators

For convenience, the Power and Thermal Calculator (PTC) is available either as a standalone application, or embedded within the Quartus® Prime software. Each version has a different method to access and launch.

Table 1.  Power and Thermal Calculator Versions Available
Intel® FPGA PTC Version Description Access and Run
Embedded Intel® FPGA PTC Launched from within the Quartus® Prime software. Populates the PTC from project settings and compilation results.

The PTC assumes the current device selected in the Quartus® Prime software. If the current device is not supported by the PTC, it assumes a default device and displays an informative message.

In the Quartus® Prime software, click Tools > Power and Thermal Calculator, or type the quartus_ptc command in the Quartus® Prime software command shell.
Standalone Intel® FPGA PTC Runs independently from the Quartus® Prime software and includes all features in the embedded PTC. You input all data manually, or import from a .ptc file. Helpful in early design when power and cooling requirements are necessary but RTL is not yet available. Available from the Additional Software tab of the Quartus® Prime Pro Edition page of the Download Center for FPGAs .
  • To launch the Windows version, click the icon in the Start menu.
  • To launch the Linux version, type ./ptc <Enter> in the installation folder.
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