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vinayganit's avatar
vinayganit
Frequent Visitor
2 years ago
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Dataset size for best performance

The semantic model size for PowerBI desktop is 1GB right? I know engine compresses excel and CSV file. But It would be great if i have a rough estimate of how much rows will make it 1 GB if I have da...
  • selimovd's avatar
    2 years ago

    Hey vinayganit ,

     

    as you mentioned already, it's really a rough estimation.

    The more often data repeats itself, the higher the compression. The general rule of thumb is that the compression is in average factor 10.

    So approximately 10 GB of CSV should fit into a 1 GB dataset. But again, depends very much on the data.

     

    The 12 Million rows fact table from Adventure Works is approximately 250 MB. So you can think that about 30-40 Million rows could fit into a 1 GB dataset. But again depending on the data itself.

     

    If you need any help please let me know.
    If I answered your question I would be happy if you could mark my post as a solution ✔️ and give it a thumbs up 👍

    Best regards
    Denis

    Blog: WhatTheFact.bi
    Follow me: twitter.com/DenSelimovic
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  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    1 year ago

    Hi, vinayganit 

    I am glad to help you.

     

    Thanks for selimovd's reply.

    And I would like to share some additional solutions below.

     

    In Power BI Desktop, the size limit for the semantic model is indeed 1GB. With regard to the estimation you mentioned, while the exact number of rows will vary depending on the data, I can give you a rough estimate.

     

    Assuming you have 25 columns of data, with relatively even data types and lengths per column, and good data compression, 1GB can hold about 5 to 10 million rows of data.


    This is just a very rough estimate, and the actual situation may vary depending on factors such as data repetitiveness, data type, and compression rate.

     

    In general, under the 1GB limit, the dashboard's performance may start to suffer as the model size approaches 700MB to 900MB. So to ensure smooth dashboard operation, it is recommended to keep the model size below 700MB.

     

     

    I hope my suggestions give you good ideas, if you have any more questions, please clarify in a follow-up reply.
    Best Regards,
    Fen Ling,
    If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.