Hardware Question about Power BI

[FeVar]

Hi I am new to this forum. I need advice about PC hardware. I am wanting to know what type of laptop to buy if I wanted to use Power BI desktop.

Do you think the processor Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (i.e. the Intel Ultra 7 200 series) powered laptop will be sufficient to support large datasets used in Power Query or Power BI? It is the latest tech from Intel for AI but I am just wondering if it can support the demands of Power BI processing also? The laptop runs on a WUXGA, has only 8 cores (4 performance + 4 efficient) and has 32GB of RAM. Any opinions are most welcome. TQ. 

[v-shamiliv]

Hi @FeVar 

May I ask if you have resolved this issue? If so, please mark the helpful reply and accept it as the solution. This will be helpful for other community members who have similar problems to solve it faster.

Thank you.

[v-shamiliv]

Hi @FeVar  
Thank you for reaching out microsoft fabric community forum.

Yes,You're right: Power BI mostly relies on RAM and single-core performance. The Intel Core Ultra 7 258V is a newer chip with good architecture and solid clock speed, so it should handle Power BI well—even for large datasets.

A few key points:

• 32GB RAM is great. 64GB helps for really large models but isn't essential.
• More cores don’t always help—Power BI often uses just 1 core for Power Query, DAX, and visuals.
• Higher clock speed (GHz) is more important than the number of cores.
• A fast SSD also improves load and refresh times.
  
  If this solution helps, please consider giving us Kudos and accepting it as the solution so that it may assist other members in the community
  Thank you.

[lbendlin]

what you need most is RAM.  32 GB is not bad. 64 GB will make your Power BI fly.

[FeVar]

Hi Ibendlin, 

Yes I know RAM does the trick in Power BI. But can the number of cores 4,8 or16 on a iCore 7 or 9 chip also affect performance? 

I heard Power BI uses 1 core only while it runs the power query, data model or DAX.

Also that clock speed xGHz, the higher the better, makes it process faster too.