Skip to main content
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

The Power BI Data Visualization World Championships is back! Get ahead of the game and start preparing now! Learn more

Reply
pmscorca
Kudo Kingpin
Kudo Kingpin

Best performant data visualization feature for a critical Real-Time Intelligence scenario

Hi,

in order to choice the best performant data visualization feature for a critical Real-Time Intelligence scenario, what implementing between a Power BI report (using the DirectQuery mode) or a Real-Time dashboard?

It is very crucial to contain the rendering time about the data visualization. Thanks

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi @pmscorca  ,

You can refer to the replies in this thread for the difference between the two:
Solved: difference between real-time dashboard and Power B... - Microsoft Fabric Community

Power BI Report (DirectQuery mode):
Advantages: DirectQuery mode allows Power BI to query data directly from the data source instead of loading the data model, which can reduce data loading time and improve the real-time performance of data refresh to a certain extent.
Disadvantages: Although DirectQuery improves real-time performance, it may have performance bottlenecks when processing large amounts of data, and the rendering time may be long.

Real-time dashboard:
Advantages: Real-time dashboards are usually designed to refresh and display data quickly, which is very suitable for scenarios that require real-time monitoring. It can provide instant data feedback and the rendering time is usually shorter.
Disadvantages: Real-time dashboards require SKUs of F64 and above, and the implementation cost may be high.

If you have a large amount of data and have extremely high real-time requirements, it is recommended to choose the real-time dashboard, because it can better meet the needs of real-time rendering.
If you have a moderate amount of data and the real-time requirements are not particularly high, Power BI reports (DirectQuery mode) may be a more cost-effective option.

Best Regards,
Dino Tao
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

View solution in original post

3 REPLIES 3
Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi @pmscorca  ,

You can refer to the replies in this thread for the difference between the two:
Solved: difference between real-time dashboard and Power B... - Microsoft Fabric Community

Power BI Report (DirectQuery mode):
Advantages: DirectQuery mode allows Power BI to query data directly from the data source instead of loading the data model, which can reduce data loading time and improve the real-time performance of data refresh to a certain extent.
Disadvantages: Although DirectQuery improves real-time performance, it may have performance bottlenecks when processing large amounts of data, and the rendering time may be long.

Real-time dashboard:
Advantages: Real-time dashboards are usually designed to refresh and display data quickly, which is very suitable for scenarios that require real-time monitoring. It can provide instant data feedback and the rendering time is usually shorter.
Disadvantages: Real-time dashboards require SKUs of F64 and above, and the implementation cost may be high.

If you have a large amount of data and have extremely high real-time requirements, it is recommended to choose the real-time dashboard, because it can better meet the needs of real-time rendering.
If you have a moderate amount of data and the real-time requirements are not particularly high, Power BI reports (DirectQuery mode) may be a more cost-effective option.

Best Regards,
Dino Tao
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Hi, many thanks for your interesting reply.

Considering the Direct Lake storage mode for Power BI in the Real-Time intelligence scenario?

Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi @pmscorca ,

I'm not quite sure what you need to make you think about Direct Lake storage mode.
Real-Time Intelligence and Direct Lake storage mode (which belongs to the category of lakehouse) are two different things. The function of Real-Time Intelligence has nothing to do with the storage mode of its data source. Its function is to obtain data from the data source in real time, and then you can transform the data and set operations such as Reflex.
If you want to learn more about Direct Lake storage mode, I suggest you post a request for help in the lakehouse related forums, where you may find a more specialized answer:
Synapse forums - Microsoft Fabric Community

Best Regards,
Dino Tao
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Helpful resources

Announcements
December Fabric Update Carousel

Fabric Monthly Update - December 2025

Check out the December 2025 Fabric Holiday Recap!

Real Time Intelligence in a Day

Real-Time Intelligence in a Day—Free Training

Turn streaming data into instant insights with Microsoft Fabric. Learn to connect live sources, visualize in seconds, and use Copilot + AI for smarter decisions.

FabCon Atlanta 2026 carousel

FabCon Atlanta 2026

Join us at FabCon Atlanta, March 16-20, for the ultimate Fabric, Power BI, AI and SQL community-led event. Save $200 with code FABCOMM.

Top Kudoed Authors