Different DAX process in PowerPivot and PowerBI?

[gmichael]

Hello,

I have a model in PowerPivot using DAX. Data from SQL Server. It takes 7 minutes to refresh the model.

I imported it to PowerBI, 0.5 minute to refresh.

Is DAX processed differently in PowerPivot and Power BI? How can I speed up the PowerPivot?

Thanks!

[v-shex-msft]

Hi @gmichael,

I agree with Bhavesh Patel point of view, the newest version of office may refresh more quickly than old version.

In addition, you can also take a look at below articles to find some suggest to improve the refresh speed.

Power Pivot Performance Gotchas

6 Ways to Improve the Speed of Microsoft Power Pivot Reports

Regards,

Xiaoxin Sheng

[BhaveshPatel]

@gmichael

The Version of the Powerpivot is important is deciding the speed. The other benefits of PowrBI  is that it gets updated every month and have more bug fixes. The DAX processing is similar to PowerBI as both runs on the same Vertipaq Engine. 

PowerPivot from Excel 2010 and 2013 are slower than Excel 2016 and PowerBI. I have personally experienced that sometimes PowerPivot loads data more faster than PowerBI. However, You can check the health of your model in DAX Studio, a free Excel Add in and Standalone product.

[gmichael]

Hello,

I have a model in PowerPivot. 7 minures to resfresh. Imported to Power BI - 0.5 minutes for refresh. The model employs data from MS SQL Server. Why this difference? Do Power BI and Power Pivot process DAX in different ways?

Thanks!