VLookups and processing speed

[fred.sheriff]

I am going to buy a new computer. Much of what i currently have to wait foris for a vlookup to complete in Microsoft excel. Some lookups...when I am pulling from two tables of several hundred thousand rows....can take hours to complete. Do I need to get a computer with 3+ GHZ of processing power asthe primary way to improve how long I have to wait for these lookups in excel.....or is more ram or something else needed? ? Thx for any suggestions.....

 

[pascal baro]

replace this reference worksheet function with some vba code that will loopthrough a specified range and do the same as a vlookup without the "live" calculation of your spreadsheet... then no need of a new computer, I'm doing all I want using vba for Excel, Access, Outlook, Word, PowerPivot... withmy single core laptop

Choosing a computer may be more related to your application needs e.g video/audio, office application, gaming

 

[pascal baro]

I'm thinking, this section of my website should help you...
http://multiskillz.tekcities.com/k1001_0100_CpuBasics.html

 

[iwer.moerck]

Den søndag den 18. november 2012 01.17.20 UTC+1 skrev (e-mail address removed):

I am going to buy a new computer. Much of what i currently have to wait for is for a vlookup to complete in Microsoft excel. Some lookups...when I am pulling from two tables of several hundred thousand rows....can take hours to complete. Do I need to get a computer with 3+ GHZ of processing power as the primary way to improve how long I have to wait for these lookups in excel.....or is more ram or something else needed? ? Thx for any suggestions....

Hi

Having this much data I'd strongly recommend putting them into a database instead and then use Excel as a frontend. SQL server Express can be freely downloaded, just be sure to download the Management Studio as well.

When I switched to SQl Server it was a whole new world of possibilities opening up

Cheers

 

[KenCowen]

Fred
Why don't you post a little more detail about what is going on in your spreadsheet. My laptop without a whole lot of memory will process 1 million vlookups in a second or so. Maybe there is some inefficiency built in that could be rectified making your current computer more adequate.
Ken

 

[Prince Kumar]

Hi fred.

there is no need to buy any new computer just use index and match formula to pull the data as it run much faster then Vlookup.

Regards
Prince