Need Help with Finding Best Setup for Large Excel Spreadsheets

T

tascajosh

New Member
Hello everyone. I am new to this board and I need some help in finding the best setup for my work situation. My current computer specs are below.
ComputerSpecs.jpg


I run (3) Dell 23" Monitors.
monitors.jpg


My job involves me working in very large spreadsheets (50,000 + rows & 50+ columns) & having multiple programs open at all times. my start bar looks like this 90% of the time.
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These spreadsheets are continuing to grow and it is at the point now where it just took 19 minutes to sort a spreadsheet. That is completely unacceptable.

What I want to know is what type of upgrades I should make to my current machine or what type of components(processor, mother board, RAM, etc.) I can use to get the 19 minute wait time down to seconds, not minutes. I know its possible. Please help me!!!

thank you,
Joshua
Tasca Automotive Group
 
Im old school on this. I had the same problem years ago. Exported to Access (database) and the sort was right now.
 
Microsoft Access will be your adventure. Ya have to learn it. Need a book and would suggest maybe Wrox publishing. Read the preface from the author. You would want beginner to intermediate. Your not ready for advanced. Access is fast and what it does.
I had someone Microsoft Office certified import and show me how. 25 yrs ago.
 
I am the Ebay Sales Manager of a Large Automotive Dealership. We have 65,000 parts on Ebay and are continuing to grow at an average pace of 10,000 new listings per month. So before I know it, this spreadsheet is going to have 150,000+ rows on it and if I am having trouble sorting now, I can just imagine when it triples in size.

I could have sworn I had Access on this computer but it does not seem to be there. I will look into getting Access but Besides using Access, what would you guys recommend I get for computer components to speed up the process. I need this to be much faster and our IT Department is taking way to long to resolve this so I am taking matters into my own hands. I need to work faster or else I will not hit my quotas!!!!!!

Thanks for the help guys!

Joshua
Tasca Automotive Group

tremmor said:
Microsoft Access will be your adventure. Ya have to learn it. Need a book and would suggest maybe Wrox publishing. Read the preface from the author. You would want beginner to intermediate. Your not ready for advanced. Access is fast and what it does.
I had someone Microsoft Office certified import and show me how. 25 yrs ago.
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I'm by no means an expert on the subject, but for reducing time with this kind of stuff you probably want to upgrade your CPU. However, I see you are running this on a Dell computer, so it's probably going to be easier to buy or build your own PC with a beefier CPU.

I see that you're running Excel 2010. I know Office 2010 came in both 32-bit and 64-bit variants - do you know if your Office 2010 is 32-bit or 64-bit? If it's 32-bit then upgrading the RAM would be pointless but if it's 64-bit then more RAM *may* help (but a CPU upgrade will likely have a bigger impact).

As I said, I'm not an expert on Excel but for number crunching, generally the performance lies in your CPU.
 
I agree with Tremmor - look into learning Access and make a database. Once you get the hang of it it'll be much easier to access and sort through compared to an Excel workbook.
 
With an Access Database, can I import an Excel file into Access and can I have images in the database?

thanks,
Joshua
Tasca Automotive Group

voyagerfan99 said:
I agree with Tremmor - look into learning Access and make a database. Once you get the hang of it it'll be much easier to access and sort through compared to an Excel workbook.
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It was imported then for me. And he made the page look like excel spreadsheet. Access is instant compared with Excel for sort.
 
I am assuming that you already did this, but make multiple backups of the Excel files before trying to import anything into Access.

Are the Excel files stored locally or are they on a network storage drive?

If I can see correctly from the picture, it looks like you are using one of the Dell 790s that I use at work. it might already have a 2600 or 3770 in there. I would try to get an SSD if the files are stored locally, More RAM depending on how much you have now, and 64 bit Access 2010/2013.
 
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He has an i3-2100, it shows in the picture :)
I would try and buy an SSD and put the Excel files on that.
But what do you mean with '19 minutes to sort'. I'm reading that as opening it.
But if it's something else, like a script-type action that uses CPU and RAM, then yeah, I would build a new a system or look into what upgrade paths that are available.
Often those pre-built systems are locked from upgrading, so you would have to give us the specific PC that you have.
I looked at the Dell Optiplex 390 datasheet, and the highest end CPU is an i5-2400. But it's what Dell says is available for customers, not what's compatible.
 
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strollin said:
I see you use 64-bit OS with 8G of RAM, what version of Excel are you using and is it 64-bit?
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I asked that. I can make out that it's Excel 2010 and it did come in 32-bit and 64-bit variants, but he hasn't told us if he's got the 32-bit or 64-bit version.
 
I have the 32 Bit version of Excel. Is it worth switching to the 64 Bit Version and is this easily done? Is it just a setting within Excel?
 
Your going to find out its the size of the Excel. thats the problem. 64 will not change it. or very little.
 
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