Another aspect of this: more often than not Y is a solution that has side benefits that are not explicited in the request.
The obvious ones are buying a new computer to use a resource intensive software. There might be options to upgrade the existing parts to cleanly meet the requirements, borrow/rent a machine for the length of the project, spin up a machine in a cloud, straight ask someone else with an adequate machine to inherint the task etc.
Those could all be more optimal solutions, but I'd still totally ask for a new computer instead.
The obvious ones are buying a new computer to use a resource intensive software. There might be options to upgrade the existing parts to cleanly meet the requirements, borrow/rent a machine for the length of the project, spin up a machine in a cloud, straight ask someone else with an adequate machine to inherint the task etc.
Those could all be more optimal solutions, but I'd still totally ask for a new computer instead.