how to create something like this?

[Maximus]

this was made in houdini, im tryin to figure out a start to produce this kind of effect where particles move close but dont interact and with this kind of "fluid motion", i've tried applying a texture map on an ICE pointcloud emission but when i increase the particles to a decent amount my computer just hangs, on top of the fact that if i use a simulate bullet rigid bodies to manage the collision, the simulation just skyrocket in render times.

is there anything you guys could point out to help or any ideas?
i'd appreciate it