Hi again,

my second problem is the CXPACKET wait type.

during the execution of complex queries when the same table is used multiple
times, I have some CXPACKET waits.

My server is SQL 2000 Ent. SP4 with 4 proc. (with HT, so windows see 8
processors)
my HD subsystem is bad and I can't do anything here :-(

using the maxdop option sometimes helps sometimes doesn't helps.
when I use maxdop = 1, then I see 1 processor to work, then another work,
then a third...
its not only the same processor used during the entire query process.

but forcing maxdop = 1 cause the query to be slower

for 1 query this is my statistics (trace on):
maxdop = 1
time to process= 1'54
Duration= 180
CPU= 138
Reads= 45
No CXPACKET waits

maxdop = 8
time to process= 0'50
Duration= 152
CPU= 187
Reads= 193
a lot of CXPACKET waits displayed using the sp_who1

so there is 193 reads instead-of 45 when I use all my processors, but the
overall result takes only 50sec.

but for another query its the oposite result, maxdop = 1 improve the
performance !

any guide? or idea?

thanks

jerome.