Which scenerio is more efficient?

[acidbox]

I have a table that has about 100 fields in it. The columns are populated from a webbased form and can be modified/updated. The fields are really 6 sets/groups of information that could be divided into 6 seperate tables if I so desire.

My question is, is it more efficient to have the 100 columns be in the one table and have one insert/update statement, or should I break it into 6 tables and have 6 insert/6 update statements run each time a record is added/modified.

Just wondering what people think on this issue.

[superwormy]

I highly doubt you'd ever notice the difference in speed or CPU load between either option.

HOWEVER, 6 tables is a MUCH better design. With 1 table you're not using the advantages of a RDBMS at all, and you're just asking for trouble when you have to change things down the line.

Your database should be properly normalized, and the 100 field option is definitally not normalized. You'll save a lot of headaches in the future. I promise.

Further, normalized databases often save disk spaces ( no redundant data ) and offer better performance in many cases ( though it'll likely be negligable at this point in time for you )