Gathering system stats gives the optimizer more information about the current workload mix and the capabilities of the system ( cpu speed, IO performance). In general this should lead to better access plans and better performance and I have heard that people have had good success with it. However, any changes that impact the optimizer should be tested thoroughly because there could be nasty surprises. If you have a mixed workload, e.g. OLTP during the day and batch during off-hours, you should have separate system statistics for each workload and switch them in as appropriate. Regards Wolfgang Breitling Centrex Consulting Corporation www.centrexcc.com -- To unsubscribe - mailto:oracle-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx&subject=unsubscribe To search the archives - //www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/