Multiple threads will generally give you gains over single thread on these situations: 1. More responsive UI; 2. There's something the CPU could be doing while it's waiting for an I/O operation; 3. You have multiple CPUs; 4. You have a Pentium 4 with HyperThreading, on some specific situations; Notice that you won't have CPU gains, actually, as you've noticed, you will spend more CPU to do real parallel work; so, the general rule is only to MT if your CPU is waiting for something. ORACLE One Real A$#h%le Called Lary Ellison