which is faster - create table select or insert table select

[mark1234]

There is a table -table1- with around 25M records. Oracle 8i database. I have a process to select from this table for a given criteria-which is run every month. That might return a maximum of 1M rows.
Option
1. I use a [create table temp_table as select ... from table1 where criteria]. since it wont be writing any rollback information Ithink this will be faster.

2. I preacreate this temporary table called temp_table. Then do a [insert into temp_table as select ... from table1 where criteria] in the regular process.

which will be faster

[marist89]

why don't you give it a whirl and let us know.

[slimdave]

if you use an insert into a nologging table with an append hint then the speed will be comparable with creating a nologging table -- but as Jeff says, testing would be an entirely appropriate activity.