Originally posted by gbrabham
It is faster to go with "CREATE TABLE table_name AS SELECT * FROM ..."
This does not generate logging to the database,....
The way you suggested it, this CREATE_AS_SELECT would generate exactly the same amount of redo logs as would CREATE TABLE + INSERT_FROM_SELECT.

If you want to perform CTAS with minimal logging, then you have to specify it in your command:
"CREATE TABLE table_name NOLOGGING AS SELECT * FROM ..."

This same effect can be achived with CREATE, followed by INSERT_FROM_SELECT with the +APPEND hint, as Chris has already pointed ot.