> 1) Does the query speed depend on the number of rows in a table?

It depends. ;-)

Does you query specify criteria where all the columns are indexed?

How specific is the value being searched for?

Does the query need to evaluate across indexes?

> 2) Does the query speed depend on the number of columns in a table,
> assuming that I will only query the PK column (select ID from

mytable)?

Generally no

> 3) OK, I know this is a vague question.
> On a "normal" desktop computer say 2MHz and 2GB RAM or something like
> it. How many simple queries (like select * from table) can I make in a
> second. Is it in the 100's, 1000's etc.?

Simple queries like that are no measure of anything in real life!

How many columns are there? How big are the records?

Is the HD: IDE, SATA 1.5Gbps, SATA 3.0Gbps, SCSI, SAS 10K or SAS 15K?

Is there a RAID controller? Does the RAID controller have cache?

Is the PC running Windows or Linux? What is the file system of the
drive/device that the database is stored on?


Sean