In my previous post (Performance benchmarks for LINQ vs. SqlDataReader, DataSet - Selects: Part 1 ), I ran queries using LINQ to SQL, SqlDataReader, and Strongly Typed DataSets to see how they compare in the real world. I found that LINQ is much slower than either the SqlDataReader (no surprise there) or the Strongly Typed DataSets (I actually expected the DataSet to run slower).

Links to other posts in this series:
 

I've been wondering about LINQ to SQL performance ever since I started using it a couple of months ago. All I've been hearing from MS is how well tuned the LINQ queries are and how performance is "comparable" to current data access methods. Of course, LINQ has never been billed as the utlra-best performance way to access a database available. What's really powerful about LINQ is the strongly typed objects, language query abilities, and the ease of use.

• Performance benchmarks for LINQ vs. SqlDataReader, DataSet - Selects: Part 1