Did you try use OPENQUERY to force the ORDER BY being performed at the MySQL side before transferring the data?
What happens if you run that query directly at the MySQL Server? Does it perform acceptable?
Lutz
A pessimist is an optimist with experience. How to get fast answers to your question[/url]
How to post performance related questions[/url]
Links for Tally Table [/url] , Cross Tabs [/url] and Dynamic Cross Tabs [/url], Delimited Split Function[/url]