To a very large degree, a query is a query. As Gail says, it will be the same. The main thing would be how the query is put together. Let's assume a stored procedure and parameters. Then, do the same query, but with local variables instead of parameters. You may see huge differences there. But it's because the fundamentals of the query changed from using parameters (which can be sniffed) to using variables (which are only sniffed during recompiles).