title: Does SET NOCOUNT ON really make that much of a performance difference
body: <p>In this <a href="http://www.mssqltips.com/tip.asp?tip=1226" rel="noreferrer">article</a>, the author suggests that there is material overhead associated with <code>SET NOCOUNT ON</code> and that "By removing this extra overhead from the network it can greatly improve overall performance for your database and application"</p>
  
  <p>The author references a change in the default stored procedure template from 2000 to 2005 and suggests that "Microsoft even realized the issue " which prompted the change in this template.</p>
  
  <p>Does somebody have hard evidence that either supports or refutes the claimed performance gain with setting NOCOUNT ON.</p>