Snowflake · Performance

Performance

Micro-partitions, pruning, clustering, and the query profile: how to make Snowflake queries fast without just renting a bigger warehouse.

Bar chart of illustrative query runtime: 100 for a Gen1 standard warehouse versus about 65 for a Gen2 standard warehouse

Engineering

Snowflake Gen2 warehouses: faster compute you have to opt into

Snowflake Gen2 standard warehouses run on faster hardware and finish most queries quicker, but they bill at a higher credit rate and you often have to switch with a SQL clause. Whether they save money depends entirely on whether the speedup beats the rate.

Jun 7, 2026

Bar chart comparing micro-partitions scanned for a one-day query: 9,800 unclustered versus 140 clustered on event_date

Snowflake

Snowflake clustering: when a clustering key actually pays off

Snowflake clustering keys reorganize micro-partitions so queries prune more of the table. On a well-clustered date column a one-day query can scan 140 micro-partitions instead of 9,800, but automatic clustering bills credits, so it only pays on big, filtered, slow-changing tables.

Lars Cornelissen · Jun 7, 2026