Temporary Variables vs Temporary Tables SQL Server 2008/2005
Myth: A table variable is a memory-only structure.
This is not True. A Temp table variable might hold more data than can fit in memory, it has to have a place on disk to store data. Table variables are created in the tempdb database similar to temporary tables.
Note: If memory is available, both table variables and temporary tables are created and processed while in memory (data cache).
Normally whether to go with Temp Variables or Temp Tables depends on:
•The number of rows that are inserted to the table.
•The number of recompilations the query is saved from.
•The type of queries and their dependency on indexes and statistics … Read the rest