Adrian Klaver <adrian.klaver@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes: > Off hand I would say it is because of this --> count(m.num). Try count(l.num) instead and see > what happens. As your queries above show they are the same number. No, that's another thing I already tried tweaking and should have mentioned. Neither count(*) nor count(l.num) have any influence on the plan. Following Kevin's advice (thanks!) I read the SlowQueryQuestions wiki page and learned about the "buffers" EXPLAIN option: EXPLAIN (analyze,buffers) SELECT count(l.num) AS count_1 FROM master_l10n l JOIN master m ON m.num = l.num WHERE l.lang = 'it' AND lower(l.text) LIKE 'quattro%'; QUERY PLAN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aggregate (cost=676558.14..676558.15 rows=1 width=4) (actual time=4133.991..4133.991 rows=1 loops=1) Buffers: shared hit=6 read=84710, temp read=32652 written=32398 -> Hash Join (cost=373011.02..675044.41 rows=605492 width=4) (actual time=1940.285..4074.654 rows=1101101 loops=1) Hash Cond: (l.num = m.num) Buffers: shared hit=6 read=84710, temp read=32652 written=32398 -> Bitmap Heap Scan on master_l10n l (cost=64700.56..307801.65 rows=605492 width=4) (actual time=201.132..1286.629 rows=1101101 loops=1) Filter: (((lang)::text = 'it'::text) AND (lower(text) ~~ 'quattro%'::text)) Heap Blocks: exact=25621 Buffers: shared hit=1 read=40464 -> Bitmap Index Scan on l10n_text_index (cost=0.00..64549.19 rows=999662 width=0) (actual time=195.946..195.946 rows=1101101 loops=1) Index Cond: ((lower(text) ~>=~ 'quattro'::text) AND (lower(text) ~<~ 'quattrp'::text)) Buffers: shared read=14844 -> Hash (cost=144247.76..144247.76 rows=9999976 width=4) (actual time=1738.180..1738.180 rows=9999999 loops=1) Buckets: 16384 Batches: 128 Memory Usage: 2778kB Buffers: shared hit=2 read=44246, temp written=29000 -> Seq Scan on master m (cost=0.00..144247.76 rows=9999976 width=4) (actual time=0.006..629.590 rows=9999999 loops=1) Buffers: shared hit=2 read=44246 Planning time: 0.493 ms Execution time: 4134.144 ms (19 rows) # select version(); version -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PostgreSQL 9.4.5 on x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu, compiled by gcc (Debian 5.2.1-21) 5.2.1 20151003, 64-bit (1 row) Thank you, ciao, lele. -- nickname: Lele Gaifax | Quando vivrò di quello che ho pensato ieri real: Emanuele Gaifas | comincerò ad aver paura di chi mi copia. lele@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx | -- Fortunato Depero, 1929. -- Sent via pgsql-general mailing list (pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-general