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SQL SERVER – Difference Between GETDATE and SYSDATETIME

Pinal Dave
SQL, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks
59 Comments

Sometime something so simple skips our mind. I never knew the difference between GETDATE and SYSDATETIME. I just ran simple query as following and realized the difference.

SELECT GETDATE() fn_GetDate, SYSDATETIME() fn_SysDateTime

In case of GETDATE the precision is till miliseconds and in case of SYSDATETIME the precision is till nanoseconds.

SQL SERVER - Difference Between GETDATE and SYSDATETIME getdate_sysdatetime

Now the questions is to you – did you know this? Be honest and please share your views. I already accepted that I did not know this in very first line.

This applies to SQL Server 2008 only.

Reference: Pinal Dave (http://www.SQLAuthority.com),

SQL DateTime, SQL Scripts
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Pinal Dave is an SQL Server Performance Tuning Expert and independent consultant with over 22 years of hands-on experience. He holds a Masters of Science degree and numerous database certifications.

Pinal has authored 14 SQL Server database books and 92 Pluralsight courses. To freely share his knowledge and help others build their expertise, Pinal has also written more than 5,800 database tech articles on his blog at https://blog.sqlauthority.com.

Pinal is an experienced and dedicated professional with a deep commitment to flawless customer service. If you need help with any SQL Server Performance Tuning Issues, please feel free to reach out at pinal@sqlauthority.com.

Pinal is also a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer (CF-L1) and CrossFit Level 2 Trainer (CF-L2).

Nupur Dave is a social media enthusiast and an independent consultant. She primarily focuses on the database domain, helping clients build short and long-term multi-channel campaigns to drive leads for their sales pipeline.

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