Question : I Don't Know What To Do: Reducing Processing Time

Hello,

I have a problem and I don't know how to deal with it. I built a function that calculates a complex mathematical formula. I'm running the software in my personal computer (Dell Inspiron 5305 with Core2 Due E8400 @ 3.00GHz processor with 3GB RAM). To obtain the results I need, I have to wait about two minutes. I tried to increase the speed by loading the processing file to the memory rather than accessing the file from the disk, but nothing changed (I'm using windows vista.)

My problem is that I need to call this function 50000 times! At this rate, it will take 70days to process. Can you help? Is there any way to reduce the processing time to  three days? Will I need to purchase a new machine? :( any suggestions?

Please help me find a solution for this problem.

Answer : I Don't Know What To Do: Reducing Processing Time

Actually, this appears to the be the correct SQL:
   ISNULL(MAX(CAST(SUBSTRING(chainlink, 6, 6) AS int)), 0)