>16GB is not a big memory today.
>
>How big is the database?
>
>Is the log in simple or full mode ?
>
>post the delete plan.

I would say it is about the log. The issue I have seems to be related to that. As we delete a lot of records, this goes in the log. So, it is mostly the time it takes to move the data into the log. Unfortunately, I do not think there is a way to turn the log off on specific transactions.