I've been reading a lot about the disadvantages of using "order by rand" so I don't need update on that. I was thinking, since I only need a limited amount of rows retrieved from the db to be randomized, maybe I should do:

$r = $db->query("select * from table limit 500");
for($i;$i<500;$i++)
$arr[$i]=mysqli_fetch_assoc($r);
shuffle($arr);

(i know this only randomizes the 500 first rows, be it).

would that be faster than

$r = $db->("select * from table order by rand() limit 500");

let me just mention, say the db tables were packed with more than...10,000 rows.

why don't you do it yourself?!? - well, i have, but i'm looking for your experienced opinion.

thanks!