You would be surprised what number of samples does to the tests. Take t-test -- the most powerful test to check if means of 2 equivariant Gaussians differ. If y

You would be surprised what number of samples does to the tests. Take t-test -- the most powerful test to check if means of 2 equivariant Gaussians differ. If you compare the asymptotic efficiency of Mann-Whiney (a distribution free test) relative to t-test is around 0.96. Of course in practice you will not have infinite samples. It then comes down when do these asymptotics kick in. Unfortunately that depends on the distribution.