It actually does help, and the concept behind it is called pipelining [1]. Suppose there's a sink that washes and dries, and there are two people who want to u

It actually does help, and the concept behind it is called pipelining [1]. Suppose there's a sink that washes and dries, and there are two people who want to use it. The second person will spend 30 seconds waiting, and 30 seconds washing/drying. So, 60 sec total. If there's a sink and a separate dryer, the second person will spend 15 sec waiting, 15 sec washing, and 15 sec drying. So, 45 sec total. The second person gets a 15 seconds savings, because he can start washing as soon as the first person finishes washing, rather than having to "block" until the first person is done washing and drying. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipeline_(computing)#Concept_and_motivation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipeline_(computing)#Concept_an...