SQL Server uses high CPU when searching inside nvarchar strings

Question

Check out the following example. It shows that searching within a unicode string (nvarchar) is almost eight times as bad as searching within a varchar string. And on par wit

Answer 1

Looking for an explanation for this.

NVarchar is 16 bit and Unicode comparison rules are a lot more complicated than ASCII - special chars for the various languages that are supported at the same time require quote some more processing.