long l; string strLong = "1"; Stopwatch s = new Stopwatch(); s.Start(); for(int i = 0; i < 10000000; i++) { long.TryParse(strLong, out l); } s.Stop(); s.ElapsedMilliseconds.Dump("Try Parse:"); s.Restart(); for(int i = 0; i < 10000000; i++) { long.Parse(strLong); } s.ElapsedMilliseconds.Dump("Parse:");