performance increase rpm v compile

[tony barratt]

Hello,

I am working on a python app which does quite a lot of database manipulation
via berkeley db.
An increase in performance would be welcome, although ait is pretty quick it
just has a lot to do.
Currently it runs on RH 8.0, FC2 or 3 coming. And it is installed from an
(rpm python-2.2.1-17).
It runs on a dual processor xeon. My experience with X leads me to believe
you can get a performance increase of 10-20% from compiling it.
Is this likely to be true for python?
TIA

Tony