Assembly performance: Configurations vs. Derived Parts

I have a large lofted part that is used as a "Plug" for twoprimary components that are later bonded together with theinternals detailed and drawings, etc...

In my past CAD work, I have modeled this in several ways withsimilar projects, primarily focusing on configurations and keepingall the work in one file. For instance, the Plug, the Top Half (RH& LH), the Bottom Half (Somtimes RH & LH), would all beseparate configurations of the same part.

The file being large and detailed, the upper level assemblies getheavy on the processing, so I wonder if it would help me to save aderived part from the solid body instead of using configurations?

(I have done the reduced feature configuration thing about as muchas possible as well...)

It may be six of one, half-a-dozen-of-another, but any experiencedadvice would be greatly appreciated.SolidworksAdministration