Yes, it does help, and is measurable.

However - you could look at writing indexes specifically for your queries. With no updates, you can go wild on indexes, and create covering...

Write for 2008. Things are much better. I am guilty of taking old baggage forwards. It is a flaw -

also in 2012 you will find it actually works out...

In 2005 I had many issues with replicating views and SP's. So I eventually stopped doing so. Even now I don't do it just because of the issues I had...