Unboxing nullable value type from object is slow

Contrary to common perception, as is not faster than is-then-cast approach. It's easy to debunk that perception. Just profile

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Diagnostics;

class Program
{
    const int Size = 30000000;

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        object[] values = new object[Size];
        for (int i = 0; i < Size - 2; i += 3)
        {
            values[i] = null;
            values[i + 1] = "";
            values[i + 2] = 1;
        }

        FindSumWithIsThenCast(values);
            
        FindSumWithAsThenHasThenValue(values);
        FindSumWithAsThenHasThenCast(values);

        FindSumWithManualAs(values);
        FindSumWithAsThenManualHasThenValue(values);

        Console.ReadLine();
    }

    static void FindSumWithIsThenCast(object[] values)
    {
        Stopwatch sw = Stopwatch.StartNew();
        int sum = 0;
        foreach (object o in values)
        {
            if (o is int)
            {
                int x = (int)o;
                sum += x;
            }
        }
        sw.Stop();
        Console.WriteLine("Is then Cast: {0} : {1}", sum,
                            (long)sw.ElapsedMilliseconds);
    }

    static void FindSumWithAsThenHasThenValue(object[] values)
    {
        Stopwatch sw = Stopwatch.StartNew();
        int sum = 0;
        foreach (object o in values)
        {
            int? x = o as int?;

            if (x.HasValue)
            {
                sum += x.Value;
            }
        }
        sw.Stop();
        Console.WriteLine("As then Has then Value: {0} : {1}", sum,
                            (long)sw.ElapsedMilliseconds);
    }

    static void FindSumWithAsThenHasThenCast(object[] values)
    {
        Stopwatch sw = Stopwatch.StartNew();
        int sum = 0;
        foreach (object o in values)
        {
            int? x = o as int?;

            if (x.HasValue)
            {
                sum += (int)o;
            }
        }
        sw.Stop();
        Console.WriteLine("As then Has then Cast: {0} : {1}", sum,
                            (long)sw.ElapsedMilliseconds);
    }

    static void FindSumWithManualAs(object[] values)
    {
        Stopwatch sw = Stopwatch.StartNew();
        int sum = 0;
        foreach (object o in values)
        {
            bool hasValue = o is int;
            int x = hasValue ? (int)o : 0;

            if (hasValue)
            {
                sum += x;
            }
        }
        sw.Stop();
        Console.WriteLine("Manual As: {0} : {1}", sum,
                            (long)sw.ElapsedMilliseconds);
    }

    static void FindSumWithAsThenManualHasThenValue(object[] values)
    {
        Stopwatch sw = Stopwatch.StartNew();
        int sum = 0;
        foreach (object o in values)
        {
            int? x = o as int?;

            if (o is int)
            {
                sum += x.Value;
            }
        }
        sw.Stop();
        Console.WriteLine("As then Manual Has then Value: {0} : {1}", sum,
                            (long)sw.ElapsedMilliseconds);
    }

}

Is then Cast: 10000000 : 303
As then Has then Value: 10000000 : 3524
As then Has then Cast: 10000000 : 3272
Manual As: 10000000 : 395
As then Manual Has then Value: 10000000 : 3282

What can we infer from these figures?

• First, is-then-cast approach is significantly faster than as approach. 303 vs 3524
• Second, .Value is marginally slower than casting. 3524 vs 3272
• Third, .HasValue is marginally slower than using manual has(i.e. using is). 3524 vs 3282
  
• Fourth, doing an apple-to-apple comparison(i.e. both assigning of simulated HasValue and converting simulated Value happens together) between simulated as and real as approach, we can see simulated as is still significantly faster than real as. 395 vs 3524
  
• Lastly, based on first and fourth conclusion, there's something wrong with as
  implementation ^_^