What's the fastest way to store data?

Ok...I need to store thousands of data to MySQL or files.
But I need to know what the fastest way would be..I prefer files as they are easier to manage in this case, but will it be faster?
MySQL

- loop
-- check if data already in table (1 query)
-- store data (1 query)
- endloop

Code (markup):

File

- loop
-- check if file exists (file_exists)
-- create and write to file (fopen, fwrite and fclose)
- endloop

Code (markup):

Thanks in advance.

 

File operations generally take more time. So MySQL is always the best choice in any circumstance allowing many connections simultaneously.

 

Even if the database is going to contain more then 1gb?

 

Yes, 1gb is most common in big websites.

 

The more data, the greater a database will outperform any sort of file based storage. File operations (even very simple ones) on folders with thousands/millions of files take forever. A database is definitely the way to go.