diff --git a/.github/workflows/bench-pr.yml b/.github/workflows/bench-pr.yml
index f978686c11..8ac8f83405 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/bench-pr.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/bench-pr.yml
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ jobs:
           BENCH_VORTEX_RATIOS: '.*'
           RUSTFLAGS: '-C target-cpu=native'
         run: |
-          cargo run --bin tpch_benchmark --release -- -d gh-json -t 1 | tee tpch.json
+          cargo run --bin tpch_benchmark --release -- --only-vortex -d gh-json -t 1 | tee tpch.json
       - name: Store benchmark result
         if: '!cancelled()'
         uses: benchmark-action/github-action-benchmark@v1
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ jobs:
           RUSTFLAGS: '-C target-cpu=native'
           HOME: /home/ci-runner
         run: |
-          cargo run --bin clickbench --release -- -d gh-json | tee clickbench.json
+          cargo run --bin clickbench --release -- --only-vortex -d gh-json | tee clickbench.json
       - name: Store benchmark result
         if: '!cancelled()'
         uses: benchmark-action/github-action-benchmark@v1
diff --git a/bench-vortex/src/bin/clickbench.rs b/bench-vortex/src/bin/clickbench.rs
index 93377cc76e..8abc2dd6b5 100644
--- a/bench-vortex/src/bin/clickbench.rs
+++ b/bench-vortex/src/bin/clickbench.rs
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ use vortex::error::vortex_panic;
 #[derive(Parser, Debug)]
 #[command(version, about, long_about = None)]
 struct Args {
-    #[arg(short, long, default_value = "8")]
+    #[arg(short, long, default_value = "5")]
     iterations: usize,
     #[arg(short, long)]
     threads: Option<usize>,
diff --git a/bench-vortex/src/bin/tpch_benchmark.rs b/bench-vortex/src/bin/tpch_benchmark.rs
index 0d0dbcfe03..58c8a38dae 100644
--- a/bench-vortex/src/bin/tpch_benchmark.rs
+++ b/bench-vortex/src/bin/tpch_benchmark.rs
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ struct Args {
     threads: Option<usize>,
     #[arg(short, long, default_value_t = true, default_missing_value = "true", action = ArgAction::Set)]
     warmup: bool,
-    #[arg(short, long, default_value = "8")]
+    #[arg(short, long, default_value = "5")]
     iterations: usize,
     #[arg(long)]
     only_vortex: bool,
diff --git a/encodings/fastlanes/src/bitpacking/compute/search_sorted.rs b/encodings/fastlanes/src/bitpacking/compute/search_sorted.rs
index f8b85b004e..6ffa46f78e 100644
--- a/encodings/fastlanes/src/bitpacking/compute/search_sorted.rs
+++ b/encodings/fastlanes/src/bitpacking/compute/search_sorted.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ use num_traits::AsPrimitive;
 use vortex_array::array::SparseArray;
 use vortex_array::compute::{
     search_sorted_usize, IndexOrd, Len, SearchResult, SearchSorted, SearchSortedFn,
-    SearchSortedSide,
+    SearchSortedSide, SearchSortedUsizeFn,
 };
 use vortex_array::stats::ArrayStatistics;
 use vortex_array::validity::Validity;
@@ -32,24 +32,6 @@ impl SearchSortedFn<BitPackedArray> for BitPackedEncoding {
         })
     }
 
-    fn search_sorted_usize(
-        &self,
-        array: &BitPackedArray,
-        value: usize,
-        side: SearchSortedSide,
-    ) -> VortexResult<SearchResult> {
-        match_each_unsigned_integer_ptype!(array.ptype(), |$P| {
-            // NOTE: conversion may truncate silently.
-            if let Some(pvalue) = num_traits::cast::<usize, $P>(value) {
-                search_sorted_native(array, pvalue, side)
-            } else {
-                // provided u64 is too large to fit in the provided PType, value must be off
-                // the right end of the array.
-                Ok(SearchResult::NotFound(array.len()))
-            }
-        })
-    }
-
     fn search_sorted_many(
         &self,
         array: &BitPackedArray,
@@ -69,6 +51,26 @@ impl SearchSortedFn<BitPackedArray> for BitPackedEncoding {
                 .try_collect()
         })
     }
+}
+
+impl SearchSortedUsizeFn<BitPackedArray> for BitPackedEncoding {
+    fn search_sorted_usize(
+        &self,
+        array: &BitPackedArray,
+        value: usize,
+        side: SearchSortedSide,
+    ) -> VortexResult<SearchResult> {
+        match_each_unsigned_integer_ptype!(array.ptype(), |$P| {
+            // NOTE: conversion may truncate silently.
+            if let Some(pvalue) = num_traits::cast::<usize, $P>(value) {
+                search_sorted_native(array, pvalue, side)
+            } else {
+                // provided u64 is too large to fit in the provided PType, value must be off
+                // the right end of the array.
+                Ok(SearchResult::NotFound(array.len()))
+            }
+        })
+    }
 
     fn search_sorted_usize_many(
         &self,
@@ -121,7 +123,9 @@ where
         // max packed value just search the patches
         let usize_value: usize = value.as_();
         if usize_value > array.max_packed_value() {
-            search_sorted_usize(&patches_array, value.as_(), side)
+            // FIXME(ngates): this is broken. Patches _aren't_ sorted because they're sparse and
+            //  interspersed with nulls...
+            search_sorted_usize(&patches_array, usize_value, side)
         } else {
             Ok(BitPackedSearch::<'_, T>::new(array).search_sorted(&value, side))
         }
diff --git a/vortex-array/src/array/primitive/compute/mod.rs b/vortex-array/src/array/primitive/compute/mod.rs
index 8c693784f9..2385d54112 100644
--- a/vortex-array/src/array/primitive/compute/mod.rs
+++ b/vortex-array/src/array/primitive/compute/mod.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 use crate::array::PrimitiveEncoding;
 use crate::compute::{
-    CastFn, ComputeVTable, FillForwardFn, FilterFn, ScalarAtFn, SearchSortedFn, SliceFn,
-    SubtractScalarFn, TakeFn,
+    CastFn, ComputeVTable, FillForwardFn, FilterFn, ScalarAtFn, SearchSortedFn,
+    SearchSortedUsizeFn, SliceFn, SubtractScalarFn, TakeFn,
 };
 use crate::ArrayData;
 
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@ impl ComputeVTable for PrimitiveEncoding {
         Some(self)
     }
 
+    fn search_sorted_usize_fn(&self) -> Option<&dyn SearchSortedUsizeFn<ArrayData>> {
+        Some(self)
+    }
+
     fn slice_fn(&self) -> Option<&dyn SliceFn<ArrayData>> {
         Some(self)
     }
diff --git a/vortex-array/src/array/primitive/compute/search_sorted.rs b/vortex-array/src/array/primitive/compute/search_sorted.rs
index 11a390d649..1373402758 100644
--- a/vortex-array/src/array/primitive/compute/search_sorted.rs
+++ b/vortex-array/src/array/primitive/compute/search_sorted.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,10 @@ use vortex_scalar::Scalar;
 
 use crate::array::primitive::PrimitiveArray;
 use crate::array::PrimitiveEncoding;
-use crate::compute::{IndexOrd, Len, SearchResult, SearchSorted, SearchSortedFn, SearchSortedSide};
+use crate::compute::{
+    IndexOrd, Len, SearchResult, SearchSorted, SearchSortedFn, SearchSortedSide,
+    SearchSortedUsizeFn,
+};
 use crate::validity::Validity;
 use crate::variants::PrimitiveArrayTrait;
 use crate::{ArrayDType, ArrayLen};
@@ -33,7 +36,9 @@ impl SearchSortedFn<PrimitiveArray> for PrimitiveEncoding {
             }
         })
     }
+}
 
+impl SearchSortedUsizeFn<PrimitiveArray> for PrimitiveEncoding {
     #[allow(clippy::cognitive_complexity)]
     fn search_sorted_usize(
         &self,
diff --git a/vortex-array/src/array/sparse/compute/mod.rs b/vortex-array/src/array/sparse/compute/mod.rs
index 3433ed85f3..6c3c224f19 100644
--- a/vortex-array/src/array/sparse/compute/mod.rs
+++ b/vortex-array/src/array/sparse/compute/mod.rs
@@ -6,10 +6,11 @@ use crate::array::sparse::SparseArray;
 use crate::array::{PrimitiveArray, SparseEncoding};
 use crate::compute::{
     scalar_at, search_sorted, take, ComputeVTable, FilterFn, FilterMask, InvertFn, ScalarAtFn,
-    SearchResult, SearchSortedFn, SearchSortedSide, SliceFn, TakeFn, TakeOptions,
+    SearchResult, SearchSortedFn, SearchSortedSide, SearchSortedUsizeFn, SliceFn, TakeFn,
+    TakeOptions,
 };
 use crate::variants::PrimitiveArrayTrait;
-use crate::{ArrayData, IntoArrayData, IntoArrayVariant};
+use crate::{ArrayDType, ArrayData, ArrayLen, IntoArrayData, IntoArrayVariant};
 
 mod invert;
 mod slice;
@@ -32,6 +33,10 @@ impl ComputeVTable for SparseEncoding {
         Some(self)
     }
 
+    fn search_sorted_usize_fn(&self) -> Option<&dyn SearchSortedUsizeFn<ArrayData>> {
+        Some(self)
+    }
+
     fn slice_fn(&self) -> Option<&dyn SliceFn<ArrayData>> {
         Some(self)
     }
@@ -50,6 +55,7 @@ impl ScalarAtFn<SparseArray> for SparseEncoding {
     }
 }
 
+// FIXME(ngates): these are broken in a way that works for array patches, this will be fixed soon.
 impl SearchSortedFn<SparseArray> for SparseEncoding {
     fn search_sorted(
         &self,
@@ -76,6 +82,22 @@ impl SearchSortedFn<SparseArray> for SparseEncoding {
     }
 }
 
+// FIXME(ngates): these are broken in a way that works for array patches, this will be fixed soon.
+impl SearchSortedUsizeFn<SparseArray> for SparseEncoding {
+    fn search_sorted_usize(
+        &self,
+        array: &SparseArray,
+        value: usize,
+        side: SearchSortedSide,
+    ) -> VortexResult<SearchResult> {
+        let Ok(target) = Scalar::from(value).cast(array.dtype()) else {
+            // If the downcast fails, then the target is too large for the dtype.
+            return Ok(SearchResult::NotFound(array.len()));
+        };
+        SearchSortedFn::search_sorted(self, array, &target, side)
+    }
+}
+
 impl FilterFn<SparseArray> for SparseEncoding {
     fn filter(&self, array: &SparseArray, mask: FilterMask) -> VortexResult<ArrayData> {
         let buffer = mask.to_boolean_buffer()?;
diff --git a/vortex-array/src/compute/mod.rs b/vortex-array/src/compute/mod.rs
index 1df8dbcc22..a34eb911ea 100644
--- a/vortex-array/src/compute/mod.rs
+++ b/vortex-array/src/compute/mod.rs
@@ -102,6 +102,13 @@ pub trait ComputeVTable {
         None
     }
 
+    /// Perform a search over an ordered array.
+    ///
+    /// See: [SearchSortedUsizeFn].
+    fn search_sorted_usize_fn(&self) -> Option<&dyn SearchSortedUsizeFn<ArrayData>> {
+        None
+    }
+
     /// Perform zero-copy slicing of an array.
     ///
     /// See: [SliceFn].
diff --git a/vortex-array/src/compute/search_sorted.rs b/vortex-array/src/compute/search_sorted.rs
index 3be8733072..a7d9ccc98a 100644
--- a/vortex-array/src/compute/search_sorted.rs
+++ b/vortex-array/src/compute/search_sorted.rs
@@ -106,16 +106,6 @@ pub trait SearchSortedFn<Array> {
         side: SearchSortedSide,
     ) -> VortexResult<SearchResult>;
 
-    fn search_sorted_usize(
-        &self,
-        array: &Array,
-        value: usize,
-        side: SearchSortedSide,
-    ) -> VortexResult<SearchResult> {
-        let usize_scalar = Scalar::from(value);
-        self.search_sorted(array, &usize_scalar, side)
-    }
-
     /// Bulk search for many values.
     fn search_sorted_many(
         &self,
@@ -128,6 +118,15 @@ pub trait SearchSortedFn<Array> {
             .map(|value| self.search_sorted(array, value, side))
             .try_collect()
     }
+}
+
+pub trait SearchSortedUsizeFn<Array> {
+    fn search_sorted_usize(
+        &self,
+        array: &Array,
+        value: usize,
+        side: SearchSortedSide,
+    ) -> VortexResult<SearchResult>;
 
     fn search_sorted_usize_many(
         &self,
@@ -162,34 +161,40 @@ where
         SearchSortedFn::search_sorted(encoding, array_ref, value, side)
     }
 
-    fn search_sorted_usize(
+    fn search_sorted_many(
         &self,
         array: &ArrayData,
-        value: usize,
+        values: &[Scalar],
         side: SearchSortedSide,
-    ) -> VortexResult<SearchResult> {
+    ) -> VortexResult<Vec<SearchResult>> {
         let array_ref = <&E::Array>::try_from(array)?;
         let encoding = array
             .encoding()
             .as_any()
             .downcast_ref::<E>()
             .ok_or_else(|| vortex_err!("Mismatched encoding"))?;
-        SearchSortedFn::search_sorted_usize(encoding, array_ref, value, side)
+        SearchSortedFn::search_sorted_many(encoding, array_ref, values, side)
     }
+}
 
-    fn search_sorted_many(
+impl<E: Encoding> SearchSortedUsizeFn<ArrayData> for E
+where
+    E: SearchSortedUsizeFn<E::Array>,
+    for<'a> &'a E::Array: TryFrom<&'a ArrayData, Error = VortexError>,
+{
+    fn search_sorted_usize(
         &self,
         array: &ArrayData,
-        values: &[Scalar],
+        value: usize,
         side: SearchSortedSide,
-    ) -> VortexResult<Vec<SearchResult>> {
+    ) -> VortexResult<SearchResult> {
         let array_ref = <&E::Array>::try_from(array)?;
         let encoding = array
             .encoding()
             .as_any()
             .downcast_ref::<E>()
             .ok_or_else(|| vortex_err!("Mismatched encoding"))?;
-        SearchSortedFn::search_sorted_many(encoding, array_ref, values, side)
+        SearchSortedUsizeFn::search_sorted_usize(encoding, array_ref, value, side)
     }
 
     fn search_sorted_usize_many(
@@ -204,7 +209,7 @@ where
             .as_any()
             .downcast_ref::<E>()
             .ok_or_else(|| vortex_err!("Mismatched encoding"))?;
-        SearchSortedFn::search_sorted_usize_many(encoding, array_ref, values, side)
+        SearchSortedUsizeFn::search_sorted_usize_many(encoding, array_ref, values, side)
     }
 }
 
@@ -214,8 +219,8 @@ pub fn search_sorted<T: Into<Scalar>>(
     side: SearchSortedSide,
 ) -> VortexResult<SearchResult> {
     let Ok(scalar) = target.into().cast(array.dtype()) else {
-        // If the cast fails, then the search value must be higher than the highest value in
-        // the array.
+        // Try to downcast the usize ot the array type, if the downcast fails, then we know the
+        // usize is too large and the value is greater than the highest value in the array.
         return Ok(SearchResult::NotFound(array.len()));
     };
 
@@ -243,14 +248,28 @@ pub fn search_sorted_usize(
     target: usize,
     side: SearchSortedSide,
 ) -> VortexResult<SearchResult> {
-    if let Some(f) = array.encoding().search_sorted_fn() {
+    if let Some(f) = array.encoding().search_sorted_usize_fn() {
         return f.search_sorted_usize(array, target, side);
     }
 
-    // Fallback to a generic search_sorted using scalar_at
+    // Otherwise, convert the target into a scalar to try the search_sorted_fn
+    let Ok(target) = Scalar::from(target).cast(array.dtype()) else {
+        return Ok(SearchResult::NotFound(array.len()));
+    };
+
+    // Try the non-usize search sorted
+    if let Some(f) = array.encoding().search_sorted_fn() {
+        return f.search_sorted(array, &target, side);
+    }
+
+    // Or fallback all the way to a generic search_sorted using scalar_at
     if array.encoding().scalar_at_fn().is_some() {
-        let scalar = Scalar::primitive(target as u64, array.dtype().nullability());
-        return Ok(SearchSorted::search_sorted(array, &scalar, side));
+        // Try to downcast the usize to the array type, if the downcast fails, then we know the
+        // usize is too large and the value is greater than the highest value in the array.
+        let Ok(target) = target.cast(array.dtype()) else {
+            return Ok(SearchResult::NotFound(array.len()));
+        };
+        return Ok(SearchSorted::search_sorted(array, &target, side));
     }
 
     vortex_bail!(
@@ -287,7 +306,7 @@ pub fn search_sorted_usize_many(
     targets: &[usize],
     side: SearchSortedSide,
 ) -> VortexResult<Vec<SearchResult>> {
-    if let Some(f) = array.encoding().search_sorted_fn() {
+    if let Some(f) = array.encoding().search_sorted_usize_fn() {
         return f.search_sorted_usize_many(array, targets, side);
     }
 
@@ -299,6 +318,8 @@ pub fn search_sorted_usize_many(
 }
 
 pub trait IndexOrd<V> {
+    /// PartialOrd of the value at index `idx` with `elem`.
+    /// For example, if self\[idx\] > elem, return Some(Greater).
     fn index_cmp(&self, idx: usize, elem: &V) -> Option<Ordering>;
 
     fn index_lt(&self, idx: usize, elem: &V) -> bool {