They are both the same, and here's how you can find out, by looking at what the compiler does (even without optimisation set to high):
Look at what the compiler (gcc 4.0) does to your simple examples:
1.c:
main(){ int var; while(int i < 100) { var = 4; } }
gcc -S 1.c
1.s:
_main:
pushl %ebp
movl %esp, %ebp
subl $24, %esp
movl $0, -16(%ebp)
jmp L2
L3:
movl $4, -12(%ebp)
L2:
cmpl $99, -16(%ebp)
jle L3
leave
ret
2.c
main() { while(int i < 100) { int var = 4; } }
gcc -S 2.c
2.s:
_main:
pushl %ebp
movl %esp, %ebp
subl $24, %esp
movl $0, -16(%ebp)
jmp L2
L3:
movl $4, -12(%ebp)
L2:
cmpl $99, -16(%ebp)
jle L3
leave
ret
From these, you can see two things: firstly, the code is the same in both.
Secondly, the storage for var is allocated outside the loop:
subl $24, %esp
And finally the only thing in the loop is the assignment and condition check:
L3:
movl $4, -12(%ebp)
L2:
cmpl $99, -16(%ebp)
jle L3
Which is about as efficient as you can be without removing the loop entirely.