PCMark vantage has a very good test suite to benchmark storage performance. The software will look at items you normally do with your PC and tries to measure what kind of an effect that has on your user experience by testing eight different segments stressing the storage unit.

• HDD1 - Spyware is very common on systems without protection against it, letting Windows Defender scan & protect your system is recommended.
• HDD2 - Streaming data from an HDD in games allows for massive worlds and riveting non-stop action.
• HDD3 - Importing digital photos to Windows Photo Gallery is where a high performance HDD shines.
• HDD4 - Starting Windows Vista is a rather demanding task for the storage device, but a fast HDD will notably decrease the loading time.

The tests include a series of reads, writes and copies under a set of specific conditions and applications. The G.Skill performance is faster than the OCZ Core drive, only the SLC based Silicon power SSD can push a little harder in the Windows Defender (HDD1) and gaming loading (HDD2) tests, after that the G.Skill takes the lead.

 No matter how you look at it, the overall speed is so much faster than any conventional HDD.

Let's fire up the second round of real-world performance tests:

• HDD5 - Home video editing with Windows Movie Maker can be very time-consuming – unless you have a high performance HDD.
• HDD6 - Windows Media Center with a high performance HDD can handle simultaneous video recording, time-shifting, and streaming to an Extender for Windows Media Center, such as Xbox 360™.
• HDD7 - Cataloguing your music library is a breeze for fast and powerful HDDs.
• HDD8 - Starting various applications can take a long time – unless you have a high performance HDD.

Now especially in test 5 (video editing) and 6 (MCE) we see the traditional mechanical Raptor drive lead.

Then the  SLC based Silicon power SSD is faster after which the G.Skill MLC based drive shows it's skills. Throughout these test the product shines and remains being faster then the OCZ Core series.

Alright, two more tests on the next page.