Let's do a synthetic test with Sandra, just to see if we can match the results we've seen in HDTach.

What SANDRA also does (important for a HDD) is to test at several positions of the HD. See, at the outer part of a platter the performance is slower. The drive Index test is what I refer to. The higher the better.

The WD Veliciraptor is fast at 99 MB/sec and then the Patriot SSD shows brilliant performance up-to 151 MB/sec speeds, followed by GSkill's offering. The SLC NAND based memory kicks in for the Silicon Power SSD leads the pack at an amazing 175 MB/sec read performance.

Subjective tests

Standard procedure for our HDD/SDD tests is to make a clean install of Windows Vista on the SSD drive.
Playing some games .. work a little on it, just basic normal PC usage. And I just have to admit I like it.

Really fast access times, combined with good speed and no noise: What's not to like? Sure there's a slowdown every now and then, especially in small writes; yet, you get that stuff with a traditional HDD just as well.

Very noticeable is system bootup-time. Windows Vista boots up in 15 to 20 seconds, which is typically a minute (maybe two) on an average HDD based system. Though in all fairness, the SSD Vista installation is new and thus clean.

For you as a gamer we did a subjective test as well. Call of Duty 4. Starting up the game and load times feel just so much faster.

• On the Raptor is takes 22 seconds to startup the Ghilly suit level
• On the G.Skill SSD it takes 8-9 seconds to startup the Ghilly suit level
• On the Patriot Warp SSD it takes 8-9 seconds to startup the Ghilly suit level
• On the Skill Titan SSD it takes 8-9 seconds to startup the Ghilly suit level

Impressive to say at the least. Again, this is a subjective 'real-world' test. Numbers might and likely will differ in different environments / PCs, but one thing is a sure fact, you'll definitely notice a large speedup in level and overall game load times.