Patriot Inferno 120GB SandForce-Based SSD

Performance Summary: As we’ve come to expect from SandForce driven solid state drives, the Patriot Inferno 120GB offers excellent performance overall. In every one of our tests, the Patriot Inferno competed favorably with other SandForce-based products from OCZ and Corsair, which is to say it performed very well. Slight differences in the design and firmware of the SandForce-based drives we tested, however, yielded the OCZ and Corsair drives somewhat better performance than Patriot’s offering in a few tests. But the differences weren’t dramatic by any means.

Patriot Offers Inferno SSDs In A Variety of Capacities...

 With all of the similarities between the current crop of SandForce based solid state drives on the market, choosing one over another can often come down to price. At this point in time, pricing on SandForce based drives has dropped considerably, and while still expensive in light of standard spinning hard drives, they are much more affordable than ever before. The 120GB Patriot Inferno can be found for about $269, or roughly $2.24 per GB. That’s about 43% less expensive than the $3.90 per GB SandForce based drives commanded back at the end of June when we rounded-up an array of offerings from the likes of OCZ, Corsair, and others. While we’re happy with the drastic price reduction in SSDs as of late, unfortunately for Patriot, the Corsair and OCZ offerings we tested alongside the Inferno are even more affordable (relatively speaking, of course). The 120GB OCZ Vertex 2 can currently be found for $240, or $2 per GB, and the Corsair Force 120GB can be found for $260, or $2.16 per GB. If you’re not loyal to any particular brand, the OCZ drive is the logical choice.

With all that said, the Patriot Inferno 120GB is still an excellent SSD. Performance is very good all around and the drive worked flawlessly throughout weeks of testing. If you’re in the market for a new solid state drive, Patriot’s offerings should be on your short list of considerations.

Solid Performance SandForce Controller 3 Year Warranty	Somewhat Higher Cost Per GB Than Competing Offerings