Patriot Torqx

Patriot Torqx (128GB)

When we reviewed Patriot Memory’s Warp SSD last fall, we noted that the drive had great application open times but suffered some slowness when zipping files or opening applications under stress. What a difference a few months and a new controller chip make: By using the same Indilinx Barefoot controller chip as the popular OCZ Vertex (and several other SSD drives), Patriot has created in the 128GB Torqx a sexy brushed-metal performance machine that is among the fastest SSDs we’ve tested. And, at $379, it’s one that’s priced competitively, too. The Patriot Torqx comes in a standard 2.5-inch form factor and uses a standard SATA interface. Most notebooks made in the past couple of years support drives of this size and come with SATA ports. However, some ultraportable and thin-and-light systems such as the Lenovo ThinkPad T400s use smaller 1.8-inch drives; before you upgrade, be sure to check your manual. You won’t spend a lot of time staring at an SSD, so the way its casing looks isn’t critical. But after you spend hundreds of dollars on an SSD, it’s nice that the sexy black brushed-metal case of the Torqx makes you feel like you’ve bought a premium product.