For a time, Intel's X25 series of solid state drives stood head and shoulders above the rest of the SSD pack. But with the influx of new players along with the rapid pace of innovation in the SSD space, Intel's aging offerings-while still very good-are no longer a cut above. In fact, in enthusiast circles, it's drives based on upstart SandForce's controllers that currently garner the lion's share of interest. And you don't have to take our word for it. Just take a look at SandForce's current list of partners; it reads like a list of "who's who" in the memory market with names like OCZ, Corsair, Mushkin, G.SKILL, and Patriot, among others.

It's a Patriot drive that we have on tap for you today, the SandForce driven Inferno 120GB...