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SandForce is known for being the fastest but at the same time the most unreliable . The Intel 520 is the ONLY exception with the SF controller. Compared to other controllers on the market, SandForce has had more RMAs than you could wrap your head around. It's no secret. This knowledge is wide spread throughout tech and e-commerce web sites. Your mention about running the same OS for 10 years has no relevance to the topic at hand. I'm comparing SandForce to other controllers on the market. If I was bashing SSD technology as a whole, I wouldn't be targeting only the SandForce controller as an issue...

Anytime there is read or write I/O (aka when system wants to read/write data from the drive), and SSD will be ENORMOUSLY faster than even your fastest HDDs on the market. To answer your question, buying the right SSD WILL greatly enhance system performance. I don't know however how useful an SSD would be for charting because that relies on your internet provider's connection to your charting machine. As for the charting software running on your local machine, I don't think an SSD would make any difference in charting performance because the application should be running in RAM. The only thing an SSD would speed up is the time it takes to START the charting application.

OCZ must have the WORST track record of drives in terms of reliability. You pretty much want to avoid any SandForce drive unless it's the Intel 520 series. The drives are fast, but they fail very quickly. The new OCZ Vertex 4 you mentioned DOES use a different controller (thank god) and with the 5-year warranty it MIGHT be a safe bet. Based off OCZ's track record though, they have NEVER proven themselves to be reliable at all. Did OCZ finally get their act together with the Vertex 4? Maybe, only time will tell. Do you want to be their guinea pig? Probably not. There are already existing drives on the market that have proven themselves. Like Anandtech says, avoid new SSDs until they're validated. If you're in the market for an SSD and want the best performance and reliability, the Intel 520 SSDs are your best bet. They come with a 5-year warranty as well but the drives have also been very thoroughly tested hence the price premium. For ultimate peace of mind, the 520 is a no-brainer. The only other drive I would consider is the Samsung 830 series. This drive is even faster than the 520 in some areas and Samsung has an outstanding track record in terms of reliability. It only comes with a 3-year warranty, but I'd feel very confident using it. When the next gen Intel processors are released in a few weeks I'm making a new build. I will be choosing the Samsung 830. Therefore, the Samsung 830 and Intel 520 should be your only two options on your shortlist. You can't really go wrong with either.