I see your point.

But I nonetheless recommend an SSDs hands down, because that "nicer", is a lot nicer.
In fact, there's a psychological factor, which I found to be very relevant in my "user experience". I have to reboot it due to an upgrade or a change of CFG, no big deal. Starting a complex excel file as if it was notepad is to me more than just "1 second less": I can open an XLSX file, read it, close it by mistake, re-open it, close it, forget what I read because I was also at the phone, then re-open it, close it, etc. I don't even realize I do so any more; but every time I use my laptop with standard HDD it feels like working in slow motion. Photoshop starts in less than 1 second, too. Copying files from A to B feels just as "natural". See, when simple operations are so much snappier, they steal your attention less, and your mind is just less busy waiting, whether you consciously realize you're doing so or not.

What I mean is, there's more than just less time at the stopwatch. There's a whole user experience which improves dramatically, and that has a much greater value than few seconds can tell you. So, I too suggest: try it