Where can I find research or benchmark performance metrics that
compare information like the examples below:

 - computer application load time (e.g., the research might answer the
question, How long does it take MSWord to open on a system with XYZ
configuration?)
 - system performance (e.g., the research might answer the question,
How long does it take a computer with XYZ configuration to boot up, to
process ABC bits of information, etc.?)

Ideally, I'd like to find a source that offers more "real-world"
insight rather than simple "manufacturer's performance data"-type
information.

To be clear, I'm mostly interested in finding a source of this
information, hopefully a free one, or even usability studies that
speak to people's interaction with software and what kinds of speeds
are "tolerated" by users.

Thanks in advance for pointing me in the right direction.  :]

Real world bench marks can be found several places but are fairly hard
to repeat.  Program load times can vary tremendously by many factors
from hard drive fragmentation, number of other processes, hard drive
speed, antivirus client activity, network activity, etc.

I've had the same Dell models within the same order come in with
different brand hard drives and after a few months, with the same
aplications loaded, start to give hugely divergent numbers.   We seem
to have to reload win xp about 1/2 as often as win2000 but still, at
least yearly.!     Even running programs like wintune and vigerous
disabling services you will never be able to keep your systems running
at "benchmark" like levels.

I've found that the biggest cost in new computers is the migration
time, far more than the cost of a new system.   Lost productivity due
to setup and reloading accounts for days more than hours, even with
Over the lan utilities and migration tools.

Please see http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030217/index.html for a
very thorough cpu comparison.

Sandra is an exclent general benchmark program with many reference timings.
http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/3000-2086-10264518.html

One other factor in program load times is how long they ADD to the
system boot time to achieve faster "load" times!