Passively Q-switched Nd∶GdVO4 laser performance was investigated by using laser-diode as pump source, and Cr4+∶YAG (Cr4+∶Y3Al5O12), GaAs and dye as saturable absorber, respectively. The laser crystal sample of 4 mm×4 mm×6 mm with 1% Nd concentration was used. For Cr∶YAG with small signal transmission 91% and 95%, the thresholds were 0.63 W and 0.57 W, respectively. At the pump power of 3.69 W, stable laser pulses with 64 ns and 80 ns pulse duration, 3.66 μJ and 3.41 μJ pulse energy, 325 kHz and 378 kHz pulse repetition rate were generated with the two Cr∶YAG saturable absorbers, respectively. The threshold for a 580 μm GaAs wafer was 0.39 W. At the pump power of 3.69 W, stable laser pulses with 7.8 ns pulse duration, 2.15 μJ energy and 366 kHz pulse repetition rate were produced with GaAs saturable absorber. The narrowest Q-switched laser pulse could be obtained with a dye wafer with 70% initial transmission. But because of its high insert loss, the threshold was high and the output was not stable.