Acer Veriton ES2740g vs. Alienware Area 51 R2

Differences between Acer Veriton ES2740g and Alienware Area 51 R2

If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Acer Veriton ES2740g which was released in 2019. The Alienware Area 51 R2 is older and entered production in 2018.

If you are looking for the smaller form factor the Alienware Area 51 R2 is the right one for you. It is smaller than the Acer Veriton ES2740g and will fit more easily under your desk.

Processor

Usually the newer the generation of the CPU, the better the performance and efficiency is. If your budget allows it, you should go with the Acer Veriton ES2740g as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Alienware Area 51 R2 is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.

Memory

The Alienware Area 51 R2 has 4 RAM slots while the Acer Veriton ES2740g has only 2 slot(s). This is not something to worry about. Just make sure you take it into consideration when planning how much RAM you are going to use.

The Alienware Area 51 R2 is using the faster 2667 MT/s RAM. The Acer Veriton ES2740g is slower by supporting RAM speeds of up to 2666 MT/s. Additionally, if you will be needing a lot of RAM, better go for the Alienware Area 51 R2 as it has the ability to run 64 GB of RAM. The Acer Veriton ES2740g can do a bit less at max 32 GB. Most of the times, this should be sufficient for the majority of users.

Ports

In total the Alienware Area 51 R2 has 10 USB ports. The Acer Veriton ES2740g is inferior in this regard and packs 8 USB ports. In any case, if you miss USB ports, you can always purchase a USB hub. None of the desktop models has a USB 3.1 port (10Gb/s), so if you need a fast connection to your peripherals, like external Solid State Drive, you will need to look elsewhere.

Nowadays, almost every new computer comes equipped with a DisplayPort. However, none of the devices being compared here has one. Don't worry though, DisplayPort adapters are very cheap and you can get virtually any combination of conversion types.

The Acer Veriton ES2740g comes with an HDMI port, while the Alienware Area 51 R2 does not support the interface. Of course missing HDMI port is something that can be easily fixed with a good adapter (e.g. DisplayPort to HDMI).

SATA ports are placed on the system board and it is where you connect your HDD, SSD and Optical Disk Drives. More SATA slots will allow you to have more drives running at the same time. In this regard the Alienware Area 51 R2 is better equipped as it comes with 6 SATA slot(s), while the Acer Veriton ES2740g has 2 slot(s).

If you want the fastest transfer speeds for your SSD, an M.2 interface is crucial. Thus, if the M.2 SSD slot is a mandatory requirement for you, go with the Acer Veriton ES2740g. Sadly, the Alienware Area 51 R2 has no such slot, and you will be forced to use the SATA interface instead.

Make sure that the available M.2 slot supports the PCIe (also called NVMe) interface. This is important as there are M.2 slots which support only the inferior SATA III interface. For comparison, the SATA III interface has max speeds of 6Gb/s, while the PCIe 3.0 x4 will support speeds up to 32Gb/s!

Power Supply

Having a Power Supply Unit with high power rating is important, if you are going to use components which require extra power. The Acer Veriton ES2740g comes with a decent 180 Watt PSU, but the Alienware Area 51 R2 has a more powerful one rated at 1500 Watts. Choosing either one depends on your specific requirements and use case. Also don't forget that some models might have more than one PSU option - try to always get the most powerful one, especially if you plan to upgrade to a powerful GPU.

Motherboard