Acer Veriton L4610g vs. Dell OptiPlex 3020M

Differences between Acer Veriton L4610g and Dell OptiPlex 3020M

If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Dell OptiPlex 3020M which was released in 2013. The Acer Veriton L4610g is older and entered production in 2012.

If you are looking for the smaller form factor the Dell OptiPlex 3020M is the right one for you. It is smaller than the Acer Veriton L4610g 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 Dell OptiPlex 3020M as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Acer Veriton L4610g is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.

Memory

Both models have have equal amount of ram slots (2 RAM). Usually two RAM slots are more than enough for most cases. However, the count should be taken into account when planning how much and what combination of RAM you are going to need for your system.

The Dell OptiPlex 3020M is using the faster 1600 MT/s RAM. The Acer Veriton L4610g is slower by supporting RAM speeds of up to 1333 MT/s. Additionally, if you will be needing a lot of RAM, better go for the Dell OptiPlex 3020M as it has the ability to run 16 GB of RAM. The Acer Veriton L4610g can do a bit less at max 8 GB. Most of the times, this should be sufficient for the majority of users.

Ports

In total the Acer Veriton L4610g has 8 USB ports. The Dell OptiPlex 3020M is inferior in this regard and packs 6 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.

Unfortunately, only the Dell OptiPlex 3020M has a DisplayPort. The Acer Veriton L4610g does not have one? Don't worry though, nowadays video adapters are cheap and you can get almost any combination of conversion types.

None of the models has an HDMI port. If your monitor supports only the HDMI interface, you will need to buy an adapter. Such adapters are cheap so nothing to worry about.

SATA slots are located on the motherboard and it is where SSD, HDD and Optical Disk Drives are connected. Each of the two models being compared have 1 SATA slot(s). Keep in mind that having too few SATA slots might limit your options for connecting additional memory drives.

M.2 SSD interface allows you to transfer data with higher speeds compared to the old SATA interface. Unfortunately, neither the Dell OptiPlex 3020M, nor the Acer Veriton L4610g has one. However, you can still use a SATA SSD drive which should give you satisfactory performance.

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 Dell OptiPlex 3020M comes with a decent 65 Watt PSU, but the Acer Veriton L4610g has a more powerful one rated at 135 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