Acer Veriton S2680g vs. Dell XPS 8500
Comparison and Differences
Differences between Acer Veriton S2680g and Dell XPS 8500
If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Acer Veriton S2680g which was released in 2021. The Dell XPS 8500 is older and entered production in 2012.
Both models have the same form factor, meaning reoughtly they have the same phiysical size and form.
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 S2680g as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Dell XPS 8500 is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.
Memory
The Dell XPS 8500 has 4 RAM slots while the Acer Veriton S2680g 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 Acer Veriton S2680g is using the faster 2933 MT/s RAM. The Dell XPS 8500 is slower by supporting RAM speeds of up to 1600 MT/s. Additionally, if you will be needing a lot of RAM, better go for the Acer Veriton S2680g as it has the ability to run 64 GB of RAM. The Dell XPS 8500 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 Dell XPS 8500 has 9 USB ports. The Acer Veriton S2680g 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. What is nice about the Acer Veriton S2680g, is that it has 2 USB 3.1 port(s) which allows transfer of up to 10Gb/s. Unfortunately, the Dell XPS 8500 has no such port, thus restricting your transfer speeds significantly. For people who want to use external drives on regular basis, this might be an issue.
Unfortunately, only the Acer Veriton S2680g has a DisplayPort. The Dell XPS 8500 does not have one? Don't worry though, nowadays video adapters are cheap and you can get almost any combination of conversion types.
In case your monitor supports HDMI only, you will be happy to hear that both models come with an HDMI port.
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 4 SATA slot(s). Keep in mind that having too few SATA slots might limit your options for connecting additional memory drives.
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 S2680g. Sadly, the Dell XPS 8500 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 S2680g comes with a decent 300 Watt PSU, but the Dell XPS 8500 has a more powerful one rated at 460 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
