Acer Veriton X2670g vs. HP ProDesk 490 G2 Microtower
Comparison and Differences
Differences between Acer Veriton X2670g and HP ProDesk 490 G2 Microtower
If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Acer Veriton X2670g which was released in 2020. The HP ProDesk 490 G2 Microtower is older and entered production in 2014.
If you are looking for the smaller form factor the Acer Veriton X2670g is the right one for you. It is smaller than the HP ProDesk 490 G2 Microtower 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 X2670g as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that HP ProDesk 490 G2 Microtower is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.
Memory
The HP ProDesk 490 G2 Microtower has 4 RAM slots while the Acer Veriton X2670g 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 X2670g is using the faster 2933 MT/s RAM. The HP ProDesk 490 G2 Microtower is slower by supporting RAM speeds of up to 1600 MT/s. In addition, you will be able to install the same amount of RAM in both models, and most probably 32 GB of RAM will be enough for most people. However, if you will be needing more RAM, make sure to check other desktop models too.
Ports
In total the HP ProDesk 490 G2 Microtower has 8 USB ports. The Acer Veriton X2670g is inferior in this regard and packs 7 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 Acer Veriton X2670g has a DisplayPort. The HP ProDesk 490 G2 Microtower does not have one? Don't worry though, nowadays video adapters are cheap and you can get almost any combination of conversion types.
The Acer Veriton X2670g comes with an HDMI port, while the HP ProDesk 490 G2 Microtower 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 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 3 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 X2670g. Sadly, the HP ProDesk 490 G2 Microtower 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
Looking at the Power Supply Unit (PSU) of the two models we don't see any differences. For either of them you get a maximum power of 300 Watts. However be careful, many models have more than one power supply option. When buying your computer, it is a good idea to get a version with the most powerful PSU. This will potentially allow you to upgrade to a more powerful GPU for example.