Alienware Area 51 R4 vs. Fujitsu Esprimo P9012
Comparison and Differences
Differences between Alienware Area 51 R4 and Fujitsu Esprimo P9012
If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Fujitsu Esprimo P9012 which was released in 2022. The Alienware Area 51 R4 is older and entered production in 2015.
If you are looking for the smaller form factor the Alienware Area 51 R4 is the right one for you. It is smaller than the Fujitsu Esprimo P9012 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 Fujitsu Esprimo P9012 as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Alienware Area 51 R4 is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.
Memory
Both models have have equal amount of ram slots (4 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 Fujitsu Esprimo P9012 is using the faster 3200 MT/s RAM. The Alienware Area 51 R4 is slower by supporting RAM speeds of up to 2933 MT/s. Additionally, if you will be needing a lot of RAM, better go for the Fujitsu Esprimo P9012 as it has the ability to run 128 GB of RAM. The Alienware Area 51 R4 can do a bit less at max 64 GB. Most of the times, this should be sufficient for the majority of users.
Ports
Both models have the same amount of USB ports for total count of 12. If this is not enough, using a USB hub is always a viable option. It's great that both of the models have USB 3.1 ports which will allow you to exchange data with your peripherals at up to 10Gb/s. But if you need maximum connectivity, go with the Fujitsu Esprimo P9012 as it has 5 USB3.1 ports (the Alienware Area 51 R4 has 2).
Unfortunately, only the Fujitsu Esprimo P9012 has a DisplayPort. The Alienware Area 51 R4 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 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 Fujitsu Esprimo P9012 is better equipped as it comes with 5 SATA slot(s), while the Alienware Area 51 R4 has 4 slot(s).
An M.2 SSD can be several times faster than a SATA one. Thus, we are happy to see that both models support the M.2 interface. However, the Fujitsu Esprimo P9012 has 1 M.2 slots while the Alienware Area 51 R4 comes with just 1.
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 Fujitsu Esprimo P9012 comes with a decent 300 Watt PSU, but the Alienware Area 51 R4 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
