Acer Veriton X2660g vs. Alienware Aurora R11
Comparison and Differences
Differences between Acer Veriton X2660g and Alienware Aurora R11
If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Alienware Aurora R11 which was released in 2020. The Acer Veriton X2660g is older and entered production in 2018.
If you are looking for the smaller form factor the Acer Veriton X2660g is the right one for you. It is smaller than the Alienware Aurora R11 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 Alienware Aurora R11 as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Acer Veriton X2660g is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.
Memory
The Alienware Aurora R11 has 4 RAM slots while the Acer Veriton X2660g 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 Aurora R11 is using the faster 3400 MT/s RAM. The Acer Veriton X2660g 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 Aurora R11 as it has the ability to run 128 GB of RAM. The Acer Veriton X2660g 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 Aurora R11 has 15 USB ports. The Acer Veriton X2660g 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. 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 Alienware Aurora R11 as it has 3 USB3.1 ports (the Acer Veriton X2660g has 2).
Unfortunately, only the Acer Veriton X2660g has a DisplayPort. The Alienware Aurora R11 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 X2660g comes with an HDMI port, while the Alienware Aurora R11 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 4 SATA slot(s). Keep in mind that having too few SATA slots might limit your options for connecting additional memory drives.
When your goal is to have the fastest SSD transfer speeds, an M.2 interface is crucial. Thus, it is good that both models have M.2 SSD slots. Today M.2 SSDs are not much more expensive than the average SATA drives, so it really does not make sense to invest in SATA drives anymore.
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 X2660g comes with a decent 250 Watt PSU, but the Alienware Aurora R11 has a more powerful one rated at 1000 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
