Alienware Aurora R12 vs. Dell Inspiron 3880

Differences between Alienware Aurora R12 and Dell Inspiron 3880

If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Alienware Aurora R12 which was released in 2021. The Dell Inspiron 3880 is older and entered production in 2020.

If you are looking for the smaller form factor the Alienware Aurora R12 is the right one for you. It is smaller than the Dell Inspiron 3880 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 R12 as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Dell Inspiron 3880 is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.

Memory

The Alienware Aurora R12 has 4 RAM slots while the Dell Inspiron 3880 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 R12 is using the faster 3400 MT/s RAM. The Dell Inspiron 3880 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 Alienware Aurora R12 as it has the ability to run 128 GB of RAM. The Dell Inspiron 3880 can do a bit less at max 64 GB. Most of the times, this should be sufficient for the majority of users.

Ports

In total the Alienware Aurora R12 has 15 USB ports. The Dell Inspiron 3880 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 Alienware Aurora R12, is that it has 3 USB 3.1 port(s) which allows transfer of up to 10Gb/s. Unfortunately, the Dell Inspiron 3880 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.

Nowadays, almost every new computer comes equipped with a DisplayPort. However, none of the devices being compared here has one. Don't worry though, DisplayPort adapters are very cheap and you can get virtually any combination of conversion types.

The Dell Inspiron 3880 comes with an HDMI port, while the Alienware Aurora R12 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 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 Alienware Aurora R12 is better equipped as it comes with 4 SATA slot(s), while the Dell Inspiron 3880 has 2 slot(s).

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 Dell Inspiron 3880 comes with a decent 260 Watt PSU, but the Alienware Aurora R12 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