Acer Veriton X2665g vs. Alienware Aurora R7
Comparison and Differences
Differences between Acer Veriton X2665g and Alienware Aurora R7
If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Acer Veriton X2665g which was released in 2019. The Alienware Aurora R7 is older and entered production in 2018.
If you are looking for the smaller form factor the Acer Veriton X2665g is the right one for you. It is smaller than the Alienware Aurora R7 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 X2665g as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Alienware Aurora R7 is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.
Memory
The Alienware Aurora R7 has 4 RAM slots while the Acer Veriton X2665g 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 R7 is using the faster 2933 MT/s RAM. The Acer Veriton X2665g 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 R7 as it has the ability to run 64 GB of RAM. The Acer Veriton X2665g 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 R7 has 15 USB ports. The Acer Veriton X2665g 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 R7 as it has 3 USB3.1 ports (the Acer Veriton X2665g has 2).
Unfortunately, only the Acer Veriton X2665g has a DisplayPort. The Alienware Aurora R7 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 X2665g comes with an HDMI port, while the Alienware Aurora R7 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 R7 is better equipped as it comes with 4 SATA slot(s), while the Acer Veriton X2665g has 3 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 Acer Veriton X2665g comes with a decent 180 Watt PSU, but the Alienware Aurora R7 has a more powerful one rated at 850 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
