Acer Veriton M4660g vs. Alienware Aurora R9

Comparison and Differences

Acer_Veriton_M4660g.jpg case front and back pannelAlienware_Aurora_R9.jpg case front and back pannel
Model
Form factorMini TowerMid Tower
CPU optionsIntel Gen8&9 i3/i5/i7; Pentium; CelleronIntel Gen9 i3/i5/i7/i9;
ChipsetB360Z370
Dedicated GPU *GeForce GTX 1650 SuperGeForce RTX 2080 Ti
RAMUDIMM DDR4-2666DIMM DDR4-2666/3000
RAM slots44
RAM speed2666 MT/s3000 MT/s
RAM max124 GB64 GB
USB ports(4x) USB-A 3.0; (4x) USB-A 2.0(6x) USB 3.0 Type A; (5x) USB-A 2.0; USB 3.1 Type C; USB 3.1 Type A; USB 3.0 Type C;
Video portsHDMI; VGA; DVIDisplayPort 1.4;
Other portsRJ45; (2x) Mic, Speaker; Line in; Line out; PS/2 portsRJ45; Headset; Line-Out; Line-In; S/PDFI optical/analog; Front, side, center, rare outputs;
Optional portsSerial; Parallel: Card reader; USB-A 3.0N.A.
SATA ports54
PCI slotsPCIe 3.0 x16; PCIe 2.0 x1; PCI; PCIe 3.0 x16 (wired x4)(x2) PCIe 3.0 x16; (x2) PCIe 3.0 x4;
M.2 slotsM.2 2230 (WiFi/BT)M.2 2230 (WiFi/BT); M.2 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe 3.0 x4, NVMe);
Drive bays(2x) 3.5in; (2x) 5.25 inch(2x) 2.5in; 3.25in; 9.5mm; U.2
PSU300 W460/850 W
Weight13.00 kg (26.66 lb)14.82 kg (32.67 lb)
Released20182018
Manuallinklink
Price**Check PriceCheck Price

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* Dedicated GPU warning: Check if your particular power supply model has enough power. Additionally some PSUs don't come with an auxiliary PCIe power connector and you may need to buy a SATA to PCIe power adapter.

Differences between Acer Veriton M4660g and Alienware Aurora R9

Both computers, the Alienware Aurora R9 and the Acer Veriton M4660g, were released during the same year - 2018.

If you are looking for the smaller form factor the Alienware Aurora R9 is the right one for you. It is smaller than the Acer Veriton M4660g and will fit more easily under your desk.

Processor

The two models have the same generation of Intel processors. We think that the 9 generation of Intel Processors have enough power to execute all of the home and office tasks that most people will care to do.

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 Alienware Aurora R9 is using the faster 3000 MT/s RAM. The Acer Veriton M4660g 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 Acer Veriton M4660g as it has the ability to run 124 GB of RAM. The Alienware Aurora R9 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 R9 has 14 USB ports. The Acer Veriton M4660g 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 R9, is that it has 2 USB 3.1 port(s) which allows transfer of up to 10Gb/s. Unfortunately, the Acer Veriton M4660g 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.

Unfortunately, only the Alienware Aurora R9 has a DisplayPort. The Acer Veriton M4660g 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 M4660g comes with an HDMI port, while the Alienware Aurora R9 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 Acer Veriton M4660g is better equipped as it comes with 5 SATA slot(s), while the Alienware Aurora R9 has 4 slot(s).

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 Alienware Aurora R9. Sadly, the Acer Veriton M4660g 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

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 M4660g comes with a decent 300 Watt PSU, but the Alienware Aurora R9 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

Acer_Veriton_M4660g_motherboard.jpg motherboard layoutAlienware_Aurora_R9_motherboard.jpg motherboard layout