Dell Inspiron 3268 vs. Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Tower

Comparison and Differences

Dell_Inspiron_3268.jpg case front and back pannelLenovo_ThinkCentre_E73_Tower.jpg case front and back pannel
Model
Form factorSmallMini Tower
CPU optionsIntel Gen6 i3/i5/i7; Celeron; Pentium;Intel Gen4 i3/i5/i7; Pentium;
ChipsetH110H81
Dedicated GPU *GeForce GTX 1650 Low ProfileRadeon RX 550
RAMDIMM DDR4-2133/2400 DIMM DDR3-1600
RAM slots22
RAM speed2400 MT/s1600 MT/s
RAM max16 GB16 GB
USB ports(2x) USB-A 3.0; (4x) USB-A 2.0;(2x)USB-A 3.0; (4x)USB-A 2.0;
Video portsHDMI 1.2; VGA;DisplayPort; VGA;
Other portsRJ45; Hdph; Mic; Line-Out; Line-In; Card Reader;RJ45; Hdph; (2x) Mic; Line-Out; Line-In;
Optional portsN.A.Serial; Media card reader (USB 2.0);
SATA ports33
PCI slotsPCIe 2.0 x16; PCIe 2.0 x1;PCIe 3.0 x16; (2x) PCIe 2.0 x1;
M.2 slotsM.2 2230 (WiFi/BT)N.A.
Drive bays2.5in; 3.25in;(2x) 2.5/3.5in; 5.25in;
PSU180 WATX 180 W
Weight4.40 kg (9.70 lb)7.5 kg (16.53 Ib)
Released20162013
Manuallinklink
Price**Check PriceCheck Price

** As an Amazon associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
* 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 Dell Inspiron 3268 and Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Tower

If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Dell Inspiron 3268 which was released in 2016. The Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Tower is older and entered production in 2013.

If you are looking for the smaller form factor the Dell Inspiron 3268 is the right one for you. It is smaller than the Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Tower 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 Dell Inspiron 3268 as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Tower is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.

Memory

Both models have have equal amount of ram slots (2 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 Dell Inspiron 3268 is using the faster 2400 MT/s RAM. The Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Tower is slower by supporting RAM speeds of up to 1600 MT/s. In addition, you will be able to install the same amount of RAM in both models, and most probably 16 GB of RAM will be enough for most people. However, if you will be needing more RAM, make sure to check other desktop models too.

Ports

Both models have the same amount of USB ports for total count of 6. If this is not enough, using a USB hub is always a viable option. None of the desktop models has a USB 3.1 port (10Gb/s), so if you need a fast connection to your peripherals, like external Solid State Drive, you will need to look elsewhere.

Unfortunately, only the Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Tower has a DisplayPort. The Dell Inspiron 3268 does not have one? Don't worry though, nowadays video adapters are cheap and you can get almost any combination of conversion types.

The Dell Inspiron 3268 comes with an HDMI port, while the Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Tower 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 3 SATA slot(s). Keep in mind that having too few SATA slots might limit your options for connecting additional memory drives.

M.2 SSD interface allows you to transfer data with higher speeds compared to the old SATA interface. Unfortunately, neither the Dell Inspiron 3268, nor the Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Tower has one. However, you can still use a SATA SSD drive which should give you satisfactory performance.

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

Looking at the Power Supply Unit (PSU) of the two models we don't see any differences. For either of them you get a maximum power of 180 Watts. However be careful, many models have more than one power supply option. When buying your computer, it is a good idea to get a version with the most powerful PSU. This will potentially allow you to upgrade to a more powerful GPU for example.

Motherboard

Dell_Inspiron_3268_motherboard.jpg motherboard layoutLenovo_ThinkCentre_E73_Tower_motherboard.jpg motherboard layout