Dell Inspiron 3668 vs. Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Small

Differences between Dell Inspiron 3668 and Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Small

If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Dell Inspiron 3668 which was released in 2016. The Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Small is older and entered production in 2013.

If you are looking for the smaller form factor the Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Small is the right one for you. It is smaller than the Dell Inspiron 3668 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 3668 as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Small 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 3668 is using the faster 2400 MT/s RAM. The Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Small 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 Small has a DisplayPort. The Dell Inspiron 3668 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 3668 comes with an HDMI port, while the Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Small 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 Dell Inspiron 3668 is better equipped as it comes with 5 SATA slot(s), while the Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Small has 3 slot(s).

M.2 SSD interface allows you to transfer data with higher speeds compared to the old SATA interface. Unfortunately, neither the Dell Inspiron 3668, nor the Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Small 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

Having a Power Supply Unit with high power rating is important, if you are going to use components which require extra power. The Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 Small comes with a decent 180 Watt PSU, but the Dell Inspiron 3668 has a more powerful one rated at 240 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