Acer Veriton N4660g vs. Dell OptiPlex 5000 M

Differences between Acer Veriton N4660g and Dell OptiPlex 5000 M

If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Dell OptiPlex 5000 M which was released in 2022. The Acer Veriton N4660g is older and entered production in 2018.

Both models have the same form factor, meaning reoughtly they have the same phiysical size and form.

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 OptiPlex 5000 M as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Acer Veriton N4660g 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 OptiPlex 5000 M is using the faster 3200 MT/s RAM. The Acer Veriton N4660g 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 Dell OptiPlex 5000 M as it has the ability to run 64 GB of RAM. The Acer Veriton N4660g 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 Acer Veriton N4660g has 7 USB ports. The Dell OptiPlex 5000 M is inferior in this regard and packs 6 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 Acer Veriton N4660g as it has 2 USB3.1 ports (the Dell OptiPlex 5000 M has 1).

DisplayPort is crucial for any desktop machine. It is good to see that both models are featuring DisplayPorts. However, the Dell OptiPlex 5000 M comes with 2 ports, while the Acer Veriton N4660g has only 1. If you are planning to use multiple monitors, the Dell OptiPlex 5000 M is the better choice.

The Acer Veriton N4660g comes with an HDMI port, while the Dell OptiPlex 5000 M 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 N4660g is better equipped as it comes with 1 SATA slot(s), while the Dell OptiPlex 5000 M has 0 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 N4660g comes with a decent 135 Watt PSU, but the Dell OptiPlex 5000 M has a more powerful one rated at 180 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