Acer Veriton X2680g vs. Dell OptiPlex 5000 SFF
Comparison and Differences
Differences between Acer Veriton X2680g and Dell OptiPlex 5000 SFF
If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Dell OptiPlex 5000 SFF which was released in 2022. The Acer Veriton X2680g is older and entered production in 2021.
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 SFF as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Acer Veriton X2680g is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.
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 Dell OptiPlex 5000 SFF is using the faster 3200 MT/s RAM. The Acer Veriton X2680g is slower by supporting RAM speeds of up to 2933 MT/s. Additionally, if you will be needing a lot of RAM, better go for the Dell OptiPlex 5000 SFF as it has the ability to run 128 GB of RAM. The Acer Veriton X2680g can do a bit less at max 64 GB. Most of the times, this should be sufficient for the majority of users.
Ports
Both models have the same amount of USB ports for total count of 10. If this is not enough, using a USB hub is always a viable option. 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 X2680g as it has 2 USB3.1 ports (the Dell OptiPlex 5000 SFF 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 SFF comes with 2 ports, while the Acer Veriton X2680g has only 1. If you are planning to use multiple monitors, the Dell OptiPlex 5000 SFF is the better choice.
The Acer Veriton X2680g comes with an HDMI port, while the Dell OptiPlex 5000 SFF 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 X2680g is better equipped as it comes with 4 SATA slot(s), while the Dell OptiPlex 5000 SFF 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
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 300 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.