Acer Veriton L4630g vs. Dell OptiPlex 790 USFF
Comparison and Differences
Differences between Acer Veriton L4630g and Dell OptiPlex 790 USFF
If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Acer Veriton L4630g which was released in 2014. The Dell OptiPlex 790 USFF is older and entered production in 2011.
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 Acer Veriton L4630g as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Dell OptiPlex 790 USFF 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 Acer Veriton L4630g is using the faster 1600 MT/s RAM. The Dell OptiPlex 790 USFF is slower by supporting RAM speeds of up to 1333 MT/s. Additionally, if you will be needing a lot of RAM, better go for the Acer Veriton L4630g as it has the ability to run 16 GB of RAM. The Dell OptiPlex 790 USFF can do a bit less at max 8 GB. Most of the times, this should be sufficient for the majority of users.
Ports
In total the Acer Veriton L4630g has 10 USB ports. The Dell OptiPlex 790 USFF is inferior in this regard and packs 7 USB ports. In any case, if you miss USB ports, you can always purchase a USB hub. 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.
DisplayPort is crucial for any desktop machine. It is good to see that both models are featuring DisplayPorts. However, the Acer Veriton L4630g comes with 2 ports, while the Dell OptiPlex 790 USFF has only 1. If you are planning to use multiple monitors, the Acer Veriton L4630g is the better choice.
None of the models has an HDMI port. If your monitor supports only the HDMI interface, you will need to buy an adapter. Such adapters are cheap so nothing to worry about.
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 OptiPlex 790 USFF is better equipped as it comes with 2 SATA slot(s), while the Acer Veriton L4630g has 1 slot(s).
M.2 SSD interface allows you to transfer data with higher speeds compared to the old SATA interface. Unfortunately, neither the Dell OptiPlex 790 USFF, nor the Acer Veriton L4630g 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 Acer Veriton L4630g comes with a decent 135 Watt PSU, but the Dell OptiPlex 790 USFF has a more powerful one rated at 200 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
