Alienware Area 51 R2 vs. Dell Vostro 3070
Comparison and Differences
Differences between Alienware Area 51 R2 and Dell Vostro 3070
If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Dell Vostro 3070 which was released in 2019. The Alienware Area 51 R2 is older and entered production in 2018.
If you are looking for the smaller form factor the Alienware Area 51 R2 is the right one for you. It is smaller than the Dell Vostro 3070 and will fit more easily under your desk.
Processor
The two models have the same generation of Intel processors. We think that the 9 generation of Intel Processors have enough power to execute all of the home and office tasks that most people will care to do.
Memory
The Alienware Area 51 R2 has 4 RAM slots while the Dell Vostro 3070 has only 2 slot(s). This is not something to worry about. Just make sure you take it into consideration when planning how much RAM you are going to use.
The Alienware Area 51 R2 is using the faster 2667 MT/s RAM. The Dell Vostro 3070 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 Alienware Area 51 R2 as it has the ability to run 64 GB of RAM. The Dell Vostro 3070 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 Alienware Area 51 R2 has 10 USB ports. The Dell Vostro 3070 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. 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.
Nowadays, almost every new computer comes equipped with a DisplayPort. However, none of the devices being compared here has one. Don't worry though, DisplayPort adapters are very cheap and you can get virtually any combination of conversion types.
The Dell Vostro 3070 comes with an HDMI port, while the Alienware Area 51 R2 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 Alienware Area 51 R2 is better equipped as it comes with 6 SATA slot(s), while the Dell Vostro 3070 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 Alienware Area 51 R2, nor the Dell Vostro 3070 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 Dell Vostro 3070 comes with a decent 180 Watt PSU, but the Alienware Area 51 R2 has a more powerful one rated at 1500 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
