Dell XPS 8500 vs. Dell XPS 8930
Comparison and Differences
Differences between Dell XPS 8500 and Dell XPS 8930
If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Dell XPS 8930 which was released in 2017. The Dell XPS 8500 is older and entered production in 2012.
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 XPS 8930 as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Dell XPS 8500 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 XPS 8930 is using the faster 2666 MT/s RAM. The Dell XPS 8500 is slower by supporting RAM speeds of up to 1600 MT/s. Additionally, if you will be needing a lot of RAM, better go for the Dell XPS 8930 as it has the ability to run 64 GB of RAM. The Dell XPS 8500 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 Dell XPS 8930 has 10 USB ports. The Dell XPS 8500 is inferior in this regard and packs 9 USB ports. In any case, if you miss USB ports, you can always purchase a USB hub. What is nice about the Dell XPS 8930, is that it has 2 USB 3.1 port(s) which allows transfer of up to 10Gb/s. Unfortunately, the Dell XPS 8500 has no such port, thus restricting your transfer speeds significantly. For people who want to use external drives on regular basis, this might be an issue.
Unfortunately, only the Dell XPS 8930 has a DisplayPort. The Dell XPS 8500 does not have one? Don't worry though, nowadays video adapters are cheap and you can get almost any combination of conversion types.
In case your monitor supports HDMI only, you will be happy to hear that both models come with an HDMI port.
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 XPS 8500 is better equipped as it comes with 4 SATA slot(s), while the Dell XPS 8930 has 3 slot(s).
If you want the fastest transfer speeds for your SSD, an M.2 interface is crucial. Thus, if the M.2 SSD slot is a mandatory requirement for you, go with the Dell XPS 8930. Sadly, the Dell XPS 8500 has no such slot, and you will be forced to use the SATA interface instead.
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 460 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.
Motherboard
