Dell Inspiron 3471 vs. Fujitsu Esprimo P6012
Comparison and Differences
Differences between Dell Inspiron 3471 and Fujitsu Esprimo P6012
If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Fujitsu Esprimo P6012 which was released in 2022. The Dell Inspiron 3471 is older and entered production in 2019.
If you are looking for the smaller form factor the Dell Inspiron 3471 is the right one for you. It is smaller than the Fujitsu Esprimo P6012 and will fit more easily under your desk.
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 Fujitsu Esprimo P6012 as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Dell Inspiron 3471 is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.
Memory
The Fujitsu Esprimo P6012 has 4 RAM slots while the Dell Inspiron 3471 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 Fujitsu Esprimo P6012 is using the faster 3200 MT/s RAM. The Dell Inspiron 3471 is slower by supporting RAM speeds of up to 2400 MT/s. Additionally, if you will be needing a lot of RAM, better go for the Fujitsu Esprimo P6012 as it has the ability to run 128 GB of RAM. The Dell Inspiron 3471 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 Fujitsu Esprimo P6012 has 9 USB ports. The Dell Inspiron 3471 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. What is nice about the Fujitsu Esprimo P6012, is that it has 3 USB 3.1 port(s) which allows transfer of up to 10Gb/s. Unfortunately, the Dell Inspiron 3471 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 Fujitsu Esprimo P6012 has a DisplayPort. The Dell Inspiron 3471 does not have one? Don't worry though, nowadays video adapters are cheap and you can get almost any combination of conversion types.
The Dell Inspiron 3471 comes with an HDMI port, while the Fujitsu Esprimo P6012 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 slots are located on the motherboard and it is where SSD, HDD and Optical Disk Drives are connected. Each of the two models being compared have 4 SATA slot(s). Keep in mind that having too few SATA slots might limit your options for connecting additional memory drives.
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 Dell Inspiron 3471 comes with a decent 200 Watt PSU, but the Fujitsu Esprimo P6012 has a more powerful one rated at 300 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
