Acer Veriton S4610g vs. Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 72 Small
Comparison and Differences
Differences between Acer Veriton S4610g and Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 72 Small
Both computers, the Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 72 Small and the Acer Veriton S4610g, were released during the same year - 2012.
If you are looking for the smaller form factor the Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 72 Small is the right one for you. It is smaller than the Acer Veriton S4610g 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 Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 72 Small as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Acer Veriton S4610g is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.
Memory
The Acer Veriton S4610g has 4 RAM slots while the Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 72 Small 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 Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 72 Small is using the faster 1600 MT/s RAM. The Acer Veriton S4610g is slower by supporting RAM speeds of up to 1333 MT/s. In addition, you will be able to install the same amount of RAM in both models, and most probably 16 GB of RAM will be enough for most people. However, if you will be needing more RAM, make sure to check other desktop models too.
Ports
In total the Acer Veriton S4610g has 10 USB ports. The Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 72 Small 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.
Unfortunately, only the Acer Veriton S4610g has a DisplayPort. The Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 72 Small does not have one? Don't worry though, nowadays video adapters are cheap and you can get almost any combination of conversion types.
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 Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 72 Small is better equipped as it comes with 3 SATA slot(s), while the Acer Veriton S4610g has 2 slot(s).
M.2 SSD interface allows you to transfer data with higher speeds compared to the old SATA interface. Unfortunately, neither the Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 72 Small, nor the Acer Veriton S4610g 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 Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 72 Small comes with a decent 180 Watt PSU, but the Acer Veriton S4610g 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
