Acer Veriton M6650g vs. Lenovo ThinkCentre M73 Tower

Comparison and Differences

Acer_Veriton_M6650g.jpg case front and back pannel

Lenovo_ThinkCentre_M73_Tower.jpg case front and back pannel

Model
Form factor	Mini Tower	Mini Tower
CPU options	Intel Gen7 i3/i5/i7; Pentium; Celeron	Intel Gen4 i3/i5/i7; Celeron; Pentium;
Chipset	Q270	H81
Dedicated GPU *	GeForce GTX 1650 Super	GeForce GTX 1660 Super
RAM	UDIMM DDR4-2400	DIMM DDR3-1600
RAM slots	4	2
RAM speed	2400 MT/s	1600 MT/s
RAM max	64 GB	16 GB
USB ports	(4x) USB-A 3.0; (4x) USB-A 2.0; USB-A 3.1; USB-C 3.1	(2x)USB-A 3.0; (4x)USB-A 2.0;
Video ports	(2x) DisplayPort 1.2; HDMI; VGA	DisplayPort; VGA;
Other ports	RJ45; (2x) Mic, Speaker; Line in; Line out; PS/2 ports	RJ45; Hdph; (2x) Mic; Line-Out; Line-In; Serial; (2x) PS2;
Optional ports	Serial; Parallel: Card reader	Parallel; Serial; Media card reader (USB 2.0);
SATA ports	5	3
PCI slots	PCIe 3.0 x16; PCIe 2.0 x1; PCI; PCIe 3.0 x16 (wired x4)	PCIe 3.0 x16; (2x) PCIe 2.0 x1;
M.2 slots	M.2 2230 (WiFi/BT)	N.A.
Drive bays	(5x) 2.5/3.5in; 5.25 inch	(2x) 2.5/3.5in; 5.25in;
PSU	300/500 W	ATX 280/450 W
Weight	9.00 kg (19.84 lb)	9.4 kg (20.72 lb)
Released	2018	2013
Manual	link	link
Price**	Check Price	Check Price

** As an Amazon associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
* Dedicated GPU warning: Check if your particular power supply model has enough power. Additionally some PSUs don't come with an auxiliary PCIe power connector and you may need to buy a SATA to PCIe power adapter.

Differences between Acer Veriton M6650g and Lenovo ThinkCentre M73 Tower

If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Acer Veriton M6650g which was released in 2018. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M73 Tower is older and entered production in 2013.

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 M6650g as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Lenovo ThinkCentre M73 Tower is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.

Memory

The Acer Veriton M6650g has 4 RAM slots while the Lenovo ThinkCentre M73 Tower 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 Acer Veriton M6650g is using the faster 2400 MT/s RAM. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M73 Tower 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 Acer Veriton M6650g as it has the ability to run 64 GB of RAM. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M73 Tower can do a bit less at max 16 GB. Most of the times, this should be sufficient for the majority of users.

Ports

In total the Acer Veriton M6650g has 10 USB ports. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M73 Tower 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 Acer Veriton M6650g, is that it has 2 USB 3.1 port(s) which allows transfer of up to 10Gb/s. Unfortunately, the Lenovo ThinkCentre M73 Tower 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.

DisplayPort is crucial for any desktop machine. It is good to see that both models are featuring DisplayPorts. However, the Acer Veriton M6650g comes with 2 ports, while the Lenovo ThinkCentre M73 Tower has only 1. If you are planning to use multiple monitors, the Acer Veriton M6650g is the better choice.

The Acer Veriton M6650g comes with an HDMI port, while the Lenovo ThinkCentre M73 Tower 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 Acer Veriton M6650g is better equipped as it comes with 5 SATA slot(s), while the Lenovo ThinkCentre M73 Tower has 3 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 M73 Tower, nor the Acer Veriton M6650g 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 M73 Tower comes with a decent 450 Watt PSU, but the Acer Veriton M6650g has a more powerful one rated at 500 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.