Dell OptiPlex 3040 MT vs. Lenovo ThinkCentre M92p Small

Differences between Dell OptiPlex 3040 MT and Lenovo ThinkCentre M92p Small

If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Dell OptiPlex 3040 MT which was released in 2015. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M92p Small is older and entered production in 2011.

If you are looking for the smaller form factor the Lenovo ThinkCentre M92p Small is the right one for you. It is smaller than the Dell OptiPlex 3040 MT 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 Dell OptiPlex 3040 MT as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Lenovo ThinkCentre M92p Small is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.

Memory

The Lenovo ThinkCentre M92p Small has 4 RAM slots while the Dell OptiPlex 3040 MT 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.

None of the desktops has an advantage when it comes to the speed of the RAM being used. Both models support RAM speeds of up to 1600. Additionally, if you will be needing a lot of RAM, better go for the Lenovo ThinkCentre M92p Small as it has the ability to run 32 GB of RAM. The Dell OptiPlex 3040 MT can do a bit less at max 16 GB. Most of the times, this should be sufficient for the majority of users.

Ports

Both models have the same amount of USB ports for total count of 8. If this is not enough, using a USB hub is always a viable option. 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.

The DisplayPort is usually the more popular video port used with desktops and laptops, while the HDMI is used predominantly in consumer electronics. That's why, it is good to see that both of the models come with a DisplayPort.

The Dell OptiPlex 3040 MT comes with an HDMI port, while the Lenovo ThinkCentre M92p Small 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 Lenovo ThinkCentre M92p Small is better equipped as it comes with 4 SATA slot(s), while the Dell OptiPlex 3040 MT 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 Dell OptiPlex 3040 MT, nor the Lenovo ThinkCentre M92p Small 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

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 240 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