Alienware Aurora R4 vs. Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Tiny
Comparison and Differences
Differences between Alienware Aurora R4 and Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Tiny
If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Tiny which was released in 2013. The Alienware Aurora R4 is older and entered production in 2012.
If you are looking for the smaller form factor the Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Tiny is the right one for you. It is smaller than the Alienware Aurora R4 and will fit more easily under your desk.
Processor
The two models have the same generation of Intel processors. We think that the 4 generation of Intel Processors have enough power to execute all of the home and office tasks that most people will care to do.
Memory
The Alienware Aurora R4 has 4 RAM slots while the Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Tiny 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 Alienware Aurora R4 is using the faster 1866 MT/s RAM. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Tiny 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 Alienware Aurora R4 as it has the ability to run 32 GB of RAM. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Tiny 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 5. 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.
Unfortunately, only the Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Tiny has a DisplayPort. The Alienware Aurora R4 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 Alienware Aurora R4 is better equipped as it comes with 3 SATA slot(s), while the Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Tiny has 1 slot(s).
M.2 SSD interface allows you to transfer data with higher speeds compared to the old SATA interface. Unfortunately, neither the Alienware Aurora R4, nor the Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Tiny 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 M93p Tiny comes with a decent 65 Watt PSU, but the Alienware Aurora R4 has a more powerful one rated at 875 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
