Dell Inspiron 3668 vs. Lenovo ThinkCentre M93 Small Pro

Comparison and Differences

Dell_Inspiron_3668.jpg case front and back pannelLenovo_ThinkCentre_M93_Small_Pro.jpg case front and back pannel
Model
Form factorMini TowerSmall
CPU optionsIntel Gen6 i3/i5/i7; Celeron; Pentium;Intel Gen4 i3/i5/i7; Pentium;
ChipsetH110Q87
Dedicated GPU *GeForce GTX 1650 SuperGeForce GTX 1650 Low Profile
RAMDIMM DDR4-2133/2400DIMM DDR3-1600
RAM slots24
RAM speed2400 MT/s1600 MT/s
RAM max16 GB32 GB
USB ports(2x) USB-A 3.0; (4x) USB-A 2.0;(6x)USB-A 3.0; (2x)USB-A 2.0;
Video portsHDMI 1.2; VGA;(2x) DisplayPort; VGA;
Other portsRJ45; Hdph; Mic; Line-Out; Line-In; Card Reader;RJ45; Hdph; (2x) Mic; Line-Out; Line-In; Serial;
Optional portsN.A.(2x) PS2; Serial; Parallel; Media card reader (USB 2.0);
SATA ports54
PCI slotsPCIe 2.0 x16; (2x) PCIe 2.0 x1;PCIe 3.0 x16; PCIe 2.0 x1; PCIe 2.0 x16 (wired x4); PCI;
M.2 slotsM.2 2230 (WiFi/BT)N.A.
Drive bays(2x) 2.5in; 3.25in; 9.5mm2.5in; 2.5/3.5in; 5.25in;
PSU240 WTFX 240 W
Weight5.90 kg (13.01 lb)7.8 kg (17.20 lb)
Released20162013
Manuallinklink
Price**Check PriceCheck Price

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* 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 Dell Inspiron 3668 and Lenovo ThinkCentre M93 Small Pro

If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Dell Inspiron 3668 which was released in 2016. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M93 Small Pro is older and entered production in 2013.

If you are looking for the smaller form factor the Lenovo ThinkCentre M93 Small Pro is the right one for you. It is smaller than the Dell Inspiron 3668 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 Inspiron 3668 as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Lenovo ThinkCentre M93 Small Pro is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.

Memory

The Lenovo ThinkCentre M93 Small Pro has 4 RAM slots while the Dell Inspiron 3668 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 Dell Inspiron 3668 is using the faster 2400 MT/s RAM. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M93 Small Pro 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 Lenovo ThinkCentre M93 Small Pro as it has the ability to run 32 GB of RAM. The Dell Inspiron 3668 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 Lenovo ThinkCentre M93 Small Pro has 8 USB ports. The Dell Inspiron 3668 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 Lenovo ThinkCentre M93 Small Pro has a DisplayPort. The Dell Inspiron 3668 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 3668 comes with an HDMI port, while the Lenovo ThinkCentre M93 Small Pro 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 Dell Inspiron 3668 is better equipped as it comes with 5 SATA slot(s), while the Lenovo ThinkCentre M93 Small Pro has 4 slot(s).

M.2 SSD interface allows you to transfer data with higher speeds compared to the old SATA interface. Unfortunately, neither the Dell Inspiron 3668, nor the Lenovo ThinkCentre M93 Small Pro 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

Dell_Inspiron_3668_motherboard.jpg motherboard layoutLenovo_ThinkCentre_M93_Small_Pro_motherboard.jpg motherboard layout