Dell Inspiron 3847 vs. Dell Inspiron 660

Comparison and Differences

Dell_Inspiron_3847.jpg case front and back pannelDell_Inspiron_660.jpg case front and back pannel
Model
Form factorMini TowerMini Tower
CPU optionsIntel Gen4 i3/i5/i7; Celeron; Pentium;Intel Gen2&3 i3/i5/i7; Celeron; Pentium
ChipsetH81 B75
Dedicated GPU *GeForce GTX 1650 SuperGeForce GTX 1650 Super
RAMDIMM DDR3-1333/1600 DIMM DDR3-1333/1600
RAM slots22
RAM speed1600 MT/s1600 MT/s
RAM max16 GB8 GB
USB ports(2x) USB-A 3.0; (6x) USB-A 2.0;(4x) USB-A 3.0; (4x) USB-A 2.0;
Video portsHDMI 1.2; VGA;HDMI 1.2; VGA;
Other portsRJ45; Hdph; (2x) Mic; Line-Out; Line-In; 5.1 audio; Card Reader;RJ45; Hdph; (2x) Mic; Line-Out; Line-In; (3x) 5.1 audio; Card Reader;
Optional portsN.A.N.A.
SATA ports44
PCI slotsPCIe 2.0 x16; (2x) PCIe 2.0 x1;PCIe 2.0 x16; (3x) PCIe 2.0 x1; mPCIe;
M.2 slotsM.2 2230 (WiFi/BT)N.A.
Drive bays(2x) 3.5in; (2x) 5.25in;(2x) 3.5in; (2x) 5.25in;
PSU300 W300 W
Weight7.9 kg (17.41 lb)7.9 kg (17.41 lb)
Released20132012
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 3847 and Dell Inspiron 660

If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Dell Inspiron 3847 which was released in 2013. The Dell Inspiron 660 is older and entered production in 2012.

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 Dell Inspiron 3847 as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Dell Inspiron 660 is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.

Memory

Both models have have equal amount of ram slots (2 RAM). Usually two RAM slots are more than enough for most cases. However, the count should be taken into account when planning how much and what combination of RAM you are going to need for your system.

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 Dell Inspiron 3847 as it has the ability to run 16 GB of RAM. The Dell Inspiron 660 can do a bit less at max 8 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.

Nowadays, almost every new computer comes equipped with a DisplayPort. However, none of the devices being compared here has one. Don't worry though, DisplayPort adapters are very cheap and you can get virtually any combination of conversion types.

In case your monitor supports HDMI only, you will be happy to hear that both models come with an HDMI port.

SATA slots are located on the motherboard and it is where SSD, HDD and Optical Disk Drives are connected. Each of the two models being compared have 4 SATA slot(s). Keep in mind that having too few SATA slots might limit your options for connecting additional memory drives.

M.2 SSD interface allows you to transfer data with higher speeds compared to the old SATA interface. Unfortunately, neither the Dell Inspiron 660, nor the Dell Inspiron 3847 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 300 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_3847_motherboard.jpg motherboard layoutDell_Inspiron_660_motherboard.jpg motherboard layout