Dell OptiPlex 7090 M vs. Dell Pro Slim Essential QVS1260
Comparison and Differences
Differences between Dell OptiPlex 7090 M and Dell Pro Slim Essential QVS1260
If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the Dell Pro Slim Essential QVS1260 which was released in 2025. The Dell OptiPlex 7090 M is older and entered production in 2021.
If you are looking for the smaller form factor the Dell OptiPlex 7090 M is the right one for you. It is smaller than the Dell Pro Slim Essential QVS1260 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 Pro Slim Essential QVS1260 as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Dell OptiPlex 7090 M 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.
The Dell Pro Slim Essential QVS1260 is using the faster 5600 MT/s RAM. The Dell OptiPlex 7090 M is slower by supporting RAM speeds of up to 3200 MT/s. Additionally, if you will be needing a lot of RAM, better go for the Dell OptiPlex 7090 M as it has the ability to run 64 GB of RAM. The Dell Pro Slim Essential QVS1260 can do a bit less at max 32 GB. Most of the times, this should be sufficient for the majority of users.
Ports
In total the Dell Pro Slim Essential QVS1260 has 8 USB ports. The Dell OptiPlex 7090 M 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 Dell OptiPlex 7090 M, is that it has 1 USB 3.1 port(s) which allows transfer of up to 10Gb/s. Unfortunately, the Dell Pro Slim Essential QVS1260 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 Dell OptiPlex 7090 M comes with 2 ports, while the Dell Pro Slim Essential QVS1260 has only 1. If you are planning to use multiple monitors, the Dell OptiPlex 7090 M is the better choice.
The Dell Pro Slim Essential QVS1260 comes with an HDMI port, while the Dell OptiPlex 7090 M 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 Pro Slim Essential QVS1260 is better equipped as it comes with 1 SATA slot(s), while the Dell OptiPlex 7090 M has 0 slot(s).
An M.2 SSD can be several times faster than a SATA one. Thus, we are happy to see that both models support the M.2 interface. However, the Dell OptiPlex 7090 M has 1 M.2 slots while the Dell Pro Slim Essential QVS1260 comes with just 1.
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 180 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
