Dell Vostro 270 vs. HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower

Comparison and Differences

Dell_Vostro_270.jpg case front and back pannelHP_ProDesk_490_G1_Microtower.jpg case front and back pannel
Model
Form factorMini TowerMini Tower
CPU optionsIntel Gen2&3 i3/i5/i7; Pentium; Celeron;Intel Gen4 i3/i5/i7; Celeron; Pentium;
ChipsetB75H81
Dedicated GPU *GeForce GTX 1660 GeForce GTX 1660 Super
RAMDIMM DDR3-1333/1600DIMM DDR3-1600
RAM slots24
RAM speed1600 MT/s1600 MT/s
RAM max8 GB32 GB
USB ports(2x)USB-A 2.0; (4x)USB-A 3.0; (4x)USB-A 3.0; (6x)USB-A 2.0;
Video portsHDMI 1.2; VGA;DVI-D; VGA;
Other portsRJ45; Hdph; (2x) Mic; Line-Out; Line-In;RJ45; Hdph; Mic; Line-Out; Line-In; Serial; (2x) PS2;
Optional portsMedia Card ReaderSD card reader; DisplayPort 1.2; Serial; Parallel;
SATA ports44
PCI slotsPCIe 3.0 x16; (3x) PCIe 2.0 x1;PCIe x16; (3x) PCIe x1;
M.2 slotsN.A.N.A.
Drive bays(2x) 3.5in; (2x) 5.25in;(3x) 3.5in; (2x) 5.25in
PSU300 W300 W
Weight7.90 kg (17.40 lbs)7.1 kg (15.7 lb)
Released20122013
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 Vostro 270 and HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower

If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower which was released in 2013. The Dell Vostro 270 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 HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Dell Vostro 270 is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.

Memory

The HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower has 4 RAM slots while the Dell Vostro 270 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 HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower as it has the ability to run 32 GB of RAM. The Dell Vostro 270 can do a bit less at max 8 GB. Most of the times, this should be sufficient for the majority of users.

Ports

In total the HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower has 10 USB ports. The Dell Vostro 270 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.

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.

The Dell Vostro 270 comes with an HDMI port, while the HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower 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 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 Vostro 270, nor the HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower 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_Vostro_270_motherboard.jpg motherboard layoutHP_ProDesk_490_G1_Microtower_motherboard.jpg motherboard layout