Dell Vostro 3250 vs. HP ProDesk 400 G3 SFF

Comparison and Differences

Dell_Vostro_3250.jpg case front and back pannelHP_ProDesk_400_G3_SFF.jpg case front and back pannel
Model
Form factorSmallSmall
CPU optionsIntel Gen6 i3/i5/i7Intel Gen6 i3/i5/i7; Celeron; Pentium;
ChipsetH110H110
Dedicated GPU *GeForce GT 1030 Low ProfileGeForce GT 1030 Low Profile
RAMDIMM DDR3-1600DIMM DDR4-2133
RAM slots22
RAM speed1600 MT/s2133 MT/s
RAM max16 GB32 GB
USB ports(4x)USB-A 2.0; (2x)USB-A 3.0; (4x)USB-A 3.0; (4x)USB-A 2.0;
Video portsHDMI 1.4; VGA;DisplayPort; VGA;
Other portsRJ45; Hdph; Mic; Line-Out; Line-In; Media Card ReaderRJ45; Hdph; Mic; Line-Out; Line-In; Serial; (2x) PS2;
Optional portsN/ASD card reader; Serial; Parallel;
SATA ports22
PCI slotsPCIe 3.0 x16; PCIe 3.0 x1;PCIe 3.0 x16; PCIe 2.0 x1;
M.2 slotsM.2 2230 (WiFi/BT);N.A.
Drive bays3.5in; 5.25in;3.5in; 5.25in (slim)
PSU180 W180 W
Weight3.17 kg (6.99 lbs)4.43 kg (9.8 lb)
Released20162016
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 3250 and HP ProDesk 400 G3 SFF

Both computers, the Dell Vostro 3250 and the HP ProDesk 400 G3 SFF, were released during the same year - 2016.

Both models have the same form factor, meaning reoughtly they have the same phiysical size and form.

Processor

The two models have the same generation of Intel processors. We think that the 6 generation of Intel Processors have enough power to execute all of the home and office tasks that most people will care to do.

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 HP ProDesk 400 G3 SFF is using the faster 2133 MT/s RAM. The Dell Vostro 3250 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 HP ProDesk 400 G3 SFF as it has the ability to run 32 GB of RAM. The Dell Vostro 3250 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 HP ProDesk 400 G3 SFF has 8 USB ports. The Dell Vostro 3250 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 HP ProDesk 400 G3 SFF has a DisplayPort. The Dell Vostro 3250 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 Vostro 3250 comes with an HDMI port, while the HP ProDesk 400 G3 SFF 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 2 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 3250, nor the HP ProDesk 400 G3 SFF 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 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

Dell_Vostro_3250_motherboard.jpg motherboard layoutHP_ProDesk_400_G3_SFF_motherboard.jpg motherboard layout