Dell Vostro 3900 vs. HP ProDesk 490 G2 Microtower

Comparison and Differences

Dell_Vostro_3900.jpg case front and back pannelHP_ProDesk_490_G2_Microtower.jpg case front and back pannel
Model
Form factorMini TowerMini Tower
CPU optionsIntel Gen4 i3/i5/i7; Pentium; Celeron;Intel Gen4 i3/i5/i7; Celeron; Pentium;
ChipsetH81 H81
Dedicated GPU *GeForce GTX 1660 SuperGeForce GTX 1660 Super
RAMDIMM DDR3-1600DIMM DDR3-1600
RAM slots24
RAM speed1600 MT/s1600 MT/s
RAM max16 GB32 GB
USB ports(6x)USB-A 2.0; (2x)USB-A 3.0; (4x)USB-A 3.0; (4x)USB-A 2.0;
Video portsHDMI 1.2; VGA;VGA; DVI-D;
Other portsRJ45; Hdph; (2x) Mic; Line-Out; Line-In; PS2RJ45; Hdph; Mic; Line-Out; Line-In; Serial; (2x) PS2;
Optional portsN/ASD card reader; Serial; Parallel; DisplayPort
SATA ports43
PCI slotsPCIe 2.0 x16; (2x) PCIe 2.0 x1; PCIPCIe x16; (2x) PCIe x1; PCIe x16 (wired x4);
M.2 slotsN.A.N.A.
Drive bays3.5in; 5.25in;(2x) 3.5in; 5.25in (slim)
PSU300 W180/300 W
Weight8.50 kg (18.73 lbs)6.5 kg (14.3 lb)
Released20142014
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 3900 and HP ProDesk 490 G2 Microtower

Both computers, the Dell Vostro 3900 and the HP ProDesk 490 G2 Microtower, were released during the same year - 2014.

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 G2 Microtower as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that Dell Vostro 3900 is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.

Memory

The HP ProDesk 490 G2 Microtower has 4 RAM slots while the Dell Vostro 3900 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 G2 Microtower as it has the ability to run 32 GB of RAM. The Dell Vostro 3900 can do a bit less at max 16 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.

The Dell Vostro 3900 comes with an HDMI port, while the HP ProDesk 490 G2 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 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 Vostro 3900 is better equipped as it comes with 4 SATA slot(s), while the HP ProDesk 490 G2 Microtower has 3 slot(s).

M.2 SSD interface allows you to transfer data with higher speeds compared to the old SATA interface. Unfortunately, neither the Dell Vostro 3900, nor the HP ProDesk 490 G2 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_3900_motherboard.jpg motherboard layoutHP_ProDesk_490_G2_Microtower_motherboard.jpg motherboard layout