HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower vs. HP ProDesk 490 G3 Microtower

Comparison and Differences

HP_ProDesk_490_G1_Microtower.jpg case front and back pannelHP_ProDesk_490_G3_Microtower.jpg case front and back pannel
Model
Form factorMini TowerMini Tower
CPU optionsIntel Gen4 i3/i5/i7; Celeron; Pentium;Intel Gen6 i3/i5/i7; Celeron; Pentium;
ChipsetH81H110
Dedicated GPU *GeForce GTX 1660 SuperGeForce GTX 1660 Super
RAMDIMM DDR3-1600 DIMM DDR4-2133
RAM slots44
RAM speed1600 MT/s2133 MT/s
RAM max32 GB64 GB
USB ports(4x)USB-A 3.0; (6x)USB-A 2.0; (6x)USB-A 3.0; (2x)USB-A 2.0;
Video portsDVI-D; VGA;DisplayPort; VGA;
Other portsRJ45; Hdph; Mic; Line-Out; Line-In; Serial; (2x) PS2;RJ45; Hdph; Mic; Line-Out; Line-In; Serial; (2x) PS2;
Optional portsSD card reader; DisplayPort 1.2; Serial; Parallel;SD card reader; Serial; Parallel;
SATA ports43
PCI slotsPCIe x16; (3x) PCIe x1; PCIe 3.0 x16; (2x) PCIe x1; PCIe 3.0 x16 (wired x4);
M.2 slotsN.A.N.A.
Drive bays(3x) 3.5in; (2x) 5.25in(2x) 3.5in; 5.25in (slim)
PSU300 W180/300 W
Weight7.1 kg (15.7 lb)7.05 kg (15.5 lb)
Released20132015
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 HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower and HP ProDesk 490 G3 Microtower

If you are looking for a more modern desktop, then you should go with the HP ProDesk 490 G3 Microtower which was released in 2015. The HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower is older and entered production in 2013.

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 G3 Microtower as it is running a newer generation CPU. This is not to say that HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower is bad - it can still run some powerful CPUs, albeit being an older generation.

Memory

Both models have have equal amount of ram slots (4 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 490 G3 Microtower is using the faster 2133 MT/s RAM. The HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower 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 490 G3 Microtower as it has the ability to run 64 GB of RAM. The HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower 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 HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower has 10 USB ports. The HP ProDesk 490 G3 Microtower is inferior in this regard and packs 8 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 490 G3 Microtower has a DisplayPort. The HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower does not have one? Don't worry though, nowadays video adapters are cheap and you can get almost any combination of conversion types.

None of the models has an HDMI port. If your monitor supports only the HDMI interface, you will need to buy an adapter. Such adapters are cheap so nothing to worry about.

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 HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower is better equipped as it comes with 4 SATA slot(s), while the HP ProDesk 490 G3 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 HP ProDesk 490 G1 Microtower, nor the HP ProDesk 490 G3 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

HP_ProDesk_490_G1_Microtower_motherboard.jpg motherboard layoutHP_ProDesk_490_G3_Microtower_motherboard.jpg motherboard layout