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Head-to-head · every figure from the vendor documents

Dell R260 vs Lenovo SR250 V3

A specification-by-specification comparison of the Dell PowerEdge R260 and the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR250 V3, built from Dell’s and Lenovo’s own documents. 1 headline measure favours the R260, 4 favour the SR250 V3, and 18 processors appear in both lists.

Bottom line. R260 leads on virtualisation. SR250 V3 leads on storage density, AI and acceleration, network throughput. Neither vendor publishes benchmarks for these machines, so every call here is made on what their documents state.

Dell PowerEdge R260 front view with six 2.5-inch hot-plug drive bays, left status panel and right panel with power button and USB
Dell PowerEdge
R260
1U Rack1 socket4 DIMMiDRAC9
Configure the R260 →Full data sheet
VS
Lenovo ThinkSystem SR250 V3 1U front with four 3.5-inch hot-swap drive bays, front VGA, two USB ports and the operator panel
Lenovo ThinkSystem
SR250 V3
1U Rack1 socket4 DIMMXClarity Controller 2
Configure the SR250 V3 →Full data sheet
01 — Scoreboard

The measures that decide it

Each row is a figure both vendors publish. Bars show the split between the two; a badge marks the larger figure, which is not always the better buy — a shallower chassis or a lower power ceiling can matter more.

1
Processor sockets
1
12Higher
Cores, fully populated
Largest listed processor × its socket count
8
0.125 TB
Memory ceiling
As each document states it
0.125 TB
6
Drive bays
Higher8
None listed
Accelerators
HigherUp to 1
700 W
Largest power supply
Higher800 W
1U Rack
Rack height
1U Rack
10 GbE class
Fastest network option
Higher25 GbE class
02 — Verdict

Which one, and why

Drawn from the measures above and each model’s own data sheet. Neither vendor publishes benchmark results for these servers, so nothing here claims one is “faster”.

Choose the R260 if…

  • Cores, fully populated: 12 against 8 on the SR250 V3
  • Short depth: Dell’s comparison table quotes 461.14 mm without the bezel, or 426.6 mm with the cabled supply, against 585 mm for the previous-generation R250.

Choose the SR250 V3 if…

  • Drive bays: 8 against 6 on the R260
  • Accelerators: Up to 1 against None listed on the R260
  • Largest power supply: 800 W against 700 W on the R260
  • At 561 mm deep and 43 mm high it suits shallow comms-room cabinets, and Lenovo offers a two-post screw-in rail kit alongside its four-post rails.
03 — By workload

Where each one pulls ahead

Calls made on documented capacity only — cores, memory, bays, accelerators and network options — with the figures behind each one shown.

VirtualisationR260: 12 cores with 0.125 TB. SR250 V3: 8 cores with 0.125 TB.R260
Databases & in-memoryMemory ceiling 0.125 TB against 0.125 TB, across 4 and 4 DIMM slots.Line ball
Storage density6 bays in 1U against 8 in 1U.SR250 V3
AI & accelerationno accelerators against 1 in the vendor documents.SR250 V3
Network throughputFastest card listed: 10 GbE class against 25 GbE class.SR250 V3
04 — Specifications

Side by side, differences first

Everything both documents state, grouped. The default view hides rows where the two machines are identical.

Processors

Every processor each vendor lists for the model, from its own document.

SpecificationR260SR250 V3
Processors listed1918
Most cores per processor128
Processor familiesXeon 6300 · Xeon E-2400 · PentiumPentium · Xeon E-2400 · Xeon 6300

Memory

SpecificationR260SR250 V3
Memory typesUDIMM DDR5-5600 (ECC)ECC UDIMM DDR5-5600 · ECC UDIMM DDR5-4800

Storage

Bay counts are the maximum each document states, including rear and mid-chassis positions.

SpecificationR260SR250 V3
Maximum bays68
Documented layouts56
Bay sizes2.5-inch · 3.5-inch3.5-inch · 2.5-inch
Boot devicesBOSS-N1 (M.2) · Internal USB 3.2 Gen1M.2 SATA/x4 NVMe 2-Bay Adapter (4Y37A79663) · M.2 RAID B540i-2i SATA/NVMe Adapter (4Y37A90063)
Storage controllers54

Accelerators & I/O

SpecificationR260SR250 V3
Accelerators supportedNone listedUp to 1
Network cards listed78

Power & platform

SpecificationR260SR250 V3
Output range450–700 W800–800 W
ManagementiDRAC9XClarity Controller 2
Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet461.14 mm without bezel / 496.8 mm with bezel / 426.6 mm with cabled PSU and without bezel—
05 — The data

Processors, memory, bays and power

The same charts each data sheet carries, drawn to the same scale so the two ranges can be read against each other.

R260: processors by cores and TDP

Dell PowerEdge R260 processors08160 W50 W100 WCores per processorIntel Xeon 6377P — 12 cores / 24 threads · 95 W · 3.1 GHz base · 36 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon 6369P — 8 cores / 16 threads · 95 W · 3.3 GHz base · 24 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon 6357P — 8 cores / 16 threads · 80 W · 3 GHz base · 24 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon 6353P — 8 cores / 16 threads · 65 W · 2.7 GHz base · 24 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon 6349P — 6 cores / 12 threads · 95 W · 3.6 GHz base · 18 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon 6337P — 6 cores / 12 threads · 80 W · 3.5 GHz base · 18 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon 6333P — 6 cores / 12 threads · 65 W · 3.1 GHz base · 18 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon 6325P — 4 cores / 8 threads · 55 W · 3.5 GHz base · 12 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon 6315P — 4 cores / 4 threads · 55 W · 2.8 GHz base · 12 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon E-2488 — 8 cores / 16 threads · 95 W · 3.2 GHz base · 24 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon E-2478 — 8 cores / 16 threads · 80 W · 2.8 GHz base · 24 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon E-2468 — 8 cores / 16 threads · 65 W · 2.6 GHz base · 24 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon E-2486 — 6 cores / 12 threads · 95 W · 3.5 GHz base · 18 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon E-2456 — 6 cores / 12 threads · 80 W · 3.3 GHz base · 18 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon E-2436 — 6 cores / 12 threads · 65 W · 2.9 GHz base · 18 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon E-2434 — 4 cores / 8 threads · 55 W · 3.4 GHz base · 12 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon E-2414 — 4 cores / 4 threads · 55 W · 2.6 GHz base · 12 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Pentium G7400 — 2 cores / 4 threads · 46 W · 3.7 GHz base · 6 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Pentium G7400T — 2 cores / 4 threads · 35 W · 3.1 GHz base · 6 MB cache · DDR5-48006377P12 cores · 7.9 W/core — top SKU and most efficient
Xeon 6300 9Xeon E-2400 8Pentium 2Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU

SR250 V3: processors by cores and TDP

Lenovo ThinkSystem SR250 V3 processors080 W50 W100 WCores per processorIntel Pentium G7400 — 2 cores · 46 W · 3.7 GHz base · 6 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Pentium G7400T — 2 cores · 35 W · 3.1 GHz base · 6 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon E-2488 — 8 cores · 95 W · 3.2 GHz base · 24 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon E-2478 — 8 cores · 80 W · 2.8 GHz base · 24 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon E-2468 — 8 cores · 65 W · 2.6 GHz base · 24 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon E-2486 — 6 cores · 95 W · 3.5 GHz base · 18 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon E-2456 — 6 cores · 80 W · 3.3 GHz base · 18 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon E-2436 — 6 cores · 65 W · 2.9 GHz base · 18 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon E-2414 — 4 cores · 55 W · 2.6 GHz base · 12 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon E-2434 — 4 cores · 55 W · 3.4 GHz base · 12 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon 6369P — 8 cores · 95 W · 3.3 GHz base · 24 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon 6357P — 8 cores · 80 W · 3 GHz base · 24 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon 6353P — 8 cores · 65 W · 2.7 GHz base · 24 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon 6349P — 6 cores · 95 W · 3.6 GHz base · 18 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon 6337P — 6 cores · 80 W · 3.5 GHz base · 18 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon 6333P — 6 cores · 65 W · 3.1 GHz base · 18 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon 6315P — 4 cores · 55 W · 2.8 GHz base · 12 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon 6325P — 4 cores · 55 W · 3.5 GHz base · 12 MB cache · DDR5-4400E-24888 cores — the top SKUE-24688.1 W/core — most efficient
Pentium 2Xeon E-2400 8Xeon 6300 8Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU

R260: memory with every slot filled

16 GB64 GB32 GB128 GB4 slots · 4 per processor · each tick = one DIMM

SR250 V3: memory with every slot filled

16 GB64 GB32 GB128 GB4 slots · 4 per processor · each tick = one DIMM

R260: drive bays

Front panel

6 × 2.5" SAS/SATA at the front — 6 bays in total.

SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe

SR250 V3: drive bays

Front panel

8 × 2.5" SAS/SATA at the front — 8 bays in total.

SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe

R260: power supplies

05001000450 W Platinum — WRAC 100-240 V AC only; cabled, non-redundant; 106 mm form factor; 1730 BTU/hr450Platinum700 W Titanium — Mixed mode HLAC (200-240 V AC / 240 V DC); non-cabled 60 mm PSU but system supports only one PSU (no redundancy); 2625 BTU/hr700TitaniumWatts · dashed line = output at 100–120 V low line
AC

SR250 V3: power supplies

05001000800 W Platinum — input 230V/115V; CRPS; max quantity 2800Platinum800 W Titanium — input 230V/115V; CRPS; max quantity 2800TitaniumWatts · dashed line = output at 100–120 V low line
AC
06 — Like for like

18 processors you can order in either

Both vendor documents list these parts, so a build can be matched across the two and the comparison comes down to the chassis: 1 more are exclusive to the R260 and 0 to the SR250 V3.

ProcessorCoresTDP
Intel Xeon 6369P895 W
Intel Xeon 6357P880 W
Intel Xeon 6353P865 W
Intel Xeon E-2488895 W
Intel Xeon E-2478880 W
Intel Xeon E-2468865 W
Intel Xeon 6349P695 W
Intel Xeon 6337P680 W
Intel Xeon 6333P665 W
Intel Xeon E-2486695 W
Intel Xeon E-2456680 W
Intel Xeon E-2436665 W
07 — Questions

R260 vs SR250 V3, answered

Is the R260 or the SR250 V3 the faster server?

Neither document publishes benchmark results, so this page compares what they do state. The R260 lists 19 processors up to 12 cores at 95 W; the SR250 V3 lists 18 up to 8 cores at 95 W. Fully populated that is 12 cores against 8.

Which holds more memory?

The R260 has 4 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of 128 GB. The SR250 V3 has 4 and 128 GB.

Which takes more drives?

R260: 6 bays across 5 documented layouts. SR250 V3: 8 across 6. Counts include rear and mid-chassis positions where the vendor documents them.

Can either take GPUs?

R260: no accelerator option in its document. SR250 V3: up to 1, 0 double-wide listed.

Do they share any processors?

Yes — 18 processors appear in both documents, including the Intel Xeon 6369P. That makes a like-for-like build possible on either server.

Where these figures come from. R260: Dell PowerEdge R260 Technical Guide (June 2026, Rev. A04) (Dell document). SR250 V3: Lenovo ThinkSystem SR250 V3 Server Product Guide (publication date is not printed in the text export) (Lenovo document). Each claim on this page is derived from those documents, checked page by page on the two data sheets, and carries no pricing.

Other comparisons in this class

R260 vs DL20 Gen11Dell vs HPER360 vs SR250 V3Dell vs LenovoDL20 Gen11 vs SR250 V3HPE vs Lenovo

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