Head-to-head · every figure from the vendor documents
Dell R640 vs HPE DL360 Gen11
A specification-by-specification comparison of the Dell PowerEdge R640 and the HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen11, built from Dell’s and HPE’s own documents. None of the headline measures favour the R640; 5 favour the DL360 Gen11, and they share no processors.
Bottom line. DL360 Gen11 leads on virtualisation, databases and in-memory work, storage density, network throughput. Neither vendor publishes benchmarks for these machines, so every call here is made on what their documents state.
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.
R6402
Processor sockets
DL360 Gen112
R64056
Cores, fully populated
Largest listed processor × its socket count
DL360 Gen11128Higher
R6401.53 TB
Memory ceiling
As each document states it
DL360 Gen118 TBHigher
R64018
Drive bays
DL360 Gen1120Higher
R640Up to 3
Accelerators
DL360 Gen11Up to 3
R6401,600 W
Largest power supply
DL360 Gen112,200 WHigher
R6401U Rack
Rack height
DL360 Gen111U Rack
R64025 GbE class
Fastest network option
DL360 Gen11400 GbE classHigher
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 R640 if…
Slot count does not drop with the rack unit: the 2U members of this generation carry the same 24 DDR4 slots, so a memory-hungry workload costs no extra height here.
Choose the DL360 Gen11 if…
Cores, fully populated: 128 against 56 on the R640
Memory ceiling: 8 TB against 1.53 TB on the R640
Drive bays: 20 against 18 on the R640
Two sockets and 32 DIMM slots in one rack unit: up to 64 cores per processor and 8 TB of DDR5, with 4 TB behind each socket.
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.
VirtualisationR640: 56 cores with 1.53 TB. DL360 Gen11: 128 cores with 8 TB.DL360 Gen11
Databases & in-memoryMemory ceiling 1.53 TB against 8 TB, across 24 and 32 DIMM slots.DL360 Gen11
Storage density18 bays in 1U against 20 in 1U.DL360 Gen11
AI & acceleration3 accelerators against 3 in the vendor documents.Line ball
Network throughputFastest card listed: 25 GbE class against 400 GbE class.DL360 Gen11
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.
Bay counts are the maximum each document states, including rear and mid-chassis positions.
Specification
R640
DL360 Gen11
Maximum bays
18
20
Documented layouts
6
5
Bay sizes
2.5-inch · 3.5-inch
3.5-inch · 2.5-inch · E3.S
Boot devices
BOSS - HW RAID controller presenting M.2 SATA · IDSDM (2 x microSD, 16/32/64 GB) and/or vFlash (1 x 16 GB microSD), in a dedicated proprietary PCIe x1 slot at the rear using a USB 3.0 interface
HPE NS204i-u Gen11 NVMe Hot Plug Boot Optimized Storage Device · HPE NS204i-u v2 960GB NVMe Hot Plug Boot Optimized Storage Device · HPE NS204i-u v2 960GB NVMe SED Hot Plug Boot Optimized Storage Device + 3 more
Storage controllers
12
14
Accelerators & I/O
Specification
R640
DL360 Gen11
OCP slots
0
2
Network cards listed
4
39
Power & platform
Specification
R640
DL360 Gen11
Power-supply options
11
7
Output range
495–1,600 W
500–2,200 W
Management
iDRAC9
HPE iLO 6
Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet
Table 3: height 42.8 mm, width 482.0 mm, depth 808.5 mm, weight 21.9 kg, "Dimensions include bezel". The Appendix A figures instead give 718.89 mm bezel to die-casting rear wall, 737.19 mm bezel to rear wall PCIe area and 757.75 mm bezel to rear PSU handle (705.05 / 723.35 / 743.91 mm from the front plate). The guide does not reconcile the 808.5 mm figure with those measurements.
8+2 SFF: 75.31 cm (29.65 in)
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.
R640: processors by cores and TDP
Intel Xeon Processor Scalable Family 70Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU
DL360 Gen11: processors by cores and TDP
5th Gen Xeon Scalable 294th Gen Xeon Scalable 29Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU
R640: memory with every slot filled
DL360 Gen11: memory with every slot filled
R640: drive bays
Front panel
10 × 2.5" NVMe at the front — 10 bays in total.
SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe
DL360 Gen11: drive bays
Front panel
20 × EDSFF NVMe at the front — 20 bays in total.
SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe
R640: power supplies
AC−48 V DC
DL360 Gen11: power supplies
AC−48 V DC
07 — Questions
R640 vs DL360 Gen11, answered
Is the R640 or the DL360 Gen11 the faster server?
Neither document publishes benchmark results, so this page compares what they do state. The R640 lists 70 processors up to 28 cores at 205 W; the DL360 Gen11 lists 58 up to 64 cores at 385 W. Fully populated that is 56 cores against 128.
Which holds more memory?
The R640 has 24 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of RDIMM 1.53 TB; LRDIMM 3 TB; NVDIMM 192 GB; PMem 6.14 TB. The DL360 Gen11 has 32 and 8.0 TB.
Which takes more drives?
R640: 18 bays across 6 documented layouts. DL360 Gen11: 20 across 5. Counts include rear and mid-chassis positions where the vendor documents them.
Can either take GPUs?
R640: up to 3 accelerators, 0 double-wide cards listed. DL360 Gen11: up to 3, 0 double-wide listed.
Do they share any processors?
No. The two documents list different processors, so a like-for-like processor build is not possible across these two.
Where these figures come from. R640: Dell EMC PowerEdge R640 Technical Guide (Rev. A10, August 2022) (Dell document). DL360 Gen11: HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen11 QuickSpecs (Version 48 - 08-Sep-2026) (HPE document). Each claim on this page is derived from those documents, checked page by page on the two data sheets, and carries no pricing.