Head-to-head · every figure from the vendor documents
Dell R740xd vs HPE DL380a Gen11
A specification-by-specification comparison of the Dell PowerEdge R740xd and the HPE ProLiant DL380a Gen11, built from Dell’s and HPE’s own documents. 2 headline measures favour the R740xd, 3 favour the DL380a Gen11, and they share no processors.
Bottom line. R740xd leads on storage density. DL380a Gen11 leads on virtualisation, AI and acceleration, 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.
R740xd2
Processor sockets
DL380a Gen112
R740xd56
Cores, fully populated
Largest listed processor × its socket count
DL380a Gen11128Higher
R740xd3 TB
Memory ceiling
As each document states it
DL380a Gen113 TB
R740xd24Higher
Drive bays
DL380a Gen118
R740xdUp to 6
Accelerators
DL380a Gen11Up to 8Higher
R740xd2,400 WHigher
Largest power supply
DL380a Gen112,200 W
R740xd2U Rack
Rack height
DL380a Gen112U Rack
R740xd25 GbE class
Fastest network option
DL380a 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 R740xd if…
Drive bays: 24 against 8 on the DL380a Gen11
Largest power supply: 2,400 W against 2,200 W on the DL380a Gen11
Dell’s specification table gives this chassis three separate rows of drive bays — front, mid-chassis and rear — where the R740 printed in the same document has front bays only.
Choose the DL380a Gen11 if…
Cores, fully populated: 128 against 56 on the R740xd
Accelerators: Up to 8 against Up to 6 on the R740xd
Fastest network option: 400 GbE class against 25 GbE class on the R740xd
Four double-wide or eight single-wide accelerators in a 2U chassis, with six NVIDIA and Intel cards in HPE’s GPU table spanning the 72 W L4 to the 400 W H100 NVL.
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.
VirtualisationR740xd: 56 cores with 3 TB. DL380a Gen11: 128 cores with 3 TB.DL380a Gen11
Databases & in-memoryMemory ceiling 3 TB against 3 TB, across 24 and 24 DIMM slots.Line ball
Storage density24 bays in 2U against 8 in 2U.R740xd
AI & acceleration6 accelerators against 8 in the vendor documents.DL380a Gen11
Network throughputFastest card listed: 25 GbE class against 400 GbE class.DL380a 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
R740xd
DL380a Gen11
Maximum bays
24
8
Documented layouts
6
2
Bay sizes
2.5-inch · 3.5-inch
2.5-inch · E3.S
Boot devices
BOSS - HW RAID, 2 x M.2 SATA SSD, 240 GB or 480 GB (Table 4) · IDSDM (2 x microSD, 16/32/64 GB) and/or vFlash (1 x 16 GB microSD)
HPE NS204i-u Gen11 NVMe Hot Plug Boot Optimized Storage Device
Storage controllers
10
5
Accelerators & I/O
Specification
R740xd
DL380a Gen11
Accelerators supported
Up to 6
Up to 8
Double-wide cards listed
2
0
OCP slots
0
2
PCIe network slots
8
4
Network cards listed
4
32
Power & platform
Specification
R740xd
DL380a Gen11
Power-supply options
10
2
Output range
495–2,400 W
1,600–2,200 W
Input types
AC · −48 V DC
AC
Management
iDRAC9
HPE iLO 6
Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet
Tables 4/17: height 86.8 mm
81.6 cm / 32.13 in deep (server)
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.
R740xd: processors by cores and TDP
Intel Xeon Processor Scalable Family 111Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU
DL380a Gen11: processors by cores and TDP
4th Gen Xeon Scalable 235th Gen Xeon Scalable 18Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU
R740xd: memory with every slot filled
DL380a Gen11: memory with every slot filled
R740xd: drive bays
Front panel
24 × 2.5" SAS/SATA + NVMe at the front — 24 bays in total.
SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe
DL380a Gen11: drive bays
Front panel
8 × EDSFF NVMe at the front — 8 bays in total.
SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe
R740xd: power supplies
AC−48 V DC
DL380a Gen11: power supplies
AC
07 — Questions
R740xd vs DL380a Gen11, answered
Is the R740xd or the DL380a Gen11 the faster server?
Neither document publishes benchmark results, so this page compares what they do state. The R740xd lists 111 processors up to 28 cores at 205 W; the DL380a Gen11 lists 41 up to 64 cores at 350 W. Fully populated that is 56 cores against 128.
Which holds more memory?
The R740xd has 24 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of 3 TB with RDIMM/LRDIMM. The DL380a Gen11 has 24 and 3.0 TB.
Which takes more drives?
R740xd: 24 bays across 6 documented layouts. DL380a Gen11: 8 across 2. Counts include rear and mid-chassis positions where the vendor documents them.
Can either take GPUs?
R740xd: up to 6 accelerators, 2 double-wide cards listed. DL380a Gen11: up to 8, 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. R740xd: Dell EMC PowerEdge R740 and R740xd Technical Guide (Rev. A12, August 2022) (Dell document). DL380a Gen11: HPE ProLiant DL380a Gen11 QuickSpecs (Version 34 - August 3, 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.