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

Dell R760xa vs HPE XD685

A specification-by-specification comparison of the Dell PowerEdge R760xa and the HPE ProLiant Compute XD685, built from Dell’s and HPE’s own documents. 4 headline measures favour the R760xa, 3 favour the XD685, and they share no processors.

Bottom line. R760xa leads on virtualisation, databases and in-memory work, storage density, AI and acceleration. XD685 leads on network throughput. Neither vendor publishes benchmarks for these machines, so every call here is made on what their documents state.

Dell PowerEdge R760xa front: eight 2.5-inch drive bays in the centre between two wide perforated grilles, USB and VGA at the right
Dell PowerEdge
R760xa
2U Rack2 sockets32 DIMMiDRAC9
Configure the R760xa →Full data sheet
VS
HPE ProLiant Compute XD685 front: twelve E3.S NVMe bays, NS204 boot module, iLO, VGA and USB 3.0 ports, PCIe bays at each side, badge on the ear
HPE ProLiant
XD685
5U Rack2 sockets24 DIMMHPE iLO 6
Configure the XD685 →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.

2
Processor sockets
2
128
Cores, fully populated
Largest listed processor × its socket count
Higher192
8 TBHigher
Memory ceiling
As each document states it
3 TB
8
Drive bays
Higher12
Up to 12Higher
Accelerators
Up to 8
3,200 WHigher
Largest power supply
3,000 W
2U RackHigher
Rack height
5U Rack
100 GbE class
Fastest network option
Higher400 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 R760xa if…

  • Memory ceiling: 8 TB against 3 TB on the XD685
  • Accelerators: Up to 12 against Up to 8 on the XD685
  • Largest power supply: 3,200 W against 3,000 W on the XD685
  • Twelve PCIe Gen5 slot positions in 2U: eight single-wide or four double-wide at the front, plus four full-height x16 slots at the rear for fabric or storage adapters.

Choose the XD685 if…

  • Cores, fully populated: 192 against 128 on the R760xa
  • Drive bays: 12 against 8 on the R760xa
  • Fastest network option: 400 GbE class against 100 GbE class on the R760xa
  • Four eight-GPU boards on one platform — NVIDIA HGX H200, B200 and HGX B300, or AMD Instinct MI355X — with B200, B300 and MI355X each tied to its own DLC or power kit.
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.

VirtualisationR760xa: 128 cores with 8 TB. XD685: 192 cores with 3 TB.R760xa
Databases & in-memoryMemory ceiling 8 TB against 3 TB, across 32 and 24 DIMM slots.R760xa
Storage density8 bays in 2U against 12 in 5U.R760xa
AI & acceleration12 accelerators against 8 in the vendor documents.R760xa
Network throughputFastest card listed: 100 GbE class against 400 GbE class.XD685
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.

SpecificationR760xaXD685
Processors listed309
Most cores per processor6496
Highest processor TDP350 W400 W
Processor families4th Gen Xeon Scalable · 5th Gen Xeon ScalableAMD EPYC 9005

Memory

SpecificationR760xaXD685
DIMM slots3224
Slots per processor1612
Largest module listed256 GB128 GB
Memory typesRDIMM DDR5-4800 · RDIMM DDR5-5600 · RDIMM DDR5-6400RDIMM DDR5-6400

Storage

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

SpecificationR760xaXD685
Maximum bays812
Documented layouts52
Bay sizes2.5-inch · E3.SE3.S
Boot devicesBOSS-N1HPE ProLiant Compute XD NS204i-u 960GB Boot Device (S4R99A) - 2x 480 GB M.2 NVMe RAID 1 · HPE ProLiant Compute XD NS204i-u 2x 960GB Boot Device (S6A36A) - 2x 960 GB M.2 NVMe RAID 1
Storage controllers103

Accelerators & I/O

SpecificationR760xaXD685
Accelerators supportedUp to 12Up to 8
Double-wide cards listed20
OCP slots10
Network cards listed1320

Power & platform

SpecificationR760xaXD685
Power-supply options31
Output range2,400–3,200 W3,000–3,000 W
Input typesAC · 277 VAC / HVDC−48 V DC
ManagementiDRAC9HPE iLO 6
Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet946.73 mm with bezel / 932.89 mm without bezel (Table 23: Zb 875.3 mm, Zc 910.89 mm)1049 mm (L) deep
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.

R760xa: processors by cores and TDP

Dell PowerEdge R760xa processors0816243240485664100 W150 W200 W250 W300 W350 WCores per processorIntel Xeon Platinum 8480+ — 56 cores / 112 threads · 350 W · 2 GHz base · 105 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Platinum 8470Q — 52 cores / 104 threads · 350 W · 2.1 GHz base · 105 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Platinum 8470 — 52 cores / 104 threads · 350 W · 2 GHz base · 105 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Platinum 8468 — 48 cores / 96 threads · 350 W · 2.1 GHz base · 105 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Platinum 8458P — 44 cores / 88 threads · 350 W · 2.7 GHz base · 83 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Platinum 8460Y+ — 40 cores / 80 threads · 300 W · 2 GHz base · 105 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Platinum 8452Y — 36 cores / 72 threads · 300 W · 2 GHz base · 68 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Gold 6458Q — 32 cores / 64 threads · 350 W · 3.1 GHz base · 60 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Platinum 8462Y+ — 32 cores / 64 threads · 300 W · 2.8 GHz base · 60 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Gold 6448Y — 32 cores / 64 threads · 225 W · 2.2 GHz base · 60 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Gold 6438Y+ — 32 cores / 64 threads · 205 W · 2 GHz base · 60 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Gold 6438M — 32 cores / 64 threads · 205 W · 2.2 GHz base · 60 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Gold 5420+ — 28 cores / 56 threads · 205 W · 2 GHz base · 53 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon Gold 6442Y — 24 cores / 48 threads · 225 W · 2.6 GHz base · 60 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Gold 5418Y — 24 cores / 48 threads · 185 W · 2 GHz base · 45 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon Silver 4416+ — 20 cores / 40 threads · 165 W · 2 GHz base · 38 MB cache · DDR5-4000Intel Xeon Gold 6426Y — 16 cores / 32 threads · 185 W · 2.6 GHz base · 38 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Gold 5416S — 16 cores / 32 threads · 150 W · 2 GHz base · 30 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon Silver 4410Y — 12 cores / 24 threads · 150 W · 2 GHz base · 30 MB cache · DDR5-4000Intel Xeon Platinum 8592+ — 64 cores / 128 threads · 350 W · 1.9 GHz base · 320 MB cache · DDR5-5600Intel Xeon Platinum 8580 — 60 cores / 120 threads · 350 W · 2 GHz base · 300 MB cache · DDR5-5600Intel Xeon Platinum 8568Y+ — 48 cores / 96 threads · 350 W · 2.3 GHz base · 300 MB cache · DDR5-5600Intel Xeon Platinum 8562Y+ — 32 cores / 64 threads · 300 W · 2.8 GHz base · 60 MB cache · DDR5-5600Intel Xeon Gold 6548Y+ — 32 cores / 64 threads · 250 W · 2.5 GHz base · 60 MB cache · DDR5-5200Intel Xeon Gold 6542Y — 24 cores / 48 threads · 250 W · 2.9 GHz base · 60 MB cache · DDR5-5200Intel Xeon Gold 6526Y — 16 cores / 32 threads · 195 W · 2.8 GHz base · 37.5 MB cache · DDR5-5200Intel Xeon Silver 4514Y — 16 cores / 32 threads · 150 W · 2 GHz base · 30 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon Silver 4510 — 12 cores / 24 threads · 150 W · 2.4 GHz base · 30 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel Xeon Gold 6534 — 8 cores / 16 threads · 195 W · 3.9 GHz base · 22.5 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Silver 4509Y — 8 cores / 16 threads · 125 W · 2.6 GHz base · 23 MB cache · DDR5-44008592+64 cores · 5.5 W/core — top SKU and most efficient
4th Gen Xeon Scalable 195th Gen Xeon Scalable 11Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU

XD685: processors by cores and TDP

HPE ProLiant Compute XD685 processors081624324048566472808896250 W300 W350 W400 WCores per processorAMD EPYC 9655 — 96 cores · 400 W · 2.6 GHz base · 384 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9645 — 96 cores · 320 W · 2.3 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9565 — 72 cores · 400 W · 3.15 GHz base · 384 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9575F — 64 cores · 400 W · 3 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9555 — 64 cores · 360 W · 3.2 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9535 — 64 cores · 300 W · 2.4 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9455 — 48 cores · 300 W · 3.15 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9365 — 36 cores · 300 W · 3.4 GHz base · 192 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9355 — 32 cores · 280 W · 3.6 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400EPYC 965596 cores — the top SKUEPYC 96453.3 W/core — most efficient
AMD EPYC 9005 9Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU

R760xa: memory with every slot filled

16 GB512 GB32 GB1 TB64 GB2 TB96 GB3 TB128 GB4 TB256 GB8 TB32 slots · 16 per processor · each tick = one DIMM

XD685: memory with every slot filled

64 GB1.5 TB96 GB2.3 TB128 GB3 TB24 slots · 12 per processor · each tick = one DIMM

R760xa: drive bays

Front panel

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

SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe

XD685: drive bays

Front panel

8 × EDSFF NVMe at the front — 8 bays in total.

SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe

R760xa: power supplies

05001000150020002500300035002400 W Platinum — Mixed mode 100-240 V AC / 240 V DC; 1400 W at low line; 86 mm; C19 cord14002400Platinum2800 W Titanium — Mixed mode 200-240 V AC / 240 V DC; 86 mm; C21 cord2800Titanium3200 W Titanium — Mixed mode 277 V AC / 336 V DC HVDC; 86 mm3200TitaniumWatts · dashed line = output at 100–120 V low line
AC277 VAC / HVDC

XD685: power supplies

0500100015002000250030003000 W Titanium — Option name 'HPE ProLiant Compute XD 3000W 54VDC Power Supply' (54VDC = output); Standard Features name 'HPE 3000 W CRPS Titanium Hot Plug Power Supply Kit'. Family: CRPS as printed (not HPE Flex Slot; the doc does not say M-CRPS). Rated input 200-277 VAC; PMAX 2900 W at 200 VAC, 3000 W at 207-277 VAC. Max BTU 6497 BTU/hr @200 VAC, 7230 @220 VAC, 7962 @240 VAC. No -48 VDC or HVDC unit listed. 'The PSU model will differ based on the total number of PSUs in the system.' B200/B300/MI355X configs default to 12 PSUs; 10 PSUs can be deployed where PDUs/manifolds do not allow 12; B200 base 6-PSU (S4X40A) with S6V19A for 12-PSU N+3.3000TitaniumWatts · dashed line = output at 100–120 V low line
−48 V DC
07 — Questions

R760xa vs XD685, answered

Is the R760xa or the XD685 the faster server?

Neither document publishes benchmark results, so this page compares what they do state. The R760xa lists 30 processors up to 64 cores at 350 W; the XD685 lists 9 up to 96 cores at 400 W. Fully populated that is 128 cores against 192.

Which holds more memory?

The R760xa has 32 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of 8 TB. The XD685 has 24 and 3.0 TB.

Which takes more drives?

R760xa: 8 bays across 5 documented layouts. XD685: 12 across 2. Counts include rear and mid-chassis positions where the vendor documents them.

Can either take GPUs?

R760xa: up to 12 accelerators, 2 double-wide cards listed. XD685: 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. R760xa: Dell PowerEdge R760xa Technical Guide (June 2026, Rev. A06) (Dell document). XD685: HPE ProLiant Compute XD685 QuickSpecs (V15 - 03-August-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.

Other comparisons in this class

R760xa vs Compute XD690Dell vs HPER760xa vs SR680a V3Dell vs LenovoR760xa vs SR780a V3Dell vs LenovoXE7740 vs XD685Dell vs HPEXE7745 vs XD685Dell vs HPEXE8640 vs XD685Dell vs HPEXE9680 vs XD685Dell vs HPEXE9680L vs XD685Dell vs HPE

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