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

Dell T160 vs Lenovo ST250 V3

A specification-by-specification comparison of the Dell PowerEdge T160 and the Lenovo ThinkSystem ST250 V3, built from Dell’s and Lenovo’s own documents. 1 headline measure favours the T160, 4 favour the ST250 V3, and 18 processors appear in both lists.

Bottom line. T160 leads on virtualisation. ST250 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 T160 tower front: power button, status LED, USB 3.2 and iDRAC Direct ports above a full-height mesh panel, on rubber feet
Dell PowerEdge
T160
Tower1 socket4 DIMMiDRAC9
Configure the T160 →Full data sheet
VS
Lenovo ThinkSystem ST250 V3 tower front: operator panel and two USB ports, a DVD drive in a media bay, and two cages of four 3.5-inch drive bays
Lenovo ThinkSystem
ST250 V3
Tower1 socket4 DIMMXClarity Controller 2
Configure the ST250 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
5
Drive bays
Higher16
None listed
Accelerators
HigherUp to 1
500 W
Largest power supply
Higher800 W
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 T160 if…

  • Cores, fully populated: 12 against 8 on the ST250 V3
  • Compact and quiet: 132.52 mm wide, 11.64 kg fully loaded, and measured at 28–29 dB at the bystander position in Dell’s idle and operating tests at 25 °C.

Choose the ST250 V3 if…

  • Drive bays: 16 against 5 on the T160
  • Accelerators: Up to 1 against None listed on the T160
  • Largest power supply: 800 W against 500 W on the T160
  • Built for the office floor: Lenovo declares 30.5 dBA idle and 33.2 dBA at full processor load for its typical configuration.
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.

VirtualisationT160: 12 cores with 0.125 TB. ST250 V3: 8 cores with 0.125 TB.T160
Databases & in-memoryMemory ceiling 0.125 TB against 0.125 TB, across 4 and 4 DIMM slots.Line ball
Storage density5 bays in Tower against 16 in Tower.ST250 V3
AI & accelerationno accelerators against 1 in the vendor documents.ST250 V3
Network throughputFastest card listed: 10 GbE class against 25 GbE class.ST250 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.

SpecificationT160ST250 V3
Processors listed1918
Most cores per processor128
Processor familiesXeon 6300 · Xeon E-2400 · PentiumPentium · Xeon E-2400 · Xeon 6300

Memory

SpecificationT160ST250 V3
Memory typesECC UDIMM DDR5-5600ECC UDIMM DDR5 (TruDDR5) 4800/5600 MHz, operates at 4400 MHz max

Storage

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

SpecificationT160ST250 V3
Maximum bays516
Documented layouts36
Bay sizes3.5-inch2.5-inch · 3.5-inch
Boot devicesBOSS-N1 (HW RAID, 2 x M.2 SSD; internal slot) · Internal USB 3.2 Gen1ThinkSystem M.2 SATA/x4 NVMe 2-Bay Adapter (BM8X, software RAID) in slot 4 · ThinkSystem M.2 RAID B540i-2i SATA/NVMe Adapter (BYFF, hardware RAID 0/1 via SAS3808N) in slot 4 · M.2 cable kit 4Z57A88898 (dummy PCIe card + cables); M.2 mutually exclusive with optical drives
Storage controllers53

Accelerators & I/O

SpecificationT160ST250 V3
Accelerators supportedNone listedUp to 1
PCIe network slots24
Network cards listed57

Power & platform

SpecificationT160ST250 V3
Power-supply options24
Output range300–500 W300–800 W
ManagementiDRAC9XClarity Controller 2
Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet3U tower (mini-tower): height 332.5 mm with feet / 329.5 mm without578 mm
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.

T160: processors by cores and TDP

Dell PowerEdge T160 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

ST250 V3: processors by cores and TDP

Lenovo ThinkSystem ST250 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

T160: memory with every slot filled

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

ST250 V3: memory with every slot filled

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

T160: drive bays

Front panel

5 × 3.5" SAS/SATA + NVMe at the front — 5 bays in total.

SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe

ST250 V3: drive bays

Front panel

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

SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe

T160: power supplies

0500300 W Bronze — 100-240 V AC, single cabled 120 mm PSU, no redundancy300DC500 W Platinum — 100-240 V AC, single cabled 120 mm PSU, no redundancy500PlatinumWatts · dashed line = output at 100–120 V low line
AC

ST250 V3: power supplies

05001000300 W Gold — ATX-300W (BMFL); not ErP Lot 9; no GPU support with this PSU300DC500 W Platinum — ThinkSystem 500W Platinum ATX (BMTC); Energy Star / ErP Lot 9500Platinum800 W Platinum — ThinkSystem 800W 230V/115V Platinum CRPS Hot-Swap v1.4 (BWM5); max 2; 240V DC PRC only800Platinum800 W Titanium — ThinkSystem 800W 230V/115V Titanium CRPS Hot-Swap v1.4 (BWM3); max 2; ErP Lot 9; 240V DC PRC only800TitaniumWatts · 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 T160 and 0 to the ST250 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

T160 vs ST250 V3, answered

Is the T160 or the ST250 V3 the faster server?

Neither document publishes benchmark results, so this page compares what they do state. The T160 lists 19 processors up to 12 cores at 95 W; the ST250 V3 lists 18 up to 8 cores at 95 W. Fully populated that is 12 cores against 8.

Which holds more memory?

The T160 has 4 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of 128 GB. The ST250 V3 has 4 and 128 GB.

Which takes more drives?

T160: 5 bays across 3 documented layouts. ST250 V3: 16 across 6. Counts include rear and mid-chassis positions where the vendor documents them.

Can either take GPUs?

T160: no accelerator option in its document. ST250 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. T160: Dell PowerEdge T160 Technical Guide (August 2026, Rev. A06) (Dell document). ST250 V3: Lenovo ThinkSystem ST250 V3 Server Product Guide (no revision date 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

T160 vs ML30 Gen11Dell vs HPET160 vs MicroServer Gen11Dell vs HPET160 vs ST50 V3Dell vs LenovoT160 vs ST45 V3Dell vs LenovoT360 vs ST250 V3Dell vs LenovoMicroServer Gen11 vs ST250 V3HPE vs LenovoML30 Gen11 vs ST250 V3HPE vs Lenovo

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