Dell T160 vs Lenovo ST50 V3
A specification-by-specification comparison of the Dell PowerEdge T160 and the Lenovo ThinkSystem ST50 V3, built from Dell’s and Lenovo’s own documents. 2 headline measures favour the T160 and none favour the ST50 V3, and 18 processors appear in both lists.
Bottom line. T160 leads on virtualisation, storage density. Neither vendor publishes benchmarks for these machines, so every call here is made on what their documents state.

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.
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 ST50 V3
- Drive bays: 5 against 4 on the ST50 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 ST50 V3 if…
- Out-of-band management in an entry tower: an XClarity Controller 2 with a dedicated 1GbE port, Redfish and IPMI, and a Platinum licence that adds remote console, virtual media and power capping.
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.
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.
| Specification | T160 | ST50 V3 |
|---|---|---|
| Processors listed | 19 | 18 |
| Most cores per processor | 12 | 8 |
| Processor families | Xeon 6300 · Xeon E-2400 · Pentium | Pentium · Xeon E-2400 · Xeon 6300 |
Memory
| Specification | T160 | ST50 V3 |
|---|---|---|
| Memory types | ECC UDIMM DDR5-5600 | ECC 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.
| Specification | T160 | ST50 V3 |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum bays | 5 | 4 |
| Documented layouts | 3 | 2 |
| Bay sizes | 3.5-inch | 3.5-inch · 2.5-inch |
| Boot devices | BOSS-N1 (HW RAID, 2 x M.2 SSD; internal slot) · Internal USB 3.2 Gen1 | ThinkSystem M.2 SATA/x4 NVMe 2-Bay Adapter (BM8X) in PCIe slot 3 (dummy PCIe card + cable kit 4Z57A88898); 2 x M.2 SATA SSDs only (no M.2 NVMe drives offered for this server); RAID 0/1 via onboard Intel VROC SATA software RAID for M.2 (BS7Q) |
| Storage controllers | 5 | 4 |
Accelerators & I/O
| Specification | T160 | ST50 V3 |
|---|---|---|
| PCIe network slots | 2 | 3 |
Power & platform
| Specification | T160 | ST50 V3 |
|---|---|---|
| Management | iDRAC9 | XClarity Controller 2 |
| Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet | 3U tower (mini-tower): height 332.5 mm with feet / 329.5 mm without | 315 mm |
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
ST50 V3: processors by cores and TDP
T160: memory with every slot filled
ST50 V3: memory with every slot filled
T160: drive bays
Front panel
5 × 3.5" SAS/SATA + NVMe at the front — 5 bays in total.
ST50 V3: drive bays
Front panel
3 × 3.5" SAS/SATA at the front — 3 bays in total.
T160: power supplies
ST50 V3: power supplies
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 ST50 V3.
| Processor | Cores | TDP |
|---|---|---|
| Intel Xeon 6369P | 8 | 95 W |
| Intel Xeon 6357P | 8 | 80 W |
| Intel Xeon 6353P | 8 | 65 W |
| Intel Xeon E-2488 | 8 | 95 W |
| Intel Xeon E-2478 | 8 | 80 W |
| Intel Xeon E-2468 | 8 | 65 W |
| Intel Xeon 6349P | 6 | 95 W |
| Intel Xeon 6337P | 6 | 80 W |
| Intel Xeon 6333P | 6 | 65 W |
| Intel Xeon E-2486 | 6 | 95 W |
| Intel Xeon E-2456 | 6 | 80 W |
| Intel Xeon E-2436 | 6 | 65 W |
T160 vs ST50 V3, answered
Is the T160 or the ST50 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 ST50 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 ST50 V3 has 4 and 128 GB.
Which takes more drives?
T160: 5 bays across 3 documented layouts. ST50 V3: 4 across 2. Counts include rear and mid-chassis positions where the vendor documents them.
Can either take GPUs?
Neither vendor document lists an accelerator option for these models.
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). ST50 V3: Lenovo ThinkSystem ST50 V3 Server Product Guide (no revision date printed in text (related-publication timestamps run to 2026-07-14)) (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.
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