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

Dell XE7745 vs Lenovo SR685a V3

A specification-by-specification comparison of the Dell PowerEdge XE7745 and the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR685a V3, built from Dell’s and Lenovo’s own documents. 5 headline measures favour the XE7745, 1 favours the SR685a V3, and 4 processors appear in both lists.

Bottom line. XE7745 leads on virtualisation, databases and in-memory work, AI and acceleration. Neither vendor publishes benchmarks for these machines, so every call here is made on what their documents state.

Dell PowerEdge XE7745 front with XE7745 badge, eight E3.S drive bays, BOSS-N1 boot module and twelve GPU fans below
Dell PowerEdge
XE7745
4U Rack2 sockets24 DIMMiDRAC10
Configure the XE7745 →Full data sheet
VS
Lenovo ThinkSystem SR685a V3 front, angled: five fans on top, sixteen NVMe drive bays in two groups and eight PCIe slots below
Lenovo ThinkSystem
SR685a V3
8U Rack2 sockets24 DIMMXClarity Controller 2
Configure the SR685a 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.

2
Processor sockets
2
384Higher
Cores, fully populated
Largest listed processor × its socket count
256
6 TBHigher
Memory ceiling
As each document states it
3 TB
8
Drive bays
Higher16
Up to 16Higher
Accelerators
Up to 8
3,200 WHigher
Largest power supply
2,600 W
4U RackHigher
Rack height
8U Rack
400 GbE class
Fastest network option
400 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 XE7745 if…

  • Cores, fully populated: 384 against 256 on the SR685a V3
  • Memory ceiling: 6 TB against 3 TB on the SR685a V3
  • Accelerators: Up to 16 against Up to 8 on the SR685a V3
  • The largest host in Dell’s PCIe GPU pair: up to 192 Zen 5 cores per socket and 6 TB of DDR5, where the Intel XE7740 stops at 86 cores and 4 TB.

Choose the SR685a V3 if…

  • Drive bays: 16 against 8 on the XE7745
  • One chassis, two GPU ecosystems: eight AMD MI300X OAM GPUs (192 GB HBM3, 5.3 TB/s, 750 W each) or eight NVIDIA H200 SXM5 GPUs (141 GB, listed as HBM3e in the GPU table, 4.8 TB/s, 700 W each).
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.

VirtualisationXE7745: 384 cores with 6 TB. SR685a V3: 256 cores with 3 TB.XE7745
Databases & in-memoryMemory ceiling 6 TB against 3 TB, across 24 and 24 DIMM slots.XE7745
Storage density8 bays in 4U against 16 in 8U.Line ball
AI & acceleration16 accelerators against 8 in the vendor documents.XE7745
Network throughputFastest card listed: 400 GbE class against 400 GbE class.Line ball
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.

SpecificationXE7745SR685a V3
Processors listed812
Most cores per processor192128
Highest processor TDP500 W400 W
Processor familiesAMD EPYC 9005AMD EPYC 9005 · AMD EPYC 9004

Memory

SpecificationXE7745SR685a V3
Largest module listed256 GB128 GB
Memory typesRDIMM DDR5-6400RDIMM DDR5-6400 (5th Gen, operates 6000) · 10x4 RDIMM / RDIMM DDR5-4800 (4th Gen) · 3DS RDIMM

Storage

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

SpecificationXE7745SR685a V3
Maximum bays816
Bay sizesE3.S2.5-inch
Boot devicesBOSS-N1 DC-MHS (HW RAID 1, 2 x M.2 NVMe SSD) · Internal USBThinkSystem M.2 NVMe 2-Bay RAID Adapter (B8P9) - Marvell 88NR2241 RAID-0/1, PCIe 3.0 x2, no SED; no field upgrade
Storage controllers12

Accelerators & I/O

SpecificationXE7745SR685a V3
Accelerators supportedUp to 16Up to 8
Double-wide cards listed50
PCIe network slots810
Network cards listed1112

Power & platform

SpecificationXE7745SR685a V3
Power-supply options31
Output range2,400–3,200 W2,600–2,600 W
Input typesAC · 277 VAC / HVDCAC
ManagementiDRAC10XClarity Controller 2
Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet899.56 mm with bezel / 886.73 mm without bezel924 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.

XE7745: processors by cores and TDP

Dell PowerEdge XE7745 processors081624324048566472808896104112120128136144152160168176184192300 W350 W400 W450 W500 WCores per processorAMD EPYC 9965 — 192 cores / 384 threads · 500 W · 2.25 GHz base · 384 MB cache · DDR5-6000AMD EPYC 9845 — 160 cores / 320 threads · 400 W · 2.1 GHz base · 320 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9825 — 144 cores / 288 threads · 400 W · 2.2 GHz base · 384 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9755 — 128 cores / 256 threads · 500 W · 2.7 GHz base · 512 MB cache · DDR5-6000AMD EPYC 9655 — 96 cores / 192 threads · 400 W · 2.6 GHz base · 384 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9575F — 64 cores / 128 threads · 400 W · 3.3 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9555 — 64 cores / 128 threads · 360 W · 3.2 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9455 — 48 cores / 96 threads · 300 W · 3.15 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400EPYC 9965192 cores — the top SKUEPYC 98452.5 W/core — most efficient
AMD EPYC 9005 8Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU

SR685a V3: processors by cores and TDP

Lenovo ThinkSystem SR685a V3 processors081624324048566472808896104112120128250 W300 W350 W400 WCores per processorAMD EPYC 9745 — 128 cores / 256 threads · 400 W · 2.4 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9655 — 96 cores / 192 threads · 400 W · 2.6 GHz base · 384 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9575F — 64 cores / 128 threads · 400 W · 3.3 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9555 — 64 cores / 128 threads · 360 W · 3.2 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9535 — 64 cores / 128 threads · 300 W · 2.4 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9475F — 48 cores / 96 threads · 400 W · 3.65 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9455 — 48 cores / 96 threads · 300 W · 3.15 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9654 — 96 cores / 192 threads · 360 W · 2.4 GHz base · 384 MB cache · DDR5-4800AMD EPYC 9554 — 64 cores / 128 threads · 360 W · 3.1 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-4800AMD EPYC 9534 — 64 cores / 128 threads · 280 W · 2.45 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-4800AMD EPYC 9474F — 48 cores / 96 threads · 360 W · 3.6 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-4800AMD EPYC 9454 — 48 cores / 96 threads · 290 W · 2.75 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-4800EPYC 9745128 cores · 3.1 W/core — top SKU and most efficient
AMD EPYC 9005 7AMD EPYC 9004 5Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU

XE7745: memory with every slot filled

32 GB768 GB64 GB1.5 TB96 GB2.3 TB128 GB3 TB256 GB6 TB24 slots · 12 per processor · each tick = one DIMM

SR685a V3: memory with every slot filled

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

XE7745: drive bays

Front panel

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

SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe

SR685a V3: drive bays

Front panel

8 × 2.5" NVMe at the front — 8 bays in total.

SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe

XE7745: power supplies

05001000150020002500300035002400 W Titanium — Mixed mode multi-capacity: 2400 W at 200-240 V AC, 1400 W at 100-120 V AC; 240 V DC (10.9 A). C19 cord. 8x 600 W DW GPUs (MI350P/H200 NVL/RTX Pro 6000) not supported on 2400 W in 4+0, 3+1 or 3+3 A/B-grid configurations (Table 29); 6x 600 W DW GPUs (MI350P/H200 NVL/RTX Pro 6000) also not supported on 2400 W in A/B Grid (4+4, GPU zone 3+3) (Table 29)2400Titanium3200 W Titanium — Mixed mode multi-capacity: 3200 W at 220.1-240 V AC (16 A), 2900 W at 200-220 V AC; 240 V DC (14.5 A). C19 cord. 73.5 mm form factor3200Titanium3200 W Titanium — 277 V AC (12.9 A) and 336 V DC HVDC (10.47 A); APP/Saf-D-Grid cable3200TitaniumWatts · dashed line = output at 100–120 V low line
AC277 VAC / HVDC

SR685a V3: power supplies

0500100015002000250030002600 W Titanium — ThinkSystem 2600W 230V Titanium Gen2 v4 (C4HK); 8 standard, N+N; C19; 220V only2600TitaniumWatts · dashed line = output at 100–120 V low line
AC
06 — Like for like

4 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: 4 more are exclusive to the XE7745 and 8 to the SR685a V3.

ProcessorCoresTDP
AMD EPYC 965596400 W
AMD EPYC 9575F64400 W
AMD EPYC 955564360 W
AMD EPYC 945548300 W
07 — Questions

XE7745 vs SR685a V3, answered

Is the XE7745 or the SR685a V3 the faster server?

Neither document publishes benchmark results, so this page compares what they do state. The XE7745 lists 8 processors up to 192 cores at 500 W; the SR685a V3 lists 12 up to 128 cores at 400 W. Fully populated that is 384 cores against 256.

Which holds more memory?

The XE7745 has 24 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of 6 TB. The SR685a V3 has 24 and 3 TB.

Which takes more drives?

XE7745: 8 bays across 1 documented layouts. SR685a V3: 16 across 1. Counts include rear and mid-chassis positions where the vendor documents them.

Can either take GPUs?

XE7745: up to 16 accelerators, 5 double-wide cards listed. SR685a V3: up to 8, 0 double-wide listed.

Do they share any processors?

Yes — 4 processors appear in both documents, including the AMD EPYC 9655. That makes a like-for-like build possible on either server.

Where these figures come from. XE7745: Dell PowerEdge XE7745 Technical Guide (Rev. A09, September 2026) (Dell document). SR685a V3: Lenovo ThinkSystem SR685a V3 Server Product Guide (July 15, 2026) (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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