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

Dell XE8640 vs Lenovo SR780a V3

A specification-by-specification comparison of the Dell PowerEdge XE8640 and the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a V3, built from Dell’s and Lenovo’s own documents. 1 headline measure favours the XE8640, 3 favour the SR780a V3, and 3 processors appear in both lists.

Bottom line. SR780a 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 XE8640 front with eight 2.5-inch NVMe bays above five hot-swap GPU fans, with a control panel at each side
Dell PowerEdge
XE8640
4U Rack2 sockets32 DIMMiDRAC9
Configure the XE8640 →Full data sheet
VS
Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a V3 front, angled: eight NVMe drive bays in two rows above eight full-height PCIe slots for GPU Direct adapters
Lenovo ThinkSystem
SR780a V3
5U Rack2 sockets32 DIMMXClarity Controller 2
Configure the SR780a 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
128
Cores, fully populated
Largest listed processor × its socket count
128
4 TB
Memory ceiling
As each document states it
4 TB
8
Drive bays
Higher12
Up to 4
Accelerators
HigherUp to 8
3,200 W
Largest power supply
3,200 W
4U RackHigher
Rack height
5U Rack
200 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 XE8640 if…

  • Rack height: 4U Rack against 5U Rack on the SR780a V3
  • Four H100 SXM5 GPUs at 700 W each share one HGX board, and Dell quotes up to 900 GB/s of NVLink bandwidth between them.

Choose the SR780a V3 if…

  • Drive bays: 12 against 8 on the XE8640
  • Accelerators: Up to 8 against Up to 4 on the XE8640
  • Fastest network option: 400 GbE class against 200 GbE class on the XE8640
  • Direct water cooling on four independent loops — the CPUs, the four front GPUs, the four rear GPUs and the NVLink switches — removes up to 75% of the server’s heat, letting an eight-GPU HGX system fit in 5U rather than 8U.
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.

VirtualisationXE8640: 128 cores with 4 TB. SR780a V3: 128 cores with 4 TB.Line ball
Databases & in-memoryMemory ceiling 4 TB against 4 TB, across 32 and 32 DIMM slots.Line ball
Storage density8 bays in 4U against 12 in 5U.SR780a V3
AI & acceleration4 accelerators against 8 in the vendor documents.SR780a V3
Network throughputFastest card listed: 200 GbE class against 400 GbE class.SR780a 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.

SpecificationXE8640SR780a V3
Processors listed155
Processor families4th Gen Xeon Scalable · 5th Gen Xeon Scalable5th Gen Xeon Scalable

Memory

SpecificationXE8640SR780a V3
Memory typesRDIMM DDR5-4800 · RDIMM 3DS DDR5-4800 · RDIMM DDR5-5600 · RDIMM 3DS DDR5-5600RDIMM DDR5-5600 (10x4 RDIMM); 5600 at 1DPC (16 DIMMs), 4400 at 2DPC (32 DIMMs)

Storage

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

SpecificationXE8640SR780a V3
Maximum bays812
Documented layouts32
Bay sizes2.5-inch · E3.S2.5-inch
Boot devicesBOSS-N1 (2 x M.2 NVMe, HW RAID 1)2 x M.2 22110 NVMe in onboard connector (stacked); optional Intel VROC (VMD NVMe RAID) Standard for M.2 (BS7M)
Storage controllers32

Accelerators & I/O

SpecificationXE8640SR780a V3
Accelerators supportedUp to 4Up to 8
OCP slots10
PCIe network slots411
Network cards listed187

Power & platform

SpecificationXE8640SR780a V3
Power-supply options23
Output range2,800–3,200 W2,600–3,200 W
Input typesAC · 277 VAC / HVDCAC
ManagementiDRAC9XClarity Controller 2
Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet865.54 mm ear to PSU handle (spec sheet: 901.4 mm with bezel)942 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.

XE8640: processors by cores and TDP

Dell PowerEdge XE8640 processors0816243240485664150 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 8470 — 52 cores / 104 threads · 350 W · 2 GHz base · 98 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Platinum 8468 — 48 cores / 96 threads · 350 W · 2.1 GHz base · 90 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Platinum 8460Y+ — 40 cores / 80 threads · 300 W · 2 GHz base · 75 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Platinum 8452Y — 36 cores / 72 threads · 300 W · 2 GHz base · 67.5 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 6442Y — 24 cores / 48 threads · 225 W · 2.6 GHz base · 45 MB cache · DDR5-4800Intel Xeon Gold 5418Y — 24 cores / 48 threads · 185 W · 2 GHz base · 45 MB cache · DDR5-4400Intel 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 · DDR5-52008592+64 cores · 5.5 W/core — top SKU and most efficient
4th Gen Xeon Scalable 95th Gen Xeon Scalable 6Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU

SR780a V3: processors by cores and TDP

Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a V3 processors0816243240485664300 W350 WCores per processorIntel Xeon Platinum 8592+ — 64 cores / 128 threads · 350 W · 1.9 GHz base · 320 MB cache · DDR5-5600Intel Xeon Platinum 8570 — 56 cores / 112 threads · 350 W · 2.1 GHz base · 300 MB cache · DDR5-5600Intel Xeon Platinum 8558P — 48 cores / 96 threads · 350 W · 2.7 GHz base · 260 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 · DDR5-56008592+64 cores · 5.5 W/core — top SKU and most efficient
5th Gen Xeon Scalable 5Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU

XE8640: memory with every slot filled

32 GB1 TB64 GB2 TB96 GB3 TB128 GB4 TB32 slots · 16 per processor · each tick = one DIMM

SR780a V3: memory with every slot filled

64 GB2 TB96 GB3 TB128 GB4 TB32 slots · 16 per processor · each tick = one DIMM

XE8640: drive bays

Front panel

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

SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe

SR780a V3: drive bays

Front panel

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

SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe

XE8640: power supplies

05001000150020002500300035002800 W Titanium — Mixed mode: 200-240 V AC (15.6 A) or 240 V DC (13.6 A); 86 mm; C22 input socket needs C21-to-C20 jumper cord (C20/C19 cords do not fit). 54 V PSU. Four PSUs installed2800Titanium3200 W Titanium — Mixed mode: 277 V AC (13 A) or 336 V DC HVDC (11.5 A); 86 mm; APP 2006G1 cord. Spec sheet lists 260-400 VDC3200TitaniumWatts · dashed line = output at 100–120 V low line
AC277 VAC / HVDC

SR780a V3: power supplies

05001000150020002500300035002600 W Titanium — ThinkSystem 2600W 230V Titanium Gen2 v4 (C4HK); qty 8, N+N; C19; 220V only2600Titanium3200 W Titanium — ThinkSystem 3200W 230V Titanium CRPS Premium (C0UD); qty 8; C19; 220V3200Titanium3200 W Titanium — ThinkSystem 3200W 230V/115V Titanium CRPS Premium (CBAF); qty 8; C19; table lists 220V AC only3200TitaniumWatts · dashed line = output at 100–120 V low line
AC
06 — Like for like

3 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: 12 more are exclusive to the XE8640 and 2 to the SR780a V3.

ProcessorCoresTDP
Intel Xeon Platinum 8592+64350 W
Intel Xeon Platinum 8568Y+48350 W
Intel Xeon Platinum 8562Y+32300 W
07 — Questions

XE8640 vs SR780a V3, answered

Is the XE8640 or the SR780a V3 the faster server?

Neither document publishes benchmark results, so this page compares what they do state. The XE8640 lists 15 processors up to 64 cores at 350 W; the SR780a V3 lists 5 up to 64 cores at 350 W. Fully populated that is 128 cores against 128.

Which holds more memory?

The XE8640 has 32 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of 4 TB. The SR780a V3 has 32 and 4 TB.

Which takes more drives?

XE8640: 8 bays across 3 documented layouts. SR780a V3: 12 across 2. Counts include rear and mid-chassis positions where the vendor documents them.

Can either take GPUs?

XE8640: up to 4 accelerators, 0 double-wide cards listed. SR780a V3: up to 8, 0 double-wide listed.

Do they share any processors?

Yes — 3 processors appear in both documents, including the Intel Xeon Platinum 8592+. That makes a like-for-like build possible on either server.

Where these figures come from. XE8640: Dell PowerEdge XE8640 Technical Guide (Rev. A05, December 2024) (Dell document). SR780a V3: Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a 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.

Other comparisons in this class

R760xa vs SR780a V3Dell vs LenovoXE8640 vs Compute XD690Dell vs HPEXE8640 vs XD685Dell vs HPEXE8640 vs SR680a V3Dell vs LenovoXE9680 vs SR780a V3Dell vs LenovoXE9680L vs SR780a V3Dell vs LenovoCompute XD690 vs SR780a V3HPE vs LenovoXD685 vs SR780a V3HPE vs Lenovo

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