Dell XE8712 vs Lenovo SC777 V4 Neptune
A specification-by-specification comparison of the Dell PowerEdge XE8712 and the Lenovo ThinkSystem SC777 V4 Neptune, built from Dell’s and Lenovo’s own documents. None of the headline measures favour the XE8712; 3 favour the SC777 V4 Neptune, and 1 processors appear in both lists.
Bottom line. SC777 V4 Neptune leads on storage density, network throughput. 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 XE8712 if…
- Four GPUs and two 72-core Grace CPUs in a single 48 mm Open Rack unit, with up to 36 trays in an IR7050 — the 144 Blackwell GPUs per rack that Dell’s spec sheet quotes.
Choose the SC777 V4 Neptune if…
- Drive bays: 10 against 2 on the XE8712
- Largest power supply: 15,000 W against 5,500 W on the XE8712
- Fastest network option: 800 GbE class against 25 GbE class on the XE8712
- Two GB200 NVL4 boards put four B200 GPUs and two Grace processors in one tray; NVLink joins the GPUs in a 1.8 TB/s full mesh, and each GPU has 450 GB/s of NVLink to the processors.
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 | XE8712 | SC777 V4 Neptune |
|---|---|---|
| Highest processor TDP | 600 W | 300 W |
Memory
| Specification | XE8712 | SC777 V4 Neptune |
|---|---|---|
| Largest module listed | 480 GB | 128 GB |
| Fastest rated speed | — | 4,266 MT/s |
| Memory types | LPDDR5X (soldered, ECC) | LPDDR5X ECC 4266 MT/s (soldered, fixed 960 GB) · HBM3e (186 GB per GPU) |
Storage
Bay counts are the maximum each document states, including rear and mid-chassis positions.
| Specification | XE8712 | SC777 V4 Neptune |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum bays | 2 | 10 |
| Boot devices | 1 x M.2 boot (single M.2 drive on M.2 interposer, slot 5, PCIe Gen4 x4, BOSS flatbread-compatible connector; not hot-swap) · Diskless configuration also supported | 2 x E3.S 1T NVMe boot drives (bays 0-1) via ThinkSystem SC777 V4 Neptune PCIe Switch Board for Boot Drives (feature C51T), switched x4 to CPU 2 |
Accelerators & I/O
| Specification | XE8712 | SC777 V4 Neptune |
|---|---|---|
| OCP slots | 1 | 0 |
| PCIe network slots | 4 | 6 |
| Network cards listed | 4 | 5 |
Power & platform
| Specification | XE8712 | SC777 V4 Neptune |
|---|---|---|
| Output range | 5,500–5,500 W | 15,000–15,000 W |
| Management | iDRAC10 | XClarity Controller 3 |
| Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet | 1 OU tray: 46.45 mm H x 537 mm W (560.07 mm incl. ears) x 840.85 mm D hook-to-IMM-alignment-cup (788.53 mm hook-to-chassis-rear), fully loaded 33.07 kg (Table 31/32). Table 2 (System Features) prints slightly different summary figures for the same tray: 46.2 mm H x 537 mm W x 833.82 mm D, 30 kg. 1 OU = 48 mm height, 537 mm width | 760 mm tray depth |
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.
XE8712: processors by cores and TDP
SC777 V4 Neptune: processors by cores and TDP
XE8712: memory
960 GB LPDDR5X (480 GB per CPU, soldered)
SC777 V4 Neptune: memory
960 GB LPDDR5X (CPU) + 744 GB HBM3e (GPU)
XE8712: drive bays
Front panel
2 × EDSFF NVMe at the front — 2 bays in total.
SC777 V4 Neptune: drive bays
Front panel
2 × EDSFF NVMe at the front — 2 bays in total.
XE8712: power supplies
SC777 V4 Neptune: power supplies
1 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: 0 more are exclusive to the XE8712 and 0 to the SC777 V4 Neptune.
| Processor | Cores | TDP |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA Grace (GB200 NVL4) | 72 | 600 W |
XE8712 vs SC777 V4 Neptune, answered
Is the XE8712 or the SC777 V4 Neptune the faster server?
Neither document publishes benchmark results, so this page compares what they do state. The XE8712 lists 1 processors up to 72 cores at 600 W; the SC777 V4 Neptune lists 1 up to 72 cores at 300 W. Fully populated that is 144 cores against 144.
Which holds more memory?
The XE8712 has 0 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of 960 GB LPDDR5X. The SC777 V4 Neptune has 0 and 960 GB LPDDR5X.
Which takes more drives?
XE8712: 2 bays across 1 documented layouts. SC777 V4 Neptune: 10 across 1. Counts include rear and mid-chassis positions where the vendor documents them.
Can either take GPUs?
XE8712: up to 4 accelerators, 0 double-wide cards listed. SC777 V4 Neptune: up to 4, 0 double-wide listed.
Do they share any processors?
Yes — 1 processor appears in both documents, including the NVIDIA Grace (GB200 NVL4). That makes a like-for-like build possible on either server.
Where these figures come from. XE8712: Dell PowerEdge IR7000, XE8712 Technical Guide (Rev. A01, January 2025) (Dell document). SC777 V4 Neptune: Lenovo ThinkSystem SC777 V4 Neptune Server (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
Talk to a UK specialist
Get expert advice or a no-obligation quote — servers, storage, networking, maintenance, finance and cloud. We reply the same working day.