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

Dell XE9680 vs HPE Compute XD690

A specification-by-specification comparison of the Dell PowerEdge XE9680 and the HPE Compute XD690, built from Dell’s and HPE’s own documents. 4 headline measures favour the XE9680 and none favour the Compute XD690, and they share no processors.

Bottom line. XE9680 leads on virtualisation, databases and in-memory work, storage density, network throughput. Neither vendor publishes benchmarks for these machines, so every call here is made on what their documents state.

Dell PowerEdge XE9680 front with 16 E3.S drive bays above ten numbered PCIe Gen5 slots (31–40), control panels at each side
Dell PowerEdge
XE9680
6U Rack2 sockets32 DIMMiDRAC9
Configure the XE9680 →Full data sheet
VS
HPE Compute XD690 10U front: twelve modules in two rows of six above an HPE-logo mesh intake; lower tray with eight E1.S bays and I/O ports
HPE ProLiant
Compute XD690
10U Rack2 sockets32 DIMMHPE Compute XD690 Baseboard Management Controller
Configure the Compute XD690 →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 TBHigher
Memory ceiling
As each document states it
3 TB
16Higher
Drive bays
8
Up to 8
Accelerators
Up to 8
3,200 W
Largest power supply
3,200 W
6U RackHigher
Rack height
10U Rack
800 GbE classHigher
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 XE9680 if…

  • Memory ceiling: 4 TB against 3 TB on the Compute XD690
  • Drive bays: 16 against 8 on the Compute XD690
  • Rack height: 6U Rack against 10U Rack on the Compute XD690
  • One chassis, six eight-GPU boards: HGX A100 (SXM4), HGX H100, H200 and H20 (SXM5), Instinct MI300X and Gaudi 3 (both OAM 2.0).

Choose the Compute XD690 if…

  • Eight NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GPUs on an HGX B300 board in a chassis designed for air-cooled infrastructure, with ARCS or a rear door heat exchanger as options.
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.

VirtualisationXE9680: 128 cores with 4 TB. Compute XD690: 128 cores with 3 TB.XE9680
Databases & in-memoryMemory ceiling 4 TB against 3 TB, across 32 and 32 DIMM slots.XE9680
Storage density16 bays in 6U against 8 in 10U.XE9680
AI & acceleration8 accelerators against 8 in the vendor documents.Line ball
Network throughputFastest card listed: 800 GbE class against 400 GbE class.XE9680
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.

SpecificationXE9680Compute XD690
Processors listed142
Processor families4th Gen Xeon Scalable · 5th Gen Xeon ScalableXeon 6 P-core

Memory

SpecificationXE9680Compute XD690
Largest module listed128 GB96 GB
Fastest rated speed5,600 MT/s6,400 MT/s
Memory typesRDIMM DDR5-5600 (5th Gen Xeon, 1DPC) / DDR5-4800 (4th Gen Xeon, 1DPC) / 4400 MT/s 2DPCRDIMM DDR5-6400

Storage

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

SpecificationXE9680Compute XD690
Maximum bays168
Documented layouts31
Bay sizesE3.S · 2.5-inchE3.S
Boot devicesBOSS-N1 (2 x M.2 NVMe SSD, hardware RAID 1)HPE Compute XD 1.92 TB NVMe Read Intensive M.2 2280 SSD (S6V50A), up to 2 on a single carrier card (the document does not explicitly label it a boot device)
Storage controllers30

Accelerators & I/O

SpecificationXE9680Compute XD690
OCP slots10
PCIe network slots102
Network cards listed275

Power & platform

SpecificationXE9680Compute XD690
Power-supply options31
Output range2,800–3,200 W3,200–3,200 W
Input typesAC · 277 VAC / HVDCAC
ManagementiDRAC9HPE Compute XD690 Baseboard Management Controller
Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet263.2 mm H x 482.0 mm W x 1008.77 mm D with bezel (995 mm without bezel800 mm (31.5 in) deep
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.

XE9680: processors by cores and TDP

Dell PowerEdge XE9680 processors0816243240485664200 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 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 85th Gen Xeon Scalable 6Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU

Compute XD690: processors by cores and TDP

HPE Compute XD690 processors0816243240485664350 WCores per processorIntel Xeon 6776P — 64 cores · 350 W · 2.3 GHz base · 336 MB cache · DDR5-6400Intel Xeon 6767P — 64 cores · 350 W · 2.4 GHz base · 336 MB cache · DDR5-64006776P64 cores · 5.5 W/core — top SKU and most efficient
Xeon 6 P-core 2Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU

XE9680: memory with every slot filled

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

Compute XD690: memory with every slot filled

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

XE9680: drive bays

Front panel

16 × EDSFF NVMe at the front — 16 bays in total.

SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe

Compute XD690: drive bays

Front panel

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

SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe

XE9680: power supplies

05001000150020002500300035002800 W Titanium — Mixed mode: 200-240 V AC 15.6 A / 240 V DC 13.6 A; 86 mm 54 VDC form factor; C22 inlet (C21 jumper cord); 6 PSUs, 5+1 or 3+3 FTR redundancy2800Titanium3000 W Titanium — Multi-rated: 3000 W at 209.1-240 V AC 16 A / 240 V DC 14.6 A, derates to 2800 W at 200-209 V AC; supported ONLY with the XE9680-Gaudi3 configuration; 6 PSUs, 5+1 or 3+3 FTR3000Titanium3200 W Titanium — 277 V AC 13 A / 336 V DC 11.5 A (spec sheet: 260-400 VDC); APP 2006G1 power cords; available only in US & Canada; 6 PSUs, 5+1 or 3+3 FTR3200TitaniumWatts · dashed line = output at 100–120 V low line
AC277 VAC / HVDC

Compute XD690: power supplies

05001000150020002500300035003200 W Titanium — 12x Titanium 3,200-Watt 200-240 VAC input supplies in an embedded kit included with chassis S6G97A; configuration is fixed and non-selectable. PSU family not named: the document mentions neither Flex Slot nor M-CRPS, and hot-plug is not stated. Standard power draw 14.3 kW continuous, 16.4 kW peak. 12 x S6V53A HPE Compute XD690 C19-C20 250 V 20A 1 m D-Lock power cords included.3200TitaniumWatts · dashed line = output at 100–120 V low line
AC
07 — Questions

XE9680 vs Compute XD690, answered

Is the XE9680 or the Compute XD690 the faster server?

Neither document publishes benchmark results, so this page compares what they do state. The XE9680 lists 14 processors up to 64 cores at 350 W; the Compute XD690 lists 2 up to 64 cores at 350 W. Fully populated that is 128 cores against 128.

Which holds more memory?

The XE9680 has 32 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of 4 TB. The Compute XD690 has 32 and 3 TB practical ceiling.

Which takes more drives?

XE9680: 16 bays across 3 documented layouts. Compute XD690: 8 across 1. Counts include rear and mid-chassis positions where the vendor documents them.

Can either take GPUs?

XE9680: up to 8 accelerators, 0 double-wide cards listed. Compute XD690: up to 8, 0 double-wide listed.

Do they share any processors?

No. The two documents list different processors, so a like-for-like processor build is not possible across these two.

Where these figures come from. XE9680: Dell PowerEdge XE9680 Technical Guide (Rev. A09, July 2025) (Dell document). Compute XD690: HPE Compute XD690 QuickSpecs (Version 6 - 06-July-2026) (HPE 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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