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

Dell XE9680 vs Lenovo SR780a V3

A specification-by-specification comparison of the Dell PowerEdge XE9680 and the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a V3, built from Dell’s and Lenovo’s own documents. 2 headline measures favour the XE9680, 1 favours the SR780a V3, and 3 processors appear in both lists.

Bottom line. XE9680 leads on 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
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
16Higher
Drive bays
12
Up to 8
Accelerators
Up to 8
3,200 W
Largest power supply
3,200 W
6U Rack
Rack height
Higher5U 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…

  • Drive bays: 16 against 12 on the SR780a V3
  • Fastest network option: 800 GbE class against 400 GbE class on the SR780a V3
  • 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 SR780a V3 if…

  • Rack height: 5U Rack against 6U Rack on the XE9680
  • 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.

VirtualisationXE9680: 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 density16 bays in 6U against 12 in 5U.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.

SpecificationXE9680SR780a V3
Processors listed145
Processor families4th Gen Xeon Scalable · 5th Gen Xeon Scalable5th Gen Xeon Scalable

Memory

SpecificationXE9680SR780a V3
Memory typesRDIMM DDR5-5600 (5th Gen Xeon, 1DPC) / DDR5-4800 (4th Gen Xeon, 1DPC) / 4400 MT/s 2DPCRDIMM 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.

SpecificationXE9680SR780a V3
Maximum bays1612
Documented layouts32
Bay sizesE3.S · 2.5-inch2.5-inch
Boot devicesBOSS-N1 (2 x M.2 NVMe SSD, hardware 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

SpecificationXE9680SR780a V3
OCP slots10
PCIe network slots1011
Network cards listed277

Power & platform

SpecificationXE9680SR780a V3
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 sheet263.2 mm H x 482.0 mm W x 1008.77 mm D with bezel (995 mm without bezel942 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.

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

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

XE9680: 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

XE9680: drive bays

Front panel

16 × EDSFF NVMe at the front — 16 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

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

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: 11 more are exclusive to the XE9680 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

XE9680 vs SR780a V3, answered

Is the XE9680 or the SR780a V3 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 SR780a V3 lists 5 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 SR780a V3 has 32 and 4 TB.

Which takes more drives?

XE9680: 16 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?

XE9680: up to 8 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. XE9680: Dell PowerEdge XE9680 Technical Guide (Rev. A09, July 2025) (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.

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R760xa vs SR780a V3Dell vs LenovoXE8640 vs SR780a V3Dell vs LenovoXE9680 vs Compute XD690Dell vs HPEXE9680 vs XD685Dell vs HPEXE9680 vs SR680a V3Dell vs LenovoXE9680L vs SR780a V3Dell vs LenovoCompute XD690 vs SR780a V3HPE vs LenovoXD685 vs SR780a V3HPE vs Lenovo

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