Dell XE9680L vs HPE Compute XD690
A specification-by-specification comparison of the Dell PowerEdge XE9680L and the HPE Compute XD690, built from Dell’s and HPE’s own documents. 2 headline measures favour the XE9680L, 1 favours the Compute XD690, and they share no processors.
Bottom line. XE9680L leads on virtualisation, databases and in-memory work, storage density. 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 XE9680L if…
- Memory ceiling: 4 TB against 3 TB on the Compute XD690
- Rack height: 4U Rack, Direct Liquid Cooled against 10U Rack on the Compute XD690
- Cold plates sit on the eight GPUs, the NVLink switches and both processors, and the chassis carries the 1000 W-per-GPU B200 board in 4U.
Choose the Compute XD690 if…
- Largest power supply: 3,200 W against 3,000 W on the XE9680L
- 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.
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 | XE9680L | Compute XD690 |
|---|---|---|
| Processors listed | 5 | 2 |
| Processor families | 5th Gen Xeon Scalable | Xeon 6 P-core |
Memory
| Specification | XE9680L | Compute XD690 |
|---|---|---|
| Largest module listed | 128 GB | 96 GB |
| Fastest rated speed | 5,600 MT/s | 6,400 MT/s |
| Memory types | RDIMM DDR5-5600 (1DPC) / 4400 MT/s (2DPC) | RDIMM DDR5-6400 |
Storage
Bay counts are the maximum each document states, including rear and mid-chassis positions.
| Specification | XE9680L | Compute XD690 |
|---|---|---|
| Bay sizes | 2.5-inch | E3.S |
| Boot devices | BOSS-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 controllers | 1 | 0 |
Accelerators & I/O
| Specification | XE9680L | Compute XD690 |
|---|---|---|
| OCP slots | 1 | 0 |
| PCIe network slots | 12 | 2 |
| Network cards listed | 8 | 5 |
Power & platform
| Specification | XE9680L | Compute XD690 |
|---|---|---|
| Power-supply options | 2 | 1 |
| Output range | 2,800–3,000 W | 3,200–3,200 W |
| Management | iDRAC9 | HPE Compute XD690 Baseboard Management Controller |
| Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet | 174.3 mm H x 482 mm W (upper 2U 447 mm / lower 2U 434 mm) x 1037.57 mm D with bezel (1025.62 mm without | 800 mm (31.5 in) deep |
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.
XE9680L: processors by cores and TDP
Compute XD690: processors by cores and TDP
XE9680L: memory with every slot filled
Compute XD690: memory with every slot filled
XE9680L: drive bays
Front panel
8 × 2.5" NVMe at the front — 8 bays in total.
Compute XD690: drive bays
Front panel
8 × EDSFF NVMe at the front — 8 bays in total.
XE9680L: power supplies
Compute XD690: power supplies
XE9680L vs Compute XD690, answered
Is the XE9680L or the Compute XD690 the faster server?
Neither document publishes benchmark results, so this page compares what they do state. The XE9680L lists 5 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 XE9680L 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?
XE9680L: 8 bays across 1 documented layouts. Compute XD690: 8 across 1. Counts include rear and mid-chassis positions where the vendor documents them.
Can either take GPUs?
XE9680L: 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. XE9680L: Dell PowerEdge XE9680L Technical Guide (Rev. A04, June 2026) (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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