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

Dell XE9685L vs HPE XD685

A specification-by-specification comparison of the Dell PowerEdge XE9685L and the HPE ProLiant Compute XD685, built from Dell’s and HPE’s own documents. 2 headline measures favour the XE9685L, 1 favours the XD685, and 3 processors appear in both lists.

Bottom line. XE9685L leads on virtualisation. XD685 leads on storage density. Neither vendor publishes benchmarks for these machines, so every call here is made on what their documents state.

Dell PowerEdge XE9685L front with LCD bezel over the drive bays and twelve PCIe Gen5 slot covers in the lower 2U
Dell PowerEdge
XE9685L
4U Rack2 sockets24 DIMMiDRAC9
Configure the XE9685L →Full data sheet
VS
HPE ProLiant Compute XD685 front: twelve E3.S NVMe bays, NS204 boot module, iLO, VGA and USB 3.0 ports, PCIe bays at each side, badge on the ear
HPE ProLiant
XD685
5U Rack2 sockets24 DIMMHPE iLO 6
Configure the XD685 →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
384Higher
Cores, fully populated
Largest listed processor × its socket count
192
3 TB
Memory ceiling
As each document states it
3 TB
8
Drive bays
Higher12
Up to 8
Accelerators
Up to 8
3,000 W
Largest power supply
3,000 W
4U RackHigher
Rack height
5U Rack
400 GbE class
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 XE9685L if…

  • Cores, fully populated: 384 against 192 on the XD685
  • Rack height: 4U Rack against 5U Rack on the XD685
  • The highest host core count in Dell’s 4U liquid-cooled pair: up to 192 cores per EPYC 9965, 384 cores across both sockets.

Choose the XD685 if…

  • Drive bays: 12 against 8 on the XE9685L
  • Four eight-GPU boards on one platform — NVIDIA HGX H200, B200 and HGX B300, or AMD Instinct MI355X — with B200, B300 and MI355X each tied to its own DLC or power kit.
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.

VirtualisationXE9685L: 384 cores with 3 TB. XD685: 192 cores with 3 TB.XE9685L
Databases & in-memoryMemory ceiling 3 TB against 3 TB, across 24 and 24 DIMM slots.Line ball
Storage density8 bays in 4U against 12 in 5U.XD685
AI & acceleration8 accelerators against 8 in the vendor documents.Line ball
Network throughputFastest card listed: 400 GbE class against 400 GbE class.Line ball
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.

SpecificationXE9685LXD685
Processors listed59
Most cores per processor19296
Highest processor TDP500 W400 W

Storage

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

SpecificationXE9685LXD685
Maximum bays812
Documented layouts12
Bay sizes2.5-inchE3.S
Boot devicesBOSS-N1 (2 x M.2 NVMe, HWRAID 1)HPE ProLiant Compute XD NS204i-u 960GB Boot Device (S4R99A) - 2x 480 GB M.2 NVMe RAID 1 · HPE ProLiant Compute XD NS204i-u 2x 960GB Boot Device (S6A36A) - 2x 960 GB M.2 NVMe RAID 1
Storage controllers13

Accelerators & I/O

SpecificationXE9685LXD685
OCP slots10
Network cards listed920

Power & platform

SpecificationXE9685LXD685
Input typesAC−48 V DC
ManagementiDRAC9HPE iLO 6
Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet1025.62 mm (40.37 in) without bezel / 1037.57 mm (40.82 in) with bezel1049 mm (L) 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.

XE9685L: processors by cores and TDP

Dell PowerEdge XE9685L processors081624324048566472808896104112120128136144152160168176184192300 W350 W400 W450 W500 WCores per processorAMD EPYC 9965 — 192 cores / 384 threads · 500 W · 2.25 GHz base · 384 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9755 — 128 cores / 256 threads · 500 W · 2.7 GHz base · 512 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9655 — 96 cores / 192 threads · 400 W · 2.6 GHz base · 384 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9575F — 64 cores / 128 threads · 400 W · 3.3 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9455 — 48 cores / 96 threads · 300 W · 3.15 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400EPYC 9965192 cores · 2.6 W/core — top SKU and most efficient
AMD EPYC 9005 5Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU

XD685: processors by cores and TDP

HPE ProLiant Compute XD685 processors081624324048566472808896250 W300 W350 W400 WCores per processorAMD EPYC 9655 — 96 cores · 400 W · 2.6 GHz base · 384 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9645 — 96 cores · 320 W · 2.3 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9565 — 72 cores · 400 W · 3.15 GHz base · 384 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9575F — 64 cores · 400 W · 3 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9555 — 64 cores · 360 W · 3.2 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9535 — 64 cores · 300 W · 2.4 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9455 — 48 cores · 300 W · 3.15 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9365 — 36 cores · 300 W · 3.4 GHz base · 192 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9355 — 32 cores · 280 W · 3.6 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400EPYC 965596 cores — the top SKUEPYC 96453.3 W/core — most efficient
AMD EPYC 9005 9Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU

XE9685L: memory with every slot filled

64 GB1.5 TB96 GB2.3 TB128 GB3 TB24 slots · 12 per processor · each tick = one DIMM

XD685: memory with every slot filled

64 GB1.5 TB96 GB2.3 TB128 GB3 TB24 slots · 12 per processor · each tick = one DIMM

XE9685L: drive bays

Front panel

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

SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe

XD685: drive bays

Front panel

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

SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe

XE9685L: power supplies

0500100015002000250030003000 W Titanium — 3000 W Mixed Mode (post-RTS), single PSU model with multiple ratings: 3000 W Titanium at 209.1-240 V AC, 16 A, 10,900 BTU/hr; 3000 W at 240 V DC, 14.6 A, 11,000 BTU/hr; derates to 2800 W at 200-209 V AC, 16 A, 10,500 BTU/hr (low-line derate, not a separate SKU); 6 PSUs per system; redundancy policies 5+1 FR (not redundant, full performance) or 3+3 FTR (may throttle if >1 PSU down); 86 mm form factor, C21 cord3000TitaniumWatts · dashed line = output at 100–120 V low line
AC

XD685: power supplies

0500100015002000250030003000 W Titanium — Option name 'HPE ProLiant Compute XD 3000W 54VDC Power Supply' (54VDC = output); Standard Features name 'HPE 3000 W CRPS Titanium Hot Plug Power Supply Kit'. Family: CRPS as printed (not HPE Flex Slot; the doc does not say M-CRPS). Rated input 200-277 VAC; PMAX 2900 W at 200 VAC, 3000 W at 207-277 VAC. Max BTU 6497 BTU/hr @200 VAC, 7230 @220 VAC, 7962 @240 VAC. No -48 VDC or HVDC unit listed. 'The PSU model will differ based on the total number of PSUs in the system.' B200/B300/MI355X configs default to 12 PSUs; 10 PSUs can be deployed where PDUs/manifolds do not allow 12; B200 base 6-PSU (S4X40A) with S6V19A for 12-PSU N+3.3000TitaniumWatts · dashed line = output at 100–120 V low line
−48 V DC
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: 2 more are exclusive to the XE9685L and 6 to the XD685.

ProcessorCoresTDP
AMD EPYC 965596400 W
AMD EPYC 9575F64400 W
AMD EPYC 945548300 W
07 — Questions

XE9685L vs XD685, answered

Is the XE9685L or the XD685 the faster server?

Neither document publishes benchmark results, so this page compares what they do state. The XE9685L lists 5 processors up to 192 cores at 500 W; the XD685 lists 9 up to 96 cores at 400 W. Fully populated that is 384 cores against 192.

Which holds more memory?

The XE9685L has 24 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of 3 TB. The XD685 has 24 and 3.0 TB.

Which takes more drives?

XE9685L: 8 bays across 1 documented layouts. XD685: 12 across 2. Counts include rear and mid-chassis positions where the vendor documents them.

Can either take GPUs?

XE9685L: up to 8 accelerators, 0 double-wide cards listed. XD685: up to 8, 0 double-wide listed.

Do they share any processors?

Yes — 3 processors appear in both documents, including the AMD EPYC 9655. That makes a like-for-like build possible on either server.

Where these figures come from. XE9685L: Dell PowerEdge XE9685L Technical Guide (Rev. A03, June 2026) (Dell document). XD685: HPE ProLiant Compute XD685 QuickSpecs (V15 - 03-August-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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