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

Dell XE9685L vs Lenovo SR685a V3

A specification-by-specification comparison of the Dell PowerEdge XE9685L and the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR685a V3, built from Dell’s and Lenovo’s own documents. 3 headline measures favour the XE9685L, 1 favours the SR685a V3, and 3 processors appear in both lists.

Bottom line. XE9685L leads on virtualisation. 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
Lenovo ThinkSystem SR685a V3 front, angled: five fans on top, sixteen NVMe drive bays in two groups and eight PCIe slots below
Lenovo ThinkSystem
SR685a V3
8U Rack2 sockets24 DIMMXClarity Controller 2
Configure the SR685a 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
384Higher
Cores, fully populated
Largest listed processor × its socket count
256
3 TB
Memory ceiling
As each document states it
3 TB
8
Drive bays
Higher16
Up to 8
Accelerators
Up to 8
3,000 WHigher
Largest power supply
2,600 W
4U RackHigher
Rack height
8U 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 256 on the SR685a V3
  • Largest power supply: 3,000 W against 2,600 W on the SR685a V3
  • Rack height: 4U Rack against 8U Rack on the SR685a V3
  • 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 SR685a V3 if…

  • Drive bays: 16 against 8 on the XE9685L
  • One chassis, two GPU ecosystems: eight AMD MI300X OAM GPUs (192 GB HBM3, 5.3 TB/s, 750 W each) or eight NVIDIA H200 SXM5 GPUs (141 GB, listed as HBM3e in the GPU table, 4.8 TB/s, 700 W each).
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. SR685a V3: 256 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 16 in 8U.Line ball
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.

SpecificationXE9685LSR685a V3
Processors listed512
Most cores per processor192128
Highest processor TDP500 W400 W
Processor familiesAMD EPYC 9005AMD EPYC 9005 · AMD EPYC 9004

Memory

SpecificationXE9685LSR685a V3
Memory typesRDIMM DDR5-6400RDIMM DDR5-6400 (5th Gen, operates 6000) · 10x4 RDIMM / RDIMM DDR5-4800 (4th Gen) · 3DS RDIMM

Storage

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

SpecificationXE9685LSR685a V3
Maximum bays816
Boot devicesBOSS-N1 (2 x M.2 NVMe, HWRAID 1)ThinkSystem M.2 NVMe 2-Bay RAID Adapter (B8P9) - Marvell 88NR2241 RAID-0/1, PCIe 3.0 x2, no SED; no field upgrade
Storage controllers12

Accelerators & I/O

SpecificationXE9685LSR685a V3
PCIe network slots1210
Network cards listed912

Power & platform

SpecificationXE9685LSR685a V3
Output range3,000–3,000 W2,600–2,600 W
ManagementiDRAC9XClarity Controller 2
Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet1025.62 mm (40.37 in) without bezel / 1037.57 mm (40.82 in) with bezel924 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.

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

SR685a V3: processors by cores and TDP

Lenovo ThinkSystem SR685a V3 processors081624324048566472808896104112120128250 W300 W350 W400 WCores per processorAMD EPYC 9745 — 128 cores / 256 threads · 400 W · 2.4 GHz base · 256 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 9555 — 64 cores / 128 threads · 360 W · 3.2 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9535 — 64 cores / 128 threads · 300 W · 2.4 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9475F — 48 cores / 96 threads · 400 W · 3.65 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9455 — 48 cores / 96 threads · 300 W · 3.15 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9654 — 96 cores / 192 threads · 360 W · 2.4 GHz base · 384 MB cache · DDR5-4800AMD EPYC 9554 — 64 cores / 128 threads · 360 W · 3.1 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-4800AMD EPYC 9534 — 64 cores / 128 threads · 280 W · 2.45 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-4800AMD EPYC 9474F — 48 cores / 96 threads · 360 W · 3.6 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-4800AMD EPYC 9454 — 48 cores / 96 threads · 290 W · 2.75 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-4800EPYC 9745128 cores · 3.1 W/core — top SKU and most efficient
AMD EPYC 9005 7AMD EPYC 9004 5Bubble 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

SR685a V3: 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

SR685a V3: drive bays

Front panel

8 × 2.5" 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

SR685a V3: power supplies

0500100015002000250030002600 W Titanium — ThinkSystem 2600W 230V Titanium Gen2 v4 (C4HK); 8 standard, N+N; C19; 220V only2600TitaniumWatts · 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: 2 more are exclusive to the XE9685L and 9 to the SR685a V3.

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

XE9685L vs SR685a V3, answered

Is the XE9685L or the SR685a V3 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 SR685a V3 lists 12 up to 128 cores at 400 W. Fully populated that is 384 cores against 256.

Which holds more memory?

The XE9685L has 24 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of 3 TB. The SR685a V3 has 24 and 3 TB.

Which takes more drives?

XE9685L: 8 bays across 1 documented layouts. SR685a V3: 16 across 1. 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. SR685a V3: 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). SR685a V3: Lenovo ThinkSystem SR685a 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.

Other comparisons in this class

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