Dell XE9780 vs Lenovo SR680a V4
A specification-by-specification comparison of the Dell PowerEdge XE9780 and the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR680a V4, built from Dell’s and Lenovo’s own documents. 1 headline measure favours the XE9780, 3 favour the SR680a V4, and 4 processors appear in both lists.
Bottom line. XE9780 leads on storage density. SR680a V4 leads on network throughput. 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 XE9780 if…
- Drive bays: 16 against 8 on the SR680a V4
- A choice of two eight-GPU HGX boards: B300 NVL8 with 270 GB per GPU at 1100 W, or B200 with 180 GB at 1000 W, all eight GPUs joined by NVLink.
Choose the SR680a V4 if…
- Largest power supply: 3,800 W against 3,200 W on the XE9780
- Rack height: 8U Rack against 10U Rack on the XE9780
- Fastest network option: 800 GbE class against 400 GbE class on the XE9780
- The HGX B300 NVL8 board carries eight SXM6 B300 GPUs, each with 288 GB of HBM3e at 7.7 TB/s and 1100 W, linked to one another over a 1.8 TB/s NVLink full mesh.
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 | XE9780 | SR680a V4 |
|---|---|---|
| Processors listed | 4 | 6 |
Memory
| Specification | XE9780 | SR680a V4 |
|---|---|---|
| Memory types | RDIMM DDR5-6400 (1DPC) / 5200 (2DPC) | RDIMM DDR5-6400 |
Storage
Bay counts are the maximum each document states, including rear and mid-chassis positions.
| Specification | XE9780 | SR680a V4 |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum bays | 16 | 8 |
| Documented layouts | 2 | 1 |
| Bay sizes | E3.S · 2.5-inch | 2.5-inch |
| Boot devices | BOSS-N1 DC-MHS (2 x M.2 SSDs) | ThinkSystem M.2 RAID B550p-2HS SATA/NVMe Enablement Kit (2 x M.2 NVMe, front hot-swap, integrated Broadcom RAID) · ThinkSystem M.2 RAID B540p-2HS SATA/NVMe Adapter (2 x M.2 SATA/NVMe, front hot-swap, integrated Broadcom RAID) |
| Storage controllers | 2 | 3 |
Accelerators & I/O
| Specification | XE9780 | SR680a V4 |
|---|---|---|
| PCIe network slots | 12 | 4 |
| Network cards listed | 27 | 11 |
Power & platform
| Specification | XE9780 | SR680a V4 |
|---|---|---|
| Power-supply options | 1 | 2 |
| Output range | 3,200–3,200 W | 3,200–3,800 W |
| Input types | AC | AC · 277 VAC / HVDC |
| Management | iDRAC10 | XClarity Controller 3 |
| Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet | 1023 mm (40.27 in) without bezel / 1044.7 mm (41.12 in) with bezel | 924 mm |
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.
XE9780: processors by cores and TDP
SR680a V4: processors by cores and TDP
XE9780: memory with every slot filled
SR680a V4: memory with every slot filled
XE9780: drive bays
Front panel
16 × EDSFF NVMe at the front — 16 bays in total.
SR680a V4: drive bays
Front panel
8 × 2.5" NVMe at the front — 8 bays in total.
XE9780: power supplies
SR680a V4: power supplies
4 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: 0 more are exclusive to the XE9780 and 2 to the SR680a V4.
| Processor | Cores | TDP |
|---|---|---|
| Intel Xeon 6 6787P | 86 | 350 W |
| Intel Xeon 6 6767P | 64 | 350 W |
| Intel Xeon 6 6776P | 64 | 350 W |
| Intel Xeon 6 6747P | 48 | 330 W |
XE9780 vs SR680a V4, answered
Is the XE9780 or the SR680a V4 the faster server?
Neither document publishes benchmark results, so this page compares what they do state. The XE9780 lists 4 processors up to 86 cores at 350 W; the SR680a V4 lists 6 up to 86 cores at 350 W. Fully populated that is 172 cores against 172.
Which holds more memory?
The XE9780 has 32 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of 4 TB. The SR680a V4 has 32 and 4 TB.
Which takes more drives?
XE9780: 16 bays across 2 documented layouts. SR680a V4: 8 across 1. Counts include rear and mid-chassis positions where the vendor documents them.
Can either take GPUs?
XE9780: up to 8 accelerators, 0 double-wide cards listed. SR680a V4: up to 8, 0 double-wide listed.
Do they share any processors?
Yes — 4 processors appear in both documents, including the Intel Xeon 6 6787P. That makes a like-for-like build possible on either server.
Where these figures come from. XE9780: Dell PowerEdge XE9780 Technical Guide (Rev. A03, August 2026) (Dell document). SR680a V4: Lenovo ThinkSystem SR680a V4 Server (August 28, 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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