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

Dell XE9785 vs Dell XE9785L

A specification-by-specification comparison of the Dell PowerEdge XE9785 and the Dell PowerEdge XE9785L, built from Dell’s own documents. 1 headline measure favours the XE9785, 1 favours the XE9785L, and 8 processors appear in both lists.

Bottom line. XE9785 leads on virtualisation, databases and in-memory work. XE9785L leads on storage density. Neither vendor publishes benchmarks for these machines, so every call here is made on what their documents state.

Dell PowerEdge XE9785 front, MI355X build: GPU sled on top, OCP slot and iDRAC ports, 16 E3.S drives behind the bezel, PCIe slots 2–13 below
Dell PowerEdge
XE9785
10U Rack2 sockets24 DIMMiDRAC10
Configure the XE9785 →Full data sheet
VS
Dell PowerEdge XE9785L front, B300 build: 16 E1.S NVMe drives, CX-8 OSFP modules, PCIe slots 5–8, OCP slot 13 and front I/O board
Dell PowerEdge
XE9785L
Rack-scale / liquid-cooled2 sockets24 DIMMiDRAC10
Configure the XE9785L →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
384
Cores, fully populated
Largest listed processor × its socket count
384
6 TBHigher
Memory ceiling
As each document states it
3 TB
16
Drive bays
16
Up to 8
Accelerators
Up to 8
3,200 W
Largest power supply
Higher33,000 W
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 XE9785 if…

  • Memory ceiling: 6 TB against 3 TB on the XE9785L
  • One chassis, either GPU vendor: eight 288 GB MI355X OAM modules on a Universal Base Board, or an eight-GPU HGX B300 NVL8 board fully linked by NVLink, its NVSwitch under a separate heat sink.

Choose the XE9785L if…

  • Largest power supply: 33,000 W against 3,200 W on the XE9785
  • Three GPU boards on one node design — AMD MI355X OAM, NVIDIA HGX B300 NVL8 or HGX B200 — each carried under direct liquid cooling modules in the GPU tray.
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.

VirtualisationXE9785: 384 cores with 6 TB. XE9785L: 384 cores with 3 TB.XE9785
Databases & in-memoryMemory ceiling 6 TB against 3 TB, across 24 and 24 DIMM slots.XE9785
Storage density16 bays in 10U against 16 in Rack-scale.XE9785L
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.

Storage

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

SpecificationXE9785XE9785L
Documented layouts23
Boot devicesEmbedded BOSS (2 x M.2 NVMe SSD, HWRAID 1, dedicated heat sinks and thermal pads)Embedded BOSS / BOSS-N1 (2 x M.2 NVMe SSD, HWRAID 0/1, dedicated heat sinks and thermal pads; acoustic config lists 1 x eBOSS 960 GB; eBOSS in slot 14 for MI355X/B200 configs, BOSS-N1 in slot 1 for B300 config)

Accelerators & I/O

SpecificationXE9785XE9785L
Network cards listed1525

Power & platform

SpecificationXE9785XE9785L
Power-supply options12
Output range3,200–3,200 W5,500–33,000 W
Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet439.5 mm (17.30 in) H x 448 mm (17.63 in) W (482.3 mm with ears) x 1044.7 mm (41.12 in) D with bezel / 1023 mm (40.27 in) without bezelSled 537 mm (21.14 in) W x 140.5 mm (5.53 in) H x 1047.95 mm (41.26 in) D with fan / 889.65 mm (35.03 in) without fan
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.

XE9785: processors by cores and TDP

Dell PowerEdge XE9785 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 9845 — 160 cores / 320 threads · 390 W · 2.1 GHz base · 320 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9825 — 144 cores / 288 threads · 390 W · 2.2 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 9475F — 48 cores / 96 threads · 360 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 · DDR5-6400EPYC 9965192 cores — the top SKUEPYC 98452.4 W/core — most efficient
AMD EPYC 9005 8Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU

XE9785L: processors by cores and TDP

Dell PowerEdge XE9785L processors081624324048566472808896104112120128136144152160168176184192300 W350 W400 W450 W500 WCores per processorAMD EPYC 9965 — 192 cores / 384 threads · 500 W · 2 GHz base · 384 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9845 — 160 cores / 320 threads · 400 W · 2 GHz base · 320 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9825 — 144 cores / 288 threads · 400 W · 2 GHz base · 384 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9755 — 128 cores / 256 threads · 500 W · 2.6 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 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9475F — 48 cores / 96 threads · 360 W · 3.6 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400AMD EPYC 9455 — 48 cores / 96 threads · 300 W · 2.9 GHz base · 256 MB cache · DDR5-6400EPYC 9965192 cores — the top SKUEPYC 98452.5 W/core — most efficient
AMD EPYC 9005 8Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU

XE9785: memory with every slot filled

96 GB2.3 TB128 GB3 TB256 GB6 TB24 slots · 12 per processor · each tick = one DIMM

XE9785L: memory with every slot filled

96 GB2.3 TB128 GB3 TB256 GB6 TB24 slots · 12 per processor · each tick = one DIMM

XE9785: drive bays

Front panel

16 × EDSFF NVMe at the front — 16 bays in total.

SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe

XE9785L: drive bays

Front panel

16 × EDSFF NVMe at the front — 16 bays in total.

SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe

XE9785: power supplies

05001000150020002500300035003200 W Titanium — 3200 W AC Titanium, 73.5 mm form factor on a 17G 54 V design, C19 power cable; 216.1-240 VAC 50/60 Hz 16 A = 3200 W; 240 VDC 14.5 A = 3200 W (mixed mode); 200-216 VAC = 2900 W (multi-rated); peak power 5280 W highline; heat dissipation 11,850 BTU/hr; efficiency 90/94/96/91 % at 10/20/50/100 % load; low-line (100-120 V) not supported; do not mix PSU vendors; system does not support user power cap3200TitaniumWatts · dashed line = output at 100–120 V low line
AC

XE9785L: power supplies

050010001500200025003000350040004500500055006000650070007500800085009000950010000105001100011500120001250013000135001400014500150001550016000165001700017500180001850019000195002000020500210002150022000225002300023500240002450025000255002600026500270002750028000285002900029500300003050031000315003200032500330005500 W Titanium (>97.5 % peak; 97.2 % peak / 95.0 % full load at shelf level) — Table 9: input 200-277 V 50-60 Hz, output 5500 W, 50 V no-load / 49 V full-load, 112 A, operating temp -5 to 45 C, I2C communication, 640 x 73.4 x 40 mm. 'The XE9785L does not support the Power supply units in its enclosure. The power is provided by the six 5500 W power supply units that are installed in the power shelf which provides 51 V DC output to the power busbar'5500Titanium33000 W Titanium — Table 42: 33000 W, 47-63 Hz, 180-350 Vac / 26 A, Titanium, heat dissipation TBD. Shelf: 33 kW output, 49 V no-load / 50 V full-load, 674 A; input Star/WYE 3-phase 311-528 V (rated 346/480 V), Delta 180-305 V (rated 200-277 V), single phase 180-305 V; 47-63 Hz; efficiency 97.2 % peak / 95.0 % at full load; hold-up 20 ms at 100 % load; hot-pluggable Power Management Controller (PMC); N+1, up to six 5.5 kW modules in parallel. Do not mix PSUs from different vendors; no mixed use of different PSU, PMC and power shelf chassis. Feeds the rack's ORv3 1400 A / 48 V busbar33000TitaniumWatts · dashed line = output at 100–120 V low line
AC
06 — Like for like

8 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 XE9785 and 0 to the XE9785L.

ProcessorCoresTDP
AMD EPYC 9965192500 W
AMD EPYC 9845160390 W
AMD EPYC 9825144390 W
AMD EPYC 9755128500 W
AMD EPYC 965596400 W
AMD EPYC 9575F64400 W
AMD EPYC 9475F48360 W
AMD EPYC 945548300 W
07 — Questions

XE9785 vs XE9785L, answered

Is the XE9785 or the XE9785L the faster server?

Neither document publishes benchmark results, so this page compares what they do state. The XE9785 lists 8 processors up to 192 cores at 500 W; the XE9785L lists 8 up to 192 cores at 500 W. Fully populated that is 384 cores against 384.

Which holds more memory?

The XE9785 has 24 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of 6 TB. The XE9785L has 24 and Not stated as a system total; processor table lists Memory Capacity 3 TB per processor; 24 DIMM slots.

Which takes more drives?

XE9785: 16 bays across 2 documented layouts. XE9785L: 16 across 3. Counts include rear and mid-chassis positions where the vendor documents them.

Can either take GPUs?

XE9785: up to 8 accelerators, 0 double-wide cards listed. XE9785L: up to 8, 0 double-wide listed.

Do they share any processors?

Yes — 8 processors appear in both documents, including the AMD EPYC 9965. That makes a like-for-like build possible on either server.

Where these figures come from. XE9785: Dell PowerEdge XE9785 Technical Guide (Rev. A03, May 2026) (Dell document). XE9785L: Dell PowerEdge XE9785L Technical Guide (Rev. A00, November 2025) (Dell 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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