Dell XE9785 vs HPE XD685
A specification-by-specification comparison of the Dell PowerEdge XE9785 and the HPE ProLiant Compute XD685, built from Dell’s and HPE’s own documents. 4 headline measures favour the XE9785, 1 favours the XD685, and 3 processors appear in both lists.
Bottom line. XE9785 leads on virtualisation, databases and in-memory work. XD685 leads on 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 XE9785 if…
- Cores, fully populated: 384 against 192 on the XD685
- Memory ceiling: 6 TB against 3 TB on the XD685
- Drive bays: 16 against 12 on the XD685
- 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 XD685 if…
- Rack height: 5U Rack against 10U Rack on the XE9785
- 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.
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 | XE9785 | XD685 |
|---|---|---|
| Processors listed | 8 | 9 |
| Most cores per processor | 192 | 96 |
| Highest processor TDP | 500 W | 400 W |
Memory
| Specification | XE9785 | XD685 |
|---|---|---|
| Largest module listed | 256 GB | 128 GB |
| Memory types | RDIMM DDR5-6400 (ECC) | RDIMM DDR5-6400 |
Storage
Bay counts are the maximum each document states, including rear and mid-chassis positions.
| Specification | XE9785 | XD685 |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum bays | 16 | 12 |
| Bay sizes | E3.S · 2.5-inch | E3.S |
| Boot devices | Embedded BOSS (2 x M.2 NVMe SSD, HWRAID 1, dedicated heat sinks and thermal pads) | 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 controllers | 2 | 3 |
Accelerators & I/O
| Specification | XE9785 | XD685 |
|---|---|---|
| OCP slots | 1 | 0 |
| Network cards listed | 15 | 20 |
Power & platform
| Specification | XE9785 | XD685 |
|---|---|---|
| Output range | 3,200–3,200 W | 3,000–3,000 W |
| Input types | AC | −48 V DC |
| Management | iDRAC10 | HPE iLO 6 |
| Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet | 439.5 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 bezel | 1049 mm (L) 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.
XE9785: processors by cores and TDP
XD685: processors by cores and TDP
XE9785: memory with every slot filled
XD685: memory with every slot filled
XE9785: drive bays
Front panel
16 × EDSFF NVMe at the front — 16 bays in total.
XD685: drive bays
Front panel
8 × EDSFF NVMe at the front — 8 bays in total.
XE9785: power supplies
XD685: power supplies
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: 5 more are exclusive to the XE9785 and 6 to the XD685.
| Processor | Cores | TDP |
|---|---|---|
| AMD EPYC 9655 | 96 | 400 W |
| AMD EPYC 9575F | 64 | 400 W |
| AMD EPYC 9455 | 48 | 300 W |
XE9785 vs XD685, answered
Is the XE9785 or the XD685 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 XD685 lists 9 up to 96 cores at 400 W. Fully populated that is 384 cores against 192.
Which holds more memory?
The XE9785 has 24 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of 6 TB. The XD685 has 24 and 3.0 TB.
Which takes more drives?
XE9785: 16 bays across 2 documented layouts. XD685: 12 across 2. 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. 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. XE9785: Dell PowerEdge XE9785 Technical Guide (Rev. A03, May 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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