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

HPE Compute XD690 vs Lenovo SR685a V3

A specification-by-specification comparison of the HPE Compute XD690 and the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR685a V3, built from HPE’s and Lenovo’s own documents. 1 headline measure favours the Compute XD690, 3 favour the SR685a V3, and they share no processors.

Bottom line. SR685a V3 leads on virtualisation, storage density. Neither vendor publishes benchmarks for these machines, so every call here is made on what their documents state.

HPE Compute XD690 10U front: twelve modules in two rows of six above an HPE-logo mesh intake; lower tray with eight E1.S bays and I/O ports
HPE ProLiant
Compute XD690
10U Rack2 sockets32 DIMMHPE Compute XD690 Baseboard Management Controller
Configure the Compute XD690 →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
128
Cores, fully populated
Largest listed processor × its socket count
Higher256
3 TB
Memory ceiling
As each document states it
3 TB
8
Drive bays
Higher16
Up to 8
Accelerators
Up to 8
3,200 WHigher
Largest power supply
2,600 W
10U Rack
Rack height
Higher8U 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 Compute XD690 if…

  • Largest power supply: 3,200 W against 2,600 W on the SR685a V3
  • Eight NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GPUs on an HGX B300 board in a chassis designed for air-cooled infrastructure, with ARCS or a rear door heat exchanger as options.

Choose the SR685a V3 if…

  • Cores, fully populated: 256 against 128 on the Compute XD690
  • Drive bays: 16 against 8 on the Compute XD690
  • Rack height: 8U Rack against 10U Rack on the Compute XD690
  • 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.

VirtualisationCompute XD690: 128 cores with 3 TB. SR685a V3: 256 cores with 3 TB.SR685a V3
Databases & in-memoryMemory ceiling 3 TB against 3 TB, across 32 and 24 DIMM slots.Line ball
Storage density8 bays in 10U against 16 in 8U.SR685a V3
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.

SpecificationCompute XD690SR685a V3
Processors listed212
Most cores per processor64128
Highest processor TDP350 W400 W
Processor familiesXeon 6 P-coreAMD EPYC 9005 · AMD EPYC 9004

Memory

SpecificationCompute XD690SR685a V3
DIMM slots3224
Slots per processor1612
Largest module listed96 GB128 GB
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.

SpecificationCompute XD690SR685a V3
Maximum bays816
Bay sizesE3.S2.5-inch
Boot devicesHPE Compute XD 1.92 TB NVMe Read Intensive M.2 2280 SSD (S6V50A), up to 2 on a single carrier card (the document does not explicitly label it a boot device)ThinkSystem M.2 NVMe 2-Bay RAID Adapter (B8P9) - Marvell 88NR2241 RAID-0/1, PCIe 3.0 x2, no SED; no field upgrade
Storage controllers02

Accelerators & I/O

SpecificationCompute XD690SR685a V3
OCP slots01
PCIe network slots210
Network cards listed512

Power & platform

SpecificationCompute XD690SR685a V3
Output range3,200–3,200 W2,600–2,600 W
ManagementHPE Compute XD690 Baseboard Management ControllerXClarity Controller 2
Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet800 mm (31.5 in) deep924 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.

Compute XD690: processors by cores and TDP

HPE Compute XD690 processors0816243240485664350 WCores per processorIntel Xeon 6776P — 64 cores · 350 W · 2.3 GHz base · 336 MB cache · DDR5-6400Intel Xeon 6767P — 64 cores · 350 W · 2.4 GHz base · 336 MB cache · DDR5-64006776P64 cores · 5.5 W/core — top SKU and most efficient
Xeon 6 P-core 2Bubble 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

Compute XD690: memory with every slot filled

64 GB2 TB96 GB3 TB32 slots · 16 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

Compute XD690: drive bays

Front panel

8 × EDSFF 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

Compute XD690: power supplies

05001000150020002500300035003200 W Titanium — 12x Titanium 3,200-Watt 200-240 VAC input supplies in an embedded kit included with chassis S6G97A; configuration is fixed and non-selectable. PSU family not named: the document mentions neither Flex Slot nor M-CRPS, and hot-plug is not stated. Standard power draw 14.3 kW continuous, 16.4 kW peak. 12 x S6V53A HPE Compute XD690 C19-C20 250 V 20A 1 m D-Lock power cords included.3200TitaniumWatts · 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
07 — Questions

Compute XD690 vs SR685a V3, answered

Is the Compute XD690 or the SR685a V3 the faster server?

Neither document publishes benchmark results, so this page compares what they do state. The Compute XD690 lists 2 processors up to 64 cores at 350 W; the SR685a V3 lists 12 up to 128 cores at 400 W. Fully populated that is 128 cores against 256.

Which holds more memory?

The Compute XD690 has 32 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of 3 TB practical ceiling. The SR685a V3 has 24 and 3 TB.

Which takes more drives?

Compute XD690: 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?

Compute XD690: up to 8 accelerators, 0 double-wide cards listed. SR685a V3: up to 8, 0 double-wide listed.

Do they share any processors?

No. The two documents list different processors, so a like-for-like processor build is not possible across these two.

Where these figures come from. Compute XD690: HPE Compute XD690 QuickSpecs (Version 6 - 06-July-2026) (HPE 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

R760xa vs Compute XD690Dell vs HPEXE7740 vs Compute XD690Dell vs HPEXE7745 vs SR685a V3Dell vs LenovoXE8640 vs Compute XD690Dell vs HPEXE9680 vs Compute XD690Dell vs HPEXE9680L vs Compute XD690Dell vs HPEXE9685L vs SR685a V3Dell vs LenovoXE9780 vs Compute XD690Dell vs HPE

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