Head-to-head · every figure from the vendor documents
Lenovo SR650 V3 vs Lenovo SR650 V4
A specification-by-specification comparison of the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650 V3 and the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650 V4, built from Lenovo’s own documents. None of the headline measures favour the SR650 V3; 4 favour the SR650 V4, and they share no processors.
Bottom line. SR650 V4 leads on virtualisation, AI and acceleration, network throughput. Neither vendor publishes benchmarks for these machines, so every call here is made on what their documents state.
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
Higher172
8 TB
Memory ceiling
As each document states it
8 TB
40
Drive bays
40
Up to 8
Accelerators
HigherUp to 10
2,600 W
Largest power supply
Higher3,200 W
2U Rack
Rack height
2U Rack
200 GbE class
Fastest network option
Higher800 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 SR650 V3 if…
Three drive zones — front, mid-chassis and rear — take the 2U chassis to 40 × 2.5-inch or 20 × 3.5-inch bays, and up to 36 NVMe drives can each run on a dedicated x4 link with no oversubscription.
Choose the SR650 V4 if…
Cores, fully populated: 172 against 128 on the SR650 V3
Accelerators: Up to 10 against Up to 8 on the SR650 V3
Largest power supply: 3,200 W against 2,600 W on the SR650 V3
Up to 36 NVMe drives — 24 front, 8 mid and 4 rear — connect straight to the processors on a full x4 link each, so an all-flash build needs no retimer adapters.
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.
VirtualisationSR650 V3: 128 cores with 8 TB. SR650 V4: 172 cores with 8 TB.SR650 V4
Databases & in-memoryMemory ceiling 8 TB against 8 TB, across 32 and 32 DIMM slots.Line ball
Storage density40 bays in 2U against 40 in 2U.Line ball
AI & acceleration8 accelerators against 10 in the vendor documents.SR650 V4
Network throughputFastest card listed: 200 GbE class against 800 GbE class.SR650 V4
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.
Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet
766 mm
796 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.
SR650 V3: processors by cores and TDP
5th Gen Xeon Scalable 324th Gen Xeon Scalable 52Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU
SR650 V4: processors by cores and TDP
Xeon 6 P-core 27Bubble size = L3 cache · hover a bubble for the full SKU
SR650 V3: memory with every slot filled
SR650 V4: memory with every slot filled
SR650 V3: drive bays
Front panel
24 × 2.5" SAS/SATA at the front — 24 bays in total.
SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe
SR650 V4: drive bays
Front panel
12 × 3.5" SAS/SATA at the front — 12 bays in total.
SAS/SATANVMeSAS/SATA + NVMe
SR650 V3: power supplies
AC−48 V DC
SR650 V4: power supplies
AC277 VAC / HVDC−48 V DC
07 — Questions
SR650 V3 vs SR650 V4, answered
Is the SR650 V3 or the SR650 V4 the faster server?
Neither document publishes benchmark results, so this page compares what they do state. The SR650 V3 lists 84 processors up to 64 cores at 385 W; the SR650 V4 lists 27 up to 86 cores at 350 W. Fully populated that is 128 cores against 172.
Which holds more memory?
The SR650 V3 has 32 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of 8 TB. The SR650 V4 has 32 and 8 TB.
Which takes more drives?
SR650 V3: 40 bays across 20 documented layouts. SR650 V4: 40 across 16. Counts include rear and mid-chassis positions where the vendor documents them.
Can either take GPUs?
SR650 V3: up to 8 accelerators, 1 double-wide cards listed. SR650 V4: up to 10, 2 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. SR650 V3: Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650 V3 Server Product Guide (publication date is not printed in the text export) (Lenovo document). SR650 V4: Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650 V4 Server (September 8, 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.