Lenovo SR680a V3 vs Lenovo SR680a V4
A specification-by-specification comparison of the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR680a V3 and the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR680a V4, built from Lenovo’s own documents. 1 headline measure favours the SR680a V3, 3 favour the SR680a V4, and they share no processors.
Bottom line. SR680a V3 leads on storage density. SR680a V4 leads on virtualisation, 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 SR680a V3 if…
- Drive bays: 16 against 8 on the SR680a V4
- Eight B200 SXM6 GPUs on one HGX board; Lenovo’s GPU table gives each 180 GB of HBM3e at 8 TB/s, a 1000 W power rating and NVLink at 900 GB/s — 1,440 GB of GPU memory across the eight.
Choose the SR680a V4 if…
- Cores, fully populated: 172 against 128 on the SR680a V3
- Largest power supply: 3,800 W against 3,200 W on the SR680a V3
- Fastest network option: 800 GbE class against 400 GbE class on the SR680a V3
- 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 | SR680a V3 | SR680a V4 |
|---|---|---|
| Most cores per processor | 64 | 86 |
| Processor families | 5th Gen Xeon Scalable | Xeon 6 P-core |
Memory
| Specification | SR680a V3 | SR680a V4 |
|---|---|---|
| Fastest rated speed | 5,600 MT/s | 6,400 MT/s |
| Memory types | RDIMM DDR5-5600 (10x4 RDIMM); up to 5600 at 1DPC, 4400 at 2DPC | RDIMM DDR5-6400 |
Storage
Bay counts are the maximum each document states, including rear and mid-chassis positions.
| Specification | SR680a V3 | SR680a V4 |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum bays | 16 | 8 |
| Boot devices | 2 x M.2 22110 NVMe in onboard connector (stacked); optional Intel VROC Standard for M.2 (BS7M, RAID 0/1) or VROC RAID1 Only for M.2 (BZ4X) | 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) |
Accelerators & I/O
| Specification | SR680a V3 | SR680a V4 |
|---|---|---|
| OCP slots | 0 | 1 |
| PCIe network slots | 10 | 4 |
| Network cards listed | 9 | 11 |
Power & platform
| Specification | SR680a V3 | SR680a V4 |
|---|---|---|
| Output range | 3,200–3,200 W | 3,200–3,800 W |
| Input types | AC | AC · 277 VAC / HVDC |
| Management | XClarity Controller 2 | XClarity Controller 3 |
| Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet | 943 mm | 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.
SR680a V3: processors by cores and TDP
SR680a V4: processors by cores and TDP
SR680a V3: memory with every slot filled
SR680a V4: memory with every slot filled
SR680a V3: drive bays
Front panel
8 × 2.5" NVMe at the front — 8 bays in total.
SR680a V4: drive bays
Front panel
8 × 2.5" NVMe at the front — 8 bays in total.
SR680a V3: power supplies
SR680a V4: power supplies
SR680a V3 vs SR680a V4, answered
Is the SR680a V3 or the SR680a V4 the faster server?
Neither document publishes benchmark results, so this page compares what they do state. The SR680a V3 lists 6 processors up to 64 cores at 350 W; the SR680a V4 lists 6 up to 86 cores at 350 W. Fully populated that is 128 cores against 172.
Which holds more memory?
The SR680a V3 has 32 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of 4 TB. The SR680a V4 has 32 and 4 TB.
Which takes more drives?
SR680a V3: 16 bays across 1 documented layouts. SR680a V4: 8 across 1. Counts include rear and mid-chassis positions where the vendor documents them.
Can either take GPUs?
SR680a V3: up to 8 accelerators, 0 double-wide cards listed. SR680a V4: 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. SR680a V3: Lenovo ThinkSystem SR680a V3 with B200 Product Guide (July 15, 2026) (Lenovo 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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