Lenovo SR860 V3 vs Lenovo SR860 V4
A specification-by-specification comparison of the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR860 V3 and the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR860 V4, built from Lenovo’s own documents. None of the headline measures favour the SR860 V3; 4 favour the SR860 V4, and they share no processors.
Bottom line. SR860 V4 leads on virtualisation, storage density, 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 SR860 V3 if…
- Forty-eight front bays in one chassis: all SAS/SATA, or 24 SAS/SATA plus 24 AnyBay with each AnyBay bay on its own Gen5 x4 NVMe link.
Choose the SR860 V4 if…
- Cores, fully populated: 344 against 240 on the SR860 V3
- Drive bays: 56 against 48 on the SR860 V3
- Largest power supply: 3,200 W against 2,700 W on the SR860 V3
- Fifty-six front drives in one chassis: 32 E3.S 1T NVMe bays over 24 × 2.5-inch SAS/SATA bays, or 48 × 2.5-inch with up to 24 of them NVMe.
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 | SR860 V3 | SR860 V4 |
|---|---|---|
| Processors listed | 10 | 7 |
| Most cores per processor | 60 | 86 |
| Processor families | 4th Gen Xeon Scalable | Xeon 6 P-core |
Memory
| Specification | SR860 V3 | SR860 V4 |
|---|---|---|
| Largest module listed | 128 GB | 256 GB |
| Fastest rated speed | 5,600 MT/s | 6,400 MT/s |
| Memory types | RDIMM DDR5-4800 · 9x4 RDIMM · 3DS RDIMM | RDIMM DDR5-6400 · 3DS RDIMM DDR5-6400 · CXL 2.0 memory module (E3.S 2T) |
Storage
Bay counts are the maximum each document states, including rear and mid-chassis positions.
| Specification | SR860 V3 | SR860 V4 |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum bays | 48 | 56 |
| Documented layouts | 2 | 4 |
| Bay sizes | 2.5-inch | 2.5-inch · E3.S |
| Boot devices | M.2 SATA/NVMe 2-Bay Enablement Kit (4Y37A09738) · M.2 SATA/x4 NVMe 2-Bay Adapter (4Y37A79663) · M.2 NVMe 2-Bay RAID Adapter (4Y37A09750) + 1 more | M.2 RAID B550i-2i SATA/NVMe Enablement Kit (internal, 2 x NVMe M.2, Broadcom SAS3808N RAID) · M.2 RAID B545i-2i SATA/NVMe Adapter (internal, 2 x SATA or NVMe M.2, Broadcom SAS3808N RAID) · M.2 B350i-2i NVMe Enablement Kit (internal, 2 x NVMe M.2, optional VROC RAID) + 2 more |
| Storage controllers | 16 | 15 |
Accelerators & I/O
| Specification | SR860 V3 | SR860 V4 |
|---|---|---|
| Double-wide cards listed | 0 | 1 |
| Network cards listed | 29 | 14 |
Power & platform
| Specification | SR860 V3 | SR860 V4 |
|---|---|---|
| Power-supply options | 11 | 10 |
| Output range | 1,100–2,700 W | 1,300–3,200 W |
| Management | XClarity Controller 2 | XClarity Controller 3 |
| Chassis depthVendors measure depth differently — see each data sheet | 906 mm | 906 mm (2.5-inch chassis) / 946 mm (E3.S chassis) |
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.
SR860 V3: processors by cores and TDP
SR860 V4: processors by cores and TDP
SR860 V3: memory with every slot filled
SR860 V4: memory with every slot filled
SR860 V3: drive bays
Front panel
8 × 2.5" SAS/SATA at the front — 8 bays in total.
SR860 V4: drive bays
Front panel
8 × 2.5" SAS/SATA at the front — 8 bays in total.
SR860 V3: power supplies
SR860 V4: power supplies
SR860 V3 vs SR860 V4, answered
Is the SR860 V3 or the SR860 V4 the faster server?
Neither document publishes benchmark results, so this page compares what they do state. The SR860 V3 lists 10 processors up to 60 cores at 350 W; the SR860 V4 lists 7 up to 86 cores at 350 W. Fully populated that is 240 cores against 344.
Which holds more memory?
The SR860 V3 has 64 DIMM slots and a stated ceiling of 16 TB. The SR860 V4 has 64 and 16 TB.
Which takes more drives?
SR860 V3: 48 bays across 2 documented layouts. SR860 V4: 56 across 4. Counts include rear and mid-chassis positions where the vendor documents them.
Can either take GPUs?
SR860 V3: up to 8 accelerators, 0 double-wide cards listed. SR860 V4: up to 8, 1 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. SR860 V3: Lenovo ThinkSystem SR860 V3 Server Product Guide (publication date is not printed in the text export) (Lenovo document). SR860 V4: Lenovo ThinkSystem SR860 V4 Server (September 7, 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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