Dell PowerEdge R740 vs R740xd Server Comparison

Posted by Ryan Brown on Mar 01, 2021

Summary of Server Differences

Unless budget is extremely tight, I would always recommend the Dell PowerEdge R740xd over the Dell PowerEdge R740. Most all specs are exactly the same except the R740xd has more drives and more locations to put drives. They have really done a great job with the 14th generation Dell servers and finding nooks and crannies for the drives. With the R740xd, you get 50% more drives up front AND you can now have drives in the middle and rear of the server. That gives a lot more flexibility. You can use larger drives and save the extra bays for future expansion or use more smaller drives which can decreases cost while increasing IOPS. You do sacrifice the ability to have a DVCD drive in the server, but that is a small price to pay when most everything is loaded through the DRAC.

If you do need to save a few hundred dollars on your server build, then you can still feel confident with the Dell R740. It is a great well-balanced server with a lot of power, just not as many drive options as the R740xd.