R760 (Dell 16G) vs DL380 Gen11 (HPE current). Both are current-generation DDR5 platforms. Both target the same refresh cycle for enterprises retiring 14G/Gen10 fleets. The decision here is rarely technical — it is about channel, licensing, and which vendor gets the renewal signature.
At a glance
| Spec | PowerEdge R760 | ProLiant DL380 Gen11 |
|---|---|---|
| Generation | 16G (Dell) | Gen11 (HPE) |
| CPU sockets | 2 | 2 |
| Max memory | 8TB DDR5 | 8TB DDR5 |
| Drive bays | 24 SFF | 24 SFF |
| End of sale | still shipping | still shipping |
| End of support | not announced | not announced |
| Lifecycle | current | current |
| Remote management | iDRAC 9 Enterprise | iLO 6 Advanced |
| RAID family | PERC H965i/H755/H755N/H355 | MR408i-o/MR416i-p/MR216i-p/SR932i-p |
| OEM support plan | ProSupport / ProSupport Plus (4-hour mission-critical) | Foundation Care / Proactive Care (24×7 Call-to-Repair) |
Platform and silicon
R760: Intel Xeon Scalable Gen4/Gen5 (Sapphire Rapids, Emerald Rapids), 32 DDR5-4800/5600 slots, 8TB, PCIe Gen5, optional GPU bays. DL380 Gen11: same CPU family, same DDR5, same 8TB, same PCIe Gen5. The silicon is identical.
BMC and remote management: iDRAC 9 Enterprise vs iLO 6 Advanced
iDRAC9 on R760 vs iLO 6 on Gen11. iLO 6 adds Redfish profile conformance improvements. Operationally: whichever your team knows better wins.
Storage and RAID
R760: up to 24 SFF SAS/SATA/NVMe or 16 EDSFF E3.S (plus up to 4 rear E3.S) with PERC H965i-p. Gen11: 24 SFF or 12 EDSFF E3.S with MR416i-p Gen5. For raw NVMe density in 2U, R760’s 16 EDSFF config edges out Gen11’s 12. For SAS/SATA footprint, R760’s 24 SFF is industry-standard.
Firmware and tooling ecosystem
Dell Lifecycle Controller on R760 supports infrastructure-as-code via Ansible RedFish collection. HPE OneView offers similar infrastructure-as-code via Terraform provider. Both have matured to the point where greenfield DevOps teams can pick either and not regret it.
Total cost of ownership: 3-year and 5-year horizons
New DL380 Gen11 typically lists higher than new R760 out the gate, but HPE discounts more aggressively through channel, so net prices after discount land close together. 3-year support: ProSupport Plus or Foundation Care, each priced by the OEM, with Foundation Care typically higher. ICD Care+ on quote for either.
Refurb market reality
Both are current-gen. Refurb supply is minimal in 2026. Real refurb market for R760 opens 2027; Gen11 opens 2028. For 2026 purchasing, both are priced as new platforms.
Third-party maintenance vs OEM renewal
OEM renewal on year 4+ will eventually get expensive — both Dell and HPE raise support costs every year after year 3. ICD Care+ pricing is flat over the life of the contract. Customers planning 8-10 year operational life on R760 or Gen11 save materially by starting with 3-year OEM then transitioning to ICD Care+ in year 4.
When PowerEdge R760 is the right call
R760 when: Dell dominates your rack; VMware + iDRAC is your standard; ProSupport Plus 4-hour mission-critical fits your SLA profile; capex allocation favors Dell channel.
When ProLiant DL380 Gen11 wins
Gen11 when: HPE is incumbent; GreenLake consumption pricing interests you (HPE’s pay-per-use model, unique to HPE); Aruba networking is already in the rack; InfoSight predictive telemetry delivers real ROI in your ops model.
ICD catalog today
PowerEdge R760: memory, SSDs, HDDs, RAID controllers and power supplies from the ICD Dell catalog.
ProLiant DL380 Gen11: memory, SSDs, HDDs, RAID controllers and power supplies from the ICD HPE catalog.
Both platforms ship from Cairo, with same-day delivery in Cairo and Giza. Cross-reference sheets, firmware bundles, and compatibility checks come free with every quote. Need parts for both sides of a mixed estate? One ICD quote covers every brand you run.
Typical workload fit
R760 shines for GPU-accelerated workloads (PERC H965i with tri-mode, 16 NVMe EDSFF option), VMware NSX and NSX-T distributed routing, and large VMware clusters where OpenManage Enterprise fleet-firmware orchestration matters. DL380 Gen11 wins on SAP HANA certified BOM, Aruba-networked ProLiant plus Aruba CX fabric, and GreenLake consumption model buyers. Both handle mainstream virtualization identically.
Known failure modes
Both platforms ship current from ICD.
Refresh cadence
Dell publishes no fixed end-of-sale or end-of-support date for the R760; ProSupport coverage ends per service tag. HPE has not announced an end-of-support date for the DL380 Gen11. Beyond OEM, ICD Care+ extends useful life materially.
Frequently asked
Which is easier for a Kubernetes bare-metal cluster? Parity. Both support Cluster API providers. Dell has a slight edge in OpenShift integration via Dell validated designs; HPE has tight alignment with Ezmeral.
Related: PowerEdge R760 parts catalog | ProLiant DL380 Gen11 parts catalog | ICD Care+ single-vendor-agnostic support.