Dell PowerEdge MX740c Upgrade Guide
Maximize the performance and lifespan of your PowerEdge MX740c (14G). Every upgrade option below is verified compatible.
Verified Specifications
| Processor Options | One or two 2nd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors, up to 28 cores per processor; Intel C628 chipset |
| Memory Configuration | 24 DIMM slots; DDR4 RDIMM/LRDIMM up to 2933 MT/s; 1.5 TB max (RDIMM), 3 TB max (LRDIMM); up to 12 slots Intel Optane DCPMM, max 7.68 TB total per server |
| Drive Configurations | Front: up to 6 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA (HDD/SSD) or NVMe PCIe SSD; boot: optional BOSS (2 x M.2) or IDSDM |
| Power Supply Options | MX7000 chassis: up to 6 x 3000W; PSU and grid redundancy support |
| RAID Controllers | S140 Software RAID, HBA330 internal SAS HBA, PERC H730P Adapter, PERC H745P Adapter, HBA330 mini-mezzanine SAS HBA |
| Networking Options | No embedded NIC; 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 mezzanine slots (Fabric A/B) + 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 mini-mezzanine (Fabric C) into MX7000 fabrics - up to 25GbE, 32Gbps FC, 12Gbps SAS |
| Specification Source | Dell official documentation (verified 2026-07-02) |
Upgrade Controllers
Upgrading your RAID controller enables faster disk I/O, larger cache, and support for newer drive technologies. Essential when adding NVMe or SAS-4 drives.
012W3T Dell Pe PERC H840 12GB/S RAID Controller
013MJR Emulex LPE16000 16GB/S FC PCI-E HBA
0187V Dell QLogic QLE2660 1 Port 16GB SFP HBA
019D8P Dell Pe PERC H840 12GB/S RAID Controller
01G44R Dell PERC H750 PCI-E RAID Controller
01HD39 Dell Pe 12GB/S SAS HBA Controller
Upgrade Storage
Moving from spinning disk to SSD or NVMe storage provides the largest single performance improvement — often 10-50x faster I/O. Consider NVMe for boot drives and high-IOPS workloads.
005052919 Dell Powerstore 1.92TB 2.5" SSD
005053076 Dell Powerstore 1.92TB 2.5" SSD
005053077 Dell Powerstore 1.92TB 2.5" SSD
0086DD Dell 1.92-TB 12G 2.5 SAS RI SSD W/G176J
00FYFW Dell 1.92-TB 12G 2.5 SAS RI SSD W/G176J
00J77H Dell 1.8-TB 12G 10K 2.5 SAS W/G176J
Upgrade Processors
CPU upgrades deliver more cores and higher clock speeds. If your workload is CPU-bound (compilation, analytics, HPC), upgrading from 8-core to 16+ core processors provides significant throughput improvement.
09JW14 Dell Intel Xeon Silver 4110 2.1GHZ Processor
338-BLMZ Dell Intel Xeon Gold 5122 3.6GHZ 4C/8T 105W for R640/R740
338-BLNB Dell Intel Xeon Gold 6128 3.4GHZ 6C/12T 115W for R640/R740
338-BLNC Dell Intel Xeon Gold 6140 2.3GHZ 18C/36T 140W for R640/R740
338-BLNE Dell Intel Xeon Gold 6130 2.1GHZ 16C/32T 125W for R640/R740
338-BLNF Dell Intel Xeon Gold 5120 2.2GHZ 14C/28T 105W for R640/R740
Upgrade Memory
Memory is the most impactful upgrade for virtualization and database workloads. Upgrading from 64GB to 128GB or 256GB can dramatically improve VM density and application response times.
0DFK3Y Dell 16GB RDIMM DDR4-2666 PC4-21300R ECC Memory
0M1G12 Dell 16GB RDIMM DDR4-2666 PC4-21300R ECC Memory
0NMWFP Dell 16GB RDIMM DDR4-2666 PC4-21300R ECC Memory
0PWR5T Dell 16GB RDIMM DDR4-2666 PC4-21300R ECC Memory
0VM51C Dell 16GB RDIMM DDR4-2666 PC4-21300R ECC Memory
0Y69D8 Dell 16GB RDIMM DDR4-2666 PC4-21300R ECC Memory
Upgrade Networking
Stepping up from 1GbE to 10GbE or 25GbE eliminates network bottlenecks for VM migration, iSCSI storage traffic, and backup windows. Most modern workloads benefit from at least 10GbE.
0GMW01 Dell Broadcom 57412 DP 10GBE SFP+ Network Adapter
1224N Dell/Broadcom 57416 2X10GB BASE-T/2X1GB BASE-T RJ45 Rndc
19RNV Mellanox CONNECTX-3 Dual Port 10GB Adapter CX322A
1WYFT Intel X710-T2L Dual Port 10GBE RJ45 PCIe NIC
1YXTT Emulex OCE10102-FX-D Fcoe, Dual Port, 10GB, PCIe Gbic Removed
4V7G2 Dell/Intel X550-T2 10GB DP PCIe BASE-T NIC
Upgrade Power & Cooling
This category provides verified compatible upgrade paths. ICD engineers validate every part for compatibility with your specific server model and workload requirements.
01CW2J Dell Heatsink for Pe R440
0F8NV Dell R640/R740/R740XD 1U Standard Heatsink
0KHTVJ Khtvj Dell Heatsink for Poweredge R750XS CPU
0T021F Dell Precision T3500, T5500, T7500 Low Power CPU Heatsink
0T7N3J Dell PowerEdge R450/R650XS 1U High Performance Heatsink up to 220W TDP 15G
0VH8RK Dell PowerEdge R450/R550/R650/R650XS/R750 1U Standard Heatsink ≤165W TDP 15G
More PowerEdge MX740c Resources
Ready to upgrade your PowerEdge MX740c?
Tell us your current configuration and workload. Our engineers will recommend the most impactful upgrades with guaranteed compatibility.
Get Upgrade Quote