HPE ProLiant DL385 Gen11 Upgrade Guide
Maximize the performance and lifespan of your ProLiant DL385 Gen11 (Gen11). Every upgrade option below is verified compatible.
Verified Specifications
| Processor Options | Dual 4th/5th Gen AMD EPYC 9004/9005 (up to 160 cores, 400W, 1152MB L3) |
| Memory Configuration | 24x DDR5 DIMM slots (12 per socket, 12-channel) - up to 6 TB at 4800/6400 MT/s |
| Drive Configurations | Gen5 EDSFF storage options - 8x FHFL PCIe 5.0 rear slots (2U) |
| GPU Options | Up to 8x single-wide or 4x double-wide GPUs |
| Specification Source | HPE official documentation (verified 2026-07-02) |
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
07N8808 147-GB ULTRA320 SCSI HP 10K
07N8818 73.4-GB ULTRA320 SCSI HP 10K
07N9418 147-GB ULTRA320 SCSI HP 10K
07N9428 73.4-GB ULTRA320 SCSI HP 10K
08K0293 Hitachi 36-GB ULTRA320 SCSI HP 10K
08K0312 36-GB ULTRA320 SCSI HP 10K
Upgrade Accessories
Rails, bezels, cable management arms, and drive caddies keep your server organized and serviceable. Replacing worn accessories extends the physical life of your equipment.
013224-001 HP 256MB BBWC Cache Module
05-50064-00 Broadcom U.2 Enabler Cable SFF-8643 to SFF-8639 1M
110936-B21 KVM Server Console Cable 12'
110936-B22 KVM Server Console Cable 20'
110936-B23 KVM Server Console Cable 40'
110936-B24 Compaq KVM Cable 3'
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.
118042-001 HP PCI10 100 NIC Card
127552-B21 HP 8-PORT Fiber Channel Switch
127553-B21 HP 16-PORT Fibre Channel Switch
138603-B21 HP NC3134 NIC 64 PCI Dual Port 10/100
161105-001 HP NC3134 Dual NIC Card
161106-001 HP NC3135 Fast Ethernet Card
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.
0957 HPE 2320 Redundant Power Supply for RX3600 RX6600
0HPX07 Dell Pe 495W Power Supply
122225-001 HP ML530 Redundant Fan Kit
122633-001 Fan: Fan - Chassis Fan 120MM 130CFM V/Speed 3BL
123482 HPE Storageworks Fan Module for M5314
123482-005 HP Fan Assembly
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.
001 HP 4M Netraid Adapter 128MB
158223-B21 HP 16-PORT Fibre Channel Switch
176804-002 HP 1-GB 64-BIT PCI Fibre Channel
218382-001 HP HOT-PLUG Redundant Fan
250176-001 HP Fiber Channel Host
261329-B21 HP 2-GB 64-BIT PCI - FC
Upgrade GPU
This category provides verified compatible upgrade paths. ICD engineers validate every part for compatibility with your specific server model and workload requirements.
227933-B21 HP Ssl Accelerator Card
350732U00-245-G HPE DL380 DL385 DL580 GEN10 GPU 6PX6P Y-power Cable
404563 HPE Ati Fire Gl Video Card
413106 HPE 412831 001 Ati Firegl V3300 128MB Graphics Card
413110 HPE NVIDIA Quadro FX3500 256MB Graphics
452372 HPE Sps Brd 4X PCIe Dual Port Hca
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.
590489-B21 HP CPU Memory Upgrade
P43322-B21 HPE 16GB 1Rx8 RDIMM DDR5-4800 PC5-38400R ECC Memory
P43322-K21 HPE 16GB RDIMM DDR5-4800 PC5-38400R ECC Memory
P43324-0A1 HPE 16GB RDIMM DDR5-4800 PC5-38400R ECC Memory
P43324-1A1 HPE 16GB RDIMM DDR5-4800 PC5-38400R ECC Memory
P43325-B21 HPE 32GB RDIMM DDR5-4800 PC5-38400R ECC Memory
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.
001 HP 4M Netraid Adapter 128MB
066WT AMD Epyc™ 7453 2.75GHZ G10+
120672-B21 Genuine HP
120673-B21 HP ProLiant Server Option Kit
123482-005 HP Fan Assembly
123958-001 HP ProLiant Server Component
More ProLiant DL385 Gen11 Resources
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