Dell EMC PowerEdge R650xs Barebone Server

Chassis and platform

Third generation Xeon Scalable brought PCIe 4.0 and eight memory channels per processor to the PowerEdge line. The R650xs keeps both, so each processor drives its eight channels with one DIMM per channel, and every NVMe drive and add-in card gets double the bandwidth per lane of the previous generation.

What you need to add

The R650xs is a newer platform than most of the refurbished market, so check part generations carefully: second generation Xeon Scalable processors and 2933 MT/s memory from 14th generation servers do not carry over.

• One or two third generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors for the LGA4189 socket, with 15th generation heatsinks
• DDR4 ECC Registered DIMMs rated 3200 MT/s, eight per processor for full channel population
• 2.5 inch or 3.5 inch drives to match the front backplane fitted in this chassis, in 15th generation caddies
• Power supplies of the same rating in both bays if redundancy is required
• Network cards and NVMe adapters as needed, taking advantage of the PCIe 4.0 slots

Populate memory one DIMM per channel across both processors before adding a second DIMM to any channel. Uneven population on this platform reduces memory bandwidth more noticeably than on older generations.

Part numbers and identification

Dell EMC branding on the bezel and labels dates this platform to the 2021 launch of the 15th generation. The model name, with and without the EMC prefix, identifies the chassis.

Compatibility

Because the R650xs is a 15th generation server, its processor, memory, caddy and rail parts are specific to that generation and are not interchangeable with the 14th generation R640 and R740.