Dell PowerEdge R640 Server — Refurbished and Custom-Built
The Dell PowerEdge R640 (usually shortened to Dell R640) is a two-socket 1U rack server built on Intel Xeon Scalable processors — Dell’s 14th-generation (14G) platform for dense scale-out computing and the direct successor to the PowerEdge R630. In a single rack unit it takes one or two 1st or 2nd Generation Xeon Scalable CPUs of up to 28 cores each, 24 DDR4 DIMM slots, and up to ten 2.5″ front bays that can be populated entirely with NVMe SSDs. That combination is why the R640 is still the default 1U building block on the refurbished market.
Every PowerEdge R640 on this page is configured to your spec, assembled and burn-in tested in our Michigan facility, and backed by a free 1-year warranty. Browse all Dell servers or the complete refurbished server catalog.
Dell PowerEdge R640 Specs
| Form factor | 1U rack, two-socket (2S/1U). 42.8 mm H × 482.0 mm W × 808.5 mm D, 21.9 kg (48.3 lb) with bezel |
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| Generation | Dell 14G PowerEdge (regulatory model E39S); successor to the PowerEdge R630 |
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| Processors | One or two 1st or 2nd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors, up to 28 cores per processor; Intel C620 chipset; up to 3 Intel UPI links at up to 10.4 GT/s |
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| Memory | 24 DDR4 DIMM slots — 12 per CPU across 6 channels, 2 DIMMs per channel. Registered ECC DDR4 only (RDIMM / LRDIMM). Up to 2933 MT/s at 1 DIMM per channel, 2666 MT/s at 2. Maximum 1.53 TB with RDIMMs, 3 TB with LRDIMMs (LRDIMM builds run at 2666 MT/s) |
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| Persistent memory | Up to 12 Intel Optane persistent memory (PMem) modules — 6.14 TB, or 7.68 TB combined with LRDIMMs. NVDIMM option to 192 GB |
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| Front drive bays | 4× 3.5″ SAS/SATA (max 64 TB); 8× 2.5″; 10× 2.5″ SAS/SATA with up to 8 NVMe (max 76.8 TB); or 10× 2.5″ all-NVMe (max 64 TB) |
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| Rear drive bays | Up to 2× 2.5″ SAS/SATA/SSD/NVMe (max 15.36 TB) |
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| Storage controllers | Internal: PERC S140 (software RAID), H330, HBA330, H730P, H740P. External: PERC H840, 12 Gbps SAS HBA |
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| Boot devices | BOSS card — hardware RAID across 2× M.2 SATA SSDs (240 GB or 480 GB); optional Internal Dual SD Module |
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| Networking | Network daughter card: 4× 1GbE, 2× 10GbE + 2× 1GbE, 4× 10GbE, or 2× 25GbE |
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| Expansion | Up to 3× PCIe Gen3 x16 slots, plus dedicated PERC and network daughter card slots |
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| Accelerators | Up to 3 single-width GPUs (NVIDIA T4) or 1 FPGA |
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| Power supplies | Hot-plug with full redundancy: 495 W, 750 W, 1100 W and 1600 W Platinum, plus 750 W Titanium (DC variants available). Up to 8 hot-plug fans |
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| Management | iDRAC9 with Lifecycle Controller, iDRAC Direct, iDRAC RESTful API with Redfish, optional Quick Sync 2 wireless module |
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| Rack rails | ReadyRails II sliding rails (optional cable management arm) or ReadyRails static rails; both tool-less in 4-post square- and round-hole racks, static rails also mount 2-post |
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| Security | TPM 1.2 / 2.0 optional, Secure Boot, cryptographically signed firmware, Silicon Root of Trust, System Lockdown (requires iDRAC Enterprise or Datacenter) |
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Figures above come from Dell’s own PowerEdge R640 spec sheet and technical guide — both hosted below.
Choose Your Dell R640 Configuration
Pick the chassis and the configurator opens: processors, memory, each drive, the PERC or HBA storage controller, network daughter card, BOSS boot card, iDRAC license, power supplies, rails and bezel. We assemble, update firmware and load-test the finished server before it ships. If the layout or part you need isn’t in the list — specific drives, a GPU, an OS pre-install, or a rack-quantity order — request a quote and we’ll build the exact spec. Buying refurbished puts a fully populated R640 in your rack for a fraction of new-equivalent pricing, with the same Dell parts and a warranty behind them.
Dell R640 Manuals and Spec Sheets
The quick reference guide, rail installation guide and RAID controller documentation are in our R640 spec sheet library.
What the Dell PowerEdge R640 Is Best At
The R640 is the standard building block for virtualization farms, web and application tiers, scale-out databases, and co-location racks where 1U density and power efficiency drive the cost model. Two 28-core CPUs put up to 56 cores and 3 TB of memory in one rack unit, so consolidation ratios stay high without spending 2U of rack space. The 10-bay NVMe chassis turns the same platform into a serious all-flash node for VMware vSAN, Ceph or a low-latency database tier, and the three PCIe Gen3 x16 slots leave room for 25GbE networking or a single-width inference GPU.
Dell R640 vs Related Models
- Dell R740 — the 2U counterpart on the same 14G platform: same dual Xeon Scalable CPUs and 24 DIMM slots, but up to 16× 2.5″ or 8× 3.5″ front bays and up to three 300 W (or six 150 W) GPUs.
- Dell R650 — the 15th-generation 1U successor: 3rd Generation Xeon Scalable up to 40 cores, 32 DIMM slots (2 TB RDIMM / 8 TB LRDIMM) at up to 3200 MT/s, and PCIe Gen4.
- Dell R440 — the budget 1U alternative: 16 DIMM slots to 1 TB at 2666 MT/s and up to 24 cores per CPU.
- Dell R630 — the 13G predecessor, on Xeon E5-2600 v3/v4 and iDRAC8, for the lowest entry price.
Why Buy a Refurbished Dell R640 from PCSP
Every PCSP R640 is professionally refurbished in Michigan: cleaned, inspected, firmware-updated, and burn-in tested before shipping free to the lower 48 with a 1-year warranty (extendable to 5 years). Need a rack of them? Volume quotes turn around fast.
The R640 tops out at ten 2.5-inch bays, so the RAID level and the drive count have to be chosen together rather than in sequence. What is a RAID array? sets out the minimum drives and the usable capacity for each level before you configure the PERC.
Dell PowerEdge R640 FAQ
What generation is the Dell PowerEdge R640?
The Dell PowerEdge R640 is a 14th-generation (14G) PowerEdge server and the direct successor to the 13G PowerEdge R630. Dell’s own R640 technical guide compares the two: the R640 moves from the R630’s Xeon E5-2600 v3/v4 processors and Intel C610 chipset to Intel Xeon Scalable processors on the C620 chipset, adds a 10-bay all-NVMe backplane option, and replaces iDRAC8 with iDRAC9.
How much RAM does a Dell R640 support?
A Dell PowerEdge R640 supports up to 3 TB of memory across its 24 DDR4 DIMM slots when populated with LRDIMMs, or 1.53 TB with RDIMMs. Slots run 12 per CPU across 6 channels — 2933 MT/s applies to dual-rank RDIMMs at one DIMM per channel, while two DIMMs per channel run at 2666 MT/s. The 3 TB maximum fills all 24 slots with LRDIMMs, so those builds run at 2666 MT/s. Adding Intel Optane persistent memory raises the ceiling to 7.68 TB. Most refurbished builds land between 128 GB and 768 GB using 32 GB or 64 GB RDIMMs, which is still the cheapest route to a high-memory 1U host.
What CPUs does the Dell R640 support?
One or two 1st or 2nd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors with up to 28 cores each — from entry-level Silver parts to 28-core Platinum 8280s. Second-generation (Cascade Lake) chips are the better used-market buy: they support DDR4 at 2933 MT/s, where first-generation parts top out at 2666 MT/s.
Dell R640 vs R740 — what’s the difference?
The R640 is the 1U model and the R740 is the 2U model of the same 14th-generation platform. Both take up to two Xeon Scalable CPUs of up to 28 cores and 24 DDR4 DIMM slots to 3 TB, so compute and memory are effectively identical. The difference is what fits in the extra rack unit: the R640 stops at 10× 2.5″ (or 4× 3.5″) front bays and up to three single-width GPUs such as the NVIDIA T4, while the R740 takes up to 16× 2.5″ or 8× 3.5″ drives and up to three 300 W or six 150 W GPUs. Choose the R640 for rack density, the R740 for storage or accelerator capacity.
Is the Dell R640 still worth buying in 2026?
Yes — for workloads that need cores, memory and 1U density rather than the newest platform features. A fully populated R640 still delivers 56 cores, 3 TB of RAM and ten NVMe bays per rack unit, which covers most virtualization, web-tier and database workloads, and DDR4 plus 1st/2nd Gen Xeon Scalable parts remain plentiful and cheap on the secondary market. Management is modern enough to fit existing tooling: iDRAC9 with Lifecycle Controller and the Redfish RESTful API. Step up to the R650 if you specifically need PCIe Gen4 NVMe, DDR4-3200, 40-core CPUs, or the highest core density per socket license.
What warranty comes with a refurbished Dell R640?
Every configured Dell R640 ships with a free 1-year PCSP warranty covering replacement parts, labor, and shipping on covered failures. Coverage can be extended to up to 5 years at checkout, and on-site service tiers (8×5 next-business-day and 24×7×4) are available for production environments.
