Dell PowerEdge R720 & R720xd — Refurbished & Custom-Built
The Dell PowerEdge R720 (commonly shortened to Dell R720) is the 12th-generation dual-socket 2U that became the go-to budget server for homelabs, storage builds, and cost-conscious businesses — and its storage-dense twin, the R720xd, pushes drive capacity to 26 bays. PC Server & Parts configures both to order, burn-in tests every build, and backs each with a free 1-year warranty. Browse all Dell servers or the full refurbished server lineup.
Dell R720 / R720xd Specs at a Glance
| Form factor | 2U rack server (R720xd: storage-optimized) |
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| Processors | 2× Intel Xeon E5-2600 / E5-2600 v2, up to 12 cores each |
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| Memory | 24 DIMM slots, DDR3-1866 — up to 768 GB |
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| Drive bays (R720) | 16× 2.5″ SFF or 8× 3.5″ LFF |
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| Drive bays (R720xd) | Up to 26× 2.5″ (24 front + 2 rear) or 12× 3.5″ + 2× 2.5″ rear |
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| Storage controllers | PERC H310 / H710 / H710P — RAID 0/1/5/6/10/50/60 |
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| Management | iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller |
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| Generation / released | Dell 12G, launched 2012 |
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Choose Your Dell R720 or R720xd Chassis
Each chassis opens a Build-Your-Own configurator for CPUs, memory, drives, and networking; we assemble and load-test the build before it ships. 12th-gen stock moves fast — anything showing sold out can still be built to order, just request a quote.
What the Dell R720 Is Best At
The R720 earned its reputation as the homelab and budget-storage king: Proxmox virtualization hosts, TrueNAS and media-server builds on the R720xd’s 3.5″ bays, backup targets, and dev/test machines — a real dual-socket enterprise platform with proper out-of-band management for the price of a desktop. Fair warning from the people who refurbish them: it is a DDR3-era box, so power draw per unit of work is higher than 13th/14th-gen, and current VMware releases no longer support these CPUs — Proxmox, TrueNAS, and Linux run happily.
Dell R720 vs Related Models
- Dell R730 — the 13th-gen successor: DDR4 memory, E5-2600 v3/v4 CPUs, longer software runway.
- Dell R730xd — the next-gen storage twin: up to 26 bays on the DDR4 platform.
- Dell R620 — the 1U 12th-gen sibling: the same CPUs and DIMM count in half the rack space.
Why Buy a Refurbished Dell R720 from PCSP
We have refurbished PowerEdge hardware in Michigan for 17+ years. Every R720 and R720xd is cleaned, firmware-updated, and burn-in tested with your drives installed and verified — not just wiped and boxed. Shipping is free in the contiguous US, the 1-year warranty is included even at entry prices, and multi-unit orders get volume pricing.
Dell PowerEdge R720 Manuals and Resources
Dell PowerEdge R720xd Manuals
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between the R720 and R720xd?
Drive capacity. The standard R720 holds 16× 2.5″ or 8× 3.5″ drives and keeps more room for PCIe cards; the R720xd trades that flexibility for up to 26× 2.5″ bays, or 12× 3.5″ up front plus two rear 2.5″ bays for boot or cache SSDs. CPUs, memory, and controllers are otherwise the same platform.
Is the Dell R720 good for a homelab in 2026?
It is still one of the best price-to-capability homelab servers: cheap DDR3 memory, plentiful spare parts, iDRAC7 remote management, and quiet-enough fans once idle. Budget for the power bill — it draws more per VM than newer generations — and plan around Proxmox or TrueNAS, since current VMware ESXi releases no longer support 12th-gen CPUs.
What CPUs and memory does the R720 support?
Two sockets for Intel Xeon E5-2600 or E5-2600 v2 processors, up to 12 cores each (24 cores total with a pair of E5-2697 v2). Memory tops out at 768 GB across 24 DDR3 slots; the sweet spot for most builds is dual E5-2650 v2 or E5-2680 v2 with 128–256 GB.
How is a refurbished Dell R720 covered if something fails?
All Dell R720 builds include PCSP’s free 1-year warranty — covered failures are repaired or replaced with parts, labor, and shipping included. You can extend coverage to up to 5 years at checkout, and on-site service plans are offered for production deployments.
Can I customize my Dell R720 configuration?
Yes. Pick any Dell R720 or R720xd chassis above and use the Build-Your-Own configurator to choose CPUs, memory, drives, RAID controller, NICs, and rails — we assemble and burn-in test the exact build before it ships. If the configuration you need isn’t listed, request a quote and our team will spec and source it.
