- CPU sockets
- 2 × LGA2011
- CPUs
- Xeon E5-2600 and E5-2600 v2
- Memory
- DDR3 RDIMM, LRDIMM or UDIMM
- Memory slots
- 24 (12 per CPU)
- Max memory
- 768 GB (24 × 32 GB LRDIMM)
- Drive bays
- 8 × 3.5in or 16 × 2.5in
- RAID
- PERC H310, H710 or H710P Mini Mono
- PCIe
- Up to 7 slots with both risers
- Power supplies
- 495W, 750W or 1100W hot-swap
- Management
- iDRAC7
- CMOS battery
- CR2032 coin cell
- The 2U rack server itself
- from $179 on eBay (34 listings)
Dell PowerEdge R720 CPUs
| Item | Fits because | Lowest now | $/core | Typical | Trend | 7-day | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Intel Xeon E5-2620 v2 | E5-2600 v2, LGA2011 | $5.99 | $1.00 | $15.31 | — | 54 | |
 Intel Xeon E5-2630 v2 | E5-2600 v2, LGA2011 | $6.80 | $1.13 | $16.96 | — | 58 | |
 Intel Xeon E5-2640 v2 | E5-2600 v2, LGA2011 | $7.99 | $1.00 | $19.47 | — | 42 | |
 Intel Xeon E5-2660 v2 | E5-2600 v2, LGA2011 | $10.55 | $1.06 | $26.39 | — | 35 | |
 Intel Xeon E5-2650 v2 | E5-2600 v2, LGA2011 | $10.99 | $1.37 | $25.00 | — | 47 | |
 Xeon E5-2680 v2 | E5-2600 v2, LGA2011 | $14.06 | $1.41 | $31.94 | ▲ 4.3% | 44 | |
 Intel Xeon E5-2670 v2 | E5-2600 v2, LGA2011 | $16.03 | $1.60 | $40.52 | — | 22 | |
 Intel Xeon E5-2690 v2 | E5-2600 v2, LGA2011 | $19.95 | $1.99 | $45.00 | — | 33 | |
 Intel Xeon E5-2667 v2 | E5-2600 v2, LGA2011 | $39.95 | $4.99 | $66.89 | — | 13 | |
 Intel Xeon E5-2695 v2 | E5-2600 v2, LGA2011 | $44.00 | $3.67 | $235 | — | 11 | |
 Intel Xeon E5-2697 v2 | E5-2600 v2, LGA2011 | $54.98 | $4.58 | $85.00 | — | 25 |
Dell PowerEdge R720 memory
| Item | Fits because | Lowest now | $/GB | Typical | Trend | 7-day | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DDR3 8GB RDIMM 1333 ECC (2Rx4) | DDR3 registered ECC; don't mix RDIMM and LRDIMM | $11.98 | $1.50 | $32.24 | 0% | 63 | |
 DDR3 16GB RDIMM 1600 ECC (2Rx4) | DDR3 registered ECC; don't mix RDIMM and LRDIMM | $19.11 | $1.19 | $43.48 | 0% | 72 | |
 DDR3 32GB LRDIMM 1333 (4Rx4) | DDR3 registered ECC; don't mix RDIMM and LRDIMM | $40.00 | $1.25 | $64.99 | 0% | 45 |
Cost to fill all 24 slots
- DDR3 8GB RDIMM 1333 ECC (2Rx4): 24 × $11.98 = $288 for 192 GB
- DDR3 16GB RDIMM 1600 ECC (2Rx4): 24 × $19.11 = $459 for 384 GB
- DDR3 32GB LRDIMM 1333 (4Rx4): 24 × $40.00 = $960 for 768 GB
Dell PowerEdge R720 drives
| Item | Fits because | Lowest now | Typical | Trend | 7-day | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 600GB 10K SAS 2.5in drive | 2.5in SAS: needs a tray; behind the RAID card or HBA | $7.99 | $18.73 | — | 157 | |
 900GB 10K SAS 2.5in drive | 2.5in SAS: needs a tray; behind the RAID card or HBA | $10.99 | $23.74 | — | 154 | |
 1.2TB 10K SAS 2.5in drive | 2.5in SAS: needs a tray; behind the RAID card or HBA | $17.50 | $34.95 | — | 180 | |
 1.8TB 10K SAS 2.5in drive | 2.5in SAS: needs a tray; behind the RAID card or HBA | $29.99 | $74.96 | — | 169 | |
 Samsung 870 EVO 0.5TB | 2.5in SATA SSD | $69.00 | $156 | ▲ 57.4% | 49 | |
 Crucial MX500 1TB | 2.5in SATA SSD | $89.99 | $176 | ▲ 11.4% | 37 | |
 Samsung 870 EVO 1TB | 2.5in SATA SSD | $120 | $256 | ▲ 6.7% | 134 | |
 Crucial MX500 2TB | 2.5in SATA SSD | $165 | $256 | ▼ 3.5% | 9 | |
 HGST Ultrastar He10 10TB | 3.5in SATA/SAS: LFF-bay models only | $171 | $281 | ▼ 6.2% | 20 | |
 Samsung 870 EVO 2TB | 2.5in SATA SSD | $175 | $366 | 0% | 137 | |
 Seagate Exos X16 10TB | 3.5in SATA/SAS: LFF-bay models only | $175 | $292 | ▲ 8.4% | 31 | |
 Seagate Exos X18 10TB | 3.5in SATA/SAS: LFF-bay models only | $185 | $238 | 0% | 9 | |
 HGST Ultrastar He12 12TB | 3.5in SATA/SAS: LFF-bay models only | $229 | $350 | 0% | 31 | |
 Seagate Exos X16 12TB | 3.5in SATA/SAS: LFF-bay models only | $284 | $450 | 0% | 28 | |
 Seagate Exos X18 12TB | 3.5in SATA/SAS: LFF-bay models only | $300 | $493 | 0% | 25 | |
 Seagate Exos X18 14TB 60-day low | 3.5in SATA/SAS: LFF-bay models only | $300 | $499 | ▼ 7.1% | 9 | |
 Seagate Exos X16 16TB | 3.5in SATA/SAS: LFF-bay models only | $303 | $505 | ▼ 2.0% | 98 | |
 2.4TB 10K SAS 2.5in drive | 2.5in SAS: needs a tray; behind the RAID card or HBA | $325 | $649 | — | 169 | |
 Seagate Exos X16 14TB | 3.5in SATA/SAS: LFF-bay models only | $329 | $418 | ▼ 8.9% | 36 | |
 Seagate Exos X18 18TB | 3.5in SATA/SAS: LFF-bay models only | $349 | $617 | 0% | 67 | |
 Seagate Exos X18 16TB | 3.5in SATA/SAS: LFF-bay models only | $356 | $609 | 0% | 43 | |
 Samsung 870 EVO 4TB | 2.5in SATA SSD | $369 | $890 | 0% | 69 | |
 Seagate Exos X20 18TB | 3.5in SATA/SAS: LFF-bay models only | $399 | $550 | ▼ 3.3% | 23 | |
 WD Ultrastar HC550 16TB | 3.5in SATA/SAS: LFF-bay models only | $399 | $480 | 0% | 16 | |
 WD Ultrastar HC550 18TB | 3.5in SATA/SAS: LFF-bay models only | $415 | $542 | ▲ 0.6% | 50 | |
 Seagate Exos X20 20TB | 3.5in SATA/SAS: LFF-bay models only | $477 | $744 | 0% | 42 | |
 WD Ultrastar HC560 20TB | 3.5in SATA/SAS: LFF-bay models only | $629 | $792 | ▲ 8.6% | 9 | |
 Crucial MX500 4TB few listings | 2.5in SATA SSD | $707 | $747 | ▼ 5.1% | 3 |
Dell PowerEdge R720 storage controllers & batteries
| Item | Fits because | Lowest now | Typical | Trend | 7-day | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dell PERC H710 Mini Mono | Factory RAID option: 512 MB cache | $9.95 | $24.00 | — | 99 | |
 Dell PERC H710P Mini Mono | Factory RAID option: 1 GB cache | $11.70 | $30.04 | ▲ 2.9% | 66 | |
 Dell PERC H710 BBU (70K80/T40JJ) | Cache battery for the H710/H710P | $12.99 | $29.98 | 0% | 54 | |
 LSI 9207-8i HBA (IT mode) | HBA (IT mode) for ZFS / TrueNAS: needs SFF-8087 cables | $32.65 | $66.00 | 0% | 54 |
Dell PowerEdge R720 power supplies
| Item | Fits because | Lowest now | Typical | Trend | 7-day | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dell R620/R720 750W PSU | Hot-swap PSU | $17.99 | $43.34 | ▼ 3.7% | 57 | |
 Dell R620/R720 1100W PSU | Hot-swap PSU; GPU configs need 1100W | $19.95 | $48.00 | — | 134 |
Dell PowerEdge R720 network cards
| Item | Fits because | Lowest now | Typical | Trend | 7-day | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Intel X520-DA2 10GbE SFP+ | Standard PCIe card; order the bracket height your riser takes | $11.99 | $25.00 | 0% | 125 | |
 Intel X540-T2 (10GBase-T) | Standard PCIe card; order the bracket height your riser takes | $21.95 | $48.97 | ▲ 54.6% | 102 | |
 Mellanox ConnectX-3 MCX311A (10GbE) | Standard PCIe card; order the bracket height your riser takes | $22.99 | $37.10 | 0% | 19 | |
 Intel X710-DA2 10GbE SFP+ (2-port) | Standard PCIe card; order the bracket height your riser takes | $27.99 | $51.89 | ▼ 8.1% | 128 | |
 Intel I350-T4 1GbE (4-port) | Standard PCIe card; order the bracket height your riser takes | $32.99 | $85.00 | ▼ 4.4% | 143 | |
 Mellanox ConnectX-4 Lx 25GbE (MCX4121A-ACAT) deal | Standard PCIe card; order the bracket height your riser takes | $34.95 | $79.90 | 0% | 57 |
Dell PowerEdge R720 trays & other parts
| Item | Fits because | Lowest now | Typical | Trend | 7-day | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dell 2.5in drive tray (R620/R720/R630/R730) | Tray for 2.5in bays | $4.99 | $5.88 | — | 80 | |
 Dell iDRAC7 Enterprise card | Unlocks the iDRAC7 virtual console | $14.49 | $34.98 | 0% | 53 |
What to check before you buy
- Dell PowerEdge R720 is a 2U rack server, Dell 12th generation (2012). Parts listed here match its socket, memory type, bays and controller family; the table says why each one fits.
- No PCIe bifurcation on this generation: an x16-to-4×M.2 card needs its own PCIe switch chip (PLX/ASMedia), or only the first drive shows up.
- A dead PERC cache battery fails silently: the controller drops to write-through and small writes slow sharply, with nothing in the OS to show it. Check with
ipmitool sdr type Battery("ROMB Battery"). - From our own rack: We run two (server4, server5); server5 has 2 × Xeon E5-2697 v2 and 672 GB of DDR3-1333.
- Prices are the cheapest clean listing (lots, parts-only and bundles are filtered out); how we price. Rows marked "few listings" have fewer than 5 listings today.