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Dell PowerEdge FX [EOL] vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerEdge FX [EOL]
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Ser...
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Rack Servers (6th)
 

Featured Reviews

MP
IT Lead at Meditab Software, Inc.
Offers a user-friendly interface and saves costs in data centers
Dell PowerEdge FX is very good and user-friendly, with a console that is easy to manage, and it is budget-friendly compared to other products. Dell PowerEdge FX has made management very good and easy for us, and we have created virtual machines on these PowerEdge servers as well. The modular design of Dell PowerEdge FX is very beneficial for our IT operations because it is small and compact, fitting easily into our data center rack while saving physical space and power. They have a capable technical support team that helps to resolve issues, and their regular updates to hardware components and communication keep us up to date with challenges. Dell PowerEdge FX has some features that we noticed for supporting AI initiatives or data-intensive applications, but we are planning to explore all the features in depth.
Mike Bellemans - PeerSpot reviewer
Project manager at Sopraco NV
One of the products in the market that is the easiest to set up and maintain
Performance and scalability-wise, there are certain areas where the product lacks and needs improvement as it does not provide a lot of fancy features presently. In general, it is a normal product that is good enough for our company. For the time being, my company does not need any extra features.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The features that I have found most valuable are that it has very robust servers and a very heavy load. We've been working on servers now for 10 years and those servers are still up and running. Those servers are still very powerful until today."
"Stability is one of the best features of this solution."
"The most valuable feature of Dell PowerEdge FX is you can customize the solution to your specifications, such as speed. Additionally, part orders are shipped and received quickly when a part needs to be replaced."
"The console and user-friendly UI of Dell PowerEdge FX are the most valuable features. Its interface is easy to understand even for non-technical users."
"The remote management is great."
"The setup is straightforward. It can take anywhere from an hour to half a day."
"The best feature is PowerEdge's ability to stack up eight blade servers in one 2U chassis."
"Once we virtualize the infrastructure, it is very easy to upgrade."
"The initial setup is easy."
"It performs really well, and the price is cheaper than other solutions."
"The IMM tool is great because we can upgrade different views and device versions very quickly. We can upgrade everything from a single point through a single dashboard, which is great for us because we also have Lenovo storage. Lenovo ThinkSystem also has Xclarity built into the system."
"I would say the stability of the system itself would be the biggest advantage."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is the easiest product to set up and maintain."
"It's very power-efficient and allows you to access the rack server directly without accessing the operating system on that server."
"Ensures high availability, better hardware management, and support for active features."
"The installation and configuration are a bit difficult but the product's performance is unbeatable."
 

Cons

"I don't have any technical issues, but I would like to see the commercial side improve as compared to all other OEMs."
"There are certain shortcomings with Dell PowerEdge FX's integration capabilities with different operating systems, where improvements are needed."
"They could improve from a manufacturing perspective and not the product itself."
"When it comes to Dell PowerEdge FX, the area of concern revolves around the delivery time where improvements are required."
"The positioning of the power supply is not ideal. Both of them are on the same side, so you need to untie the cabling when you're installing the server. Another thing is storage separation. The storage can only be used by a particular server blade. I want the ability to use a storage unit for more than one server."
"I think that Dell has full documentation on their products, but it needs to be improved for this one."
"It should have more simplified management. It is a common problem where vendors think that they have simplified a solution, but the users don't look at it in the same way. A vendor thinks that there are only ten steps for a task, but we consider them as many steps. It should also have more support for NVMe. For high performance and speed, there should also be more network cards for the fiber channel and ethernet."
"The system is good, but compared to open-source and assembled servers, it is somewhat costly."
"I definitely suggest potential users skip Lenovo and go for Dell EMC, which has good hardware, and great internal security components."
"The RAID Management and the RAID Configuration tools need to be improved."
"The performance of the solution could be better."
"The solution's initial setup was complicated."
"Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers does a very good job. However, what could be improved can be their Configurator because it's very bulky and it sometimes gives logical errors."
"It is too expensive. Because we are a university and we have to look for our money, many times we buy some refurbished machines or equipment at reasonable prices from IBM or Lenovo."
"Its price could be better. Its price is sometimes an issue for our clients. XClarity Controller is a very good feature, and Lenovo should include the XClarity Controller license without any additional cost. It should be integrated within the product."
"HP has a riser inside, but Lenovo does not have a riser. It would be good to have a riser with Lenovo. The GUI of the system is really bad. HP has a very good UI for smart memories and everything inside, but in Lenovo, we have a black-and-white UI. HP right now manufactures a server with scalable SP1 and SP2 on a single machine, which is not the case with Lenovo. They are changing the machine. For SP 1, there is one server, and for SP2, there is another server, which is really bad. In HP, we can use two models of processors in a single case. Lenovo should also be improved to have SP1 and SP2 scalable processors simultaneously on a single machine. They should not release another machine. This issue is also there in H3650 severs. They are all inside, but only V3 CPU or only v4 CPU can work, whereas, in HBG9, we can deploy V3 and V4 simultaneously. Lenovo also needs to advertise more because I can't see advertisements anywhere."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of Dell PowerEdge FX depends on the configuration we are using. We usually pay $5,000 to $10,000 based on the configuration, including RAM and storage."
"The price of the license is expensive."
"Payments are generally made towards the perpetual-based licensing costs attached to the solution, but people can also opt for subscription-based licenses."
"The price of Dell PowerEdge FX is affordable, and when compared to other solutions, such as Lenovo and HPE it is less expensive. There are any extra costs other than the standard solution."
"I rate the product price a four on a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price, and ten is a low price."
"Compared to other brands, this solution is the cheapest. I would rate the pricing as a five out of five."
"Other than the standard licensing fees there are no other additional costs. The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers could be better, and the availability of the solution could improve. We have been waiting two months for one server."
"Its pricing is very competitive."
"I don't know the exact amount of money, but when I compared it to Dell or HPE, Lenovo was the best when it comes to price and equipment."
"It is too expensive. Because we are a university and we have to look for our money, many times we buy some refurbished machines or equipment at reasonable prices from IBM or Lenovo. We are a little bit limited in terms of money, and we buy as much as we can. If they were cheaper, we would buy more."
"As the costs got high, we had to use the virtualization feature to consolidate the server farm.​"
"Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers can be categorized as a product falling under an affordable price range but more expensive than its competitors."
"It costs around $8,000. There is an additional cost for the support for a year."
"The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is competitive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerEdge FX?
The cost of Dell PowerEdge FX depends on the configuration we are using. We usually pay $5,000 to $10,000 based on the configuration, including RAM and storage.
What needs improvement with Dell PowerEdge FX?
The system is good, but compared to open-source and assembled servers, it is somewhat costly. If it were cheaper, it would be even better. I would prefer the next releases of Dell PowerEdge FX to b...
What is your primary use case for Dell PowerEdge FX?
We are providing the end-user experience by creating virtual machines on the server and assigning them to our clients. We set up multiple virtual machines on the Dell PowerEdge FX server and isolat...
How do Lenovo ThinkSystem rack servers compare with HPE ProLiant DL servers?
Lenovo ThinkSystem rack servers offer flexibility and efficiency in order to meet mission-critical demands. I like that Lenovo blends outstanding performance, reliability, and manageability. The bi...
When shopping for a rack server, would you go with Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether the Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem rack servers were the better fit for us. We ultimately decided to go with Dell EMC Poweredge....
 

Also Known As

PowerEdge FX
SR Series, Lenovo SR Series, ThinkSystem Rack Servers, IBM Rack Servers, ThinkSystem SR Series, Lenovo Rack Servers,
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Tracewell, Govers, AXA ASSISTANCE ITALIA
immixGroup, Komsomolskaya Pravda, SRG Global, Seekr, Infiniti Red Bull Racing, jKool, Tennis Australia, VEKA, Netpoints, Gamma Powersports
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM and others in Rack Servers. Updated: July 2026.
909,563 professionals have used our research since 2012.