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Dell PowerEdge FX [EOL] vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 26, 2025

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
Dell PowerEdge R-Series
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
268
Ranking in other categories
Converged Infrastructure (2nd), Data Center Networking (4th), Blade Servers (4th), Rack Servers (1st)
 

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.
Tom van Mil - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Administrator at Lico Innovations B.v.
Supports flexible hosting needs through seamless upgradability and strong monitoring capabilities
The most valuable features of Dell PowerEdge R-Series for me are the feature richness and the upgradability. I really love the way that it is so dynamically applicable for every situation, and they manage to have an all-in-one solution for every single situation. Dell PowerEdge has supported the growth and operational success of my company through its great compute power and price-to-performance ratio. Every time Dell is at the top of its game for us, and there is just no other brand for us that is able to reach that kind of price-to-performance ratio. Dell PowerEdge R-Series has features that specifically cater to the needs of my small company, such as iDRAC. The iDRAC system is a complete feature set for managing servers and hardware technically and monitoring-wise. It really fits in our system and our ecosystem, and monitoring-wise, it is excellent. They have all these sensors available via different protocols and end points, which I love, and the ability to manage and control everything via the iDRAC interface is just a welcome bonus. In our use case, Dell PowerEdge R-Series is very flexible. It is another computer which helps a lot because of the durability over time. They keep running, making scalability for getting more of those resources in our environment so easy.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The power efficiency is very good and nice."
"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."
"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 setup is straightforward. It can take anywhere from an hour to half a day."
"The most valuable feature is its stability."
"The best feature is PowerEdge's ability to stack up eight blade servers in one 2U chassis."
"It has extremely high performance, and it is easy to manage."
"The remote management is great."
"The most valuable feature of Dell PowerEdge R-Series server is the processing speed."
"We have about 80 servers and have only lost maybe two power supplies. They just run forever."
"The most valuable feature of Dell PowerEdge R-Series server is the processing speed; the processing speed is the most important thing that we are looking for in a server, and we want it to function fast as the latency is the most important between the end user and our servers to get the application and to get the feedback from the application."
"The active directory and file server are valuable features."
"No down time and it's very user friendly."
"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers powered by Intel are easy to use, are easy to manage with Dell's OpenManage Console, and have extended support for five years."
"We actually have not had any failures in the last 7 years regarding availability."
"My experience with customer service has been positive."
 

Cons

"I think that Dell has full documentation on their products, but it needs to be improved for this one."
"I rate Dell support six out of 10. It varies. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it's bad. The response time could be better."
"I don't have any technical issues, but I would like to see the commercial side improve as compared to all other OEMs."
"Before the cloud solution and virtualization, we relied on Dell hardware from specific vendors. The lifecycle for cloud infrastructure is shorter than it used to be. We need a longer lifecycle from the IT supplier providing the computing solution."
"The product must provide more integration."
"There are times when a part might break down and we need to have Dell replace it."
"There are certain shortcomings with Dell PowerEdge FX's integration capabilities with different operating systems, where improvements are needed."
"When it comes to Dell PowerEdge FX, the area of concern revolves around the delivery time where improvements are required."
"The time it takes the machine to boot up, when I turn it off and on, could be quicker."
"While I wouldn't call it a problem, physically mounting the servers into the rails that come with the servers can be a challenge. They could be engineered to be a little bit easier to use. It's not that significant, we can manage it, but you need at least two people to do it together because they're a bit heavy."
"My biggest grievance is related to getting a caddy. We have decommissioned our old servers that we used for development or testing. You cannot buy hard drives for old servers from Dell. It is very annoying."
"I wish that Dell had a competitive product to the HPE MicroServer because if they did, I would buy them, not in their hundreds, but certainly in their tens, especially in my capacity as an MSP."
"I recommend not locking the GPU behind a different license for iDRAC. We've talked to the product team, and it hasn't changed yet."
"Non-vendor-specific things could benefit Dell PowerEdge R-Series. Dell has a lot of OEM material, obviously, because it is an OEM provider, but it could benefit from more AMD, more ARM, and more across the line."
"My first experience with Dell was not performant, but I replaced it while staying with Dell by purchasing reliable machines."
"We use PowerEdge servers in conjunction with VMware, a VCF Rack, and VxRail. That has worked out well. We are using it for firmware upgrades and other similar tasks. It's a one-stop shop, but it could be better when the servers aren't on a VCF stack. Profile handling and upgrading standalone servers could improve, but they have gotten better over the years."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 the license is expensive."
"Compared to other brands, this solution is the cheapest. I would rate the pricing as a five out of five."
"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 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."
"The more complex the server requirements, the more expensive it gets."
"We have not compared them with others. The price is okay, but they can always be a little bit cheaper."
"They are affordable. Even during our recent procurement, the cost of Dell servers was lower than that of HPE."
"The tool's pricing is very good."
"The pricing could always be better."
"We would prefer it if the pricing were for half the cost. We have been expanding our company, and my boss stated that we must save money."
"The solution’s pricing is competitive with other products."
"It's a bit of a shock when you have to find the money, but the pricing is very competitive, so I'm happy with that."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
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 Business95
Midsize Enterprise59
Large Enterprise112
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Dell PowerEdge FX?
The product's initial setup phase was simple and easy.
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...
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....
What do you like most about Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
It has helped us reduce unplanned downtime by 20% to 30%.
What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
I do not have anything that I believe could be improved about Dell servers. However, I would like to see a range for AI that is more accessible for companies that do not have significant budgets. T...
 

Also Known As

PowerEdge FX
Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Tracewell, Govers, AXA ASSISTANCE ITALIA
NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Lenovo and others in Rack Servers. Updated: January 2026.
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