Cisco UCS C220 M7 vs C240 M7
Both use the same 4th/5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable CPUs, but the C220 M7 is a dense 1RU server (up to 10 SFF drives, 4TB RAM, 3 GPUs) while the C240 M7 is a 2RU expansion server (up to 28 SFF drives, 8TB RAM, more PCIe and GPU room). Choose the C220 for compute density per rack unit; choose the C240 when you need storage, memory, or accelerator capacity.
UCS C220 M7
1RU two-socket rack server optimized for compute density in virtualization and scale-out workloads.
- Up to two 4th/5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable CPUs, 60 cores each
- Up to 32 DDR5 DIMMs for up to 4TB memory
- Up to 10 front SFF SAS/SATA drives, up to 4 NVMe
- Dense 1RU form factor, up to 3 PCIe 4.0 (or 2 PCIe 5.0) slots
UCS C240 M7
2RU two-socket rack server for storage-, memory-, and GPU-heavy workloads.
- Up to two 4th/5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable CPUs, 64 cores each
- Up to 32 DDR5 DIMMs for up to 8TB memory
- Up to 28 SFF SAS/SATA/NVMe drives (up to 8 direct NVMe)
- Up to 8 PCIe 4.0 (or 4 PCIe 5.0) slots for GPUs and adapters
UCS C220 M7 vs UCS C240 M7: spec comparison
| Spec | UCS C220 M7 | UCS C240 M7 |
|---|---|---|
| Form factor | 1RU | 2RU |
| CPU generation | 4th/5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable | 4th/5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable |
| Max cores per socket | Up to 60 | Up to 64 |
| DIMM slots | 32 DDR5 | 32 DDR5 |
| Max memory | Up to 4 TB | Up to 8 TB |
| Max front drives (SFF) | Up to 10 | Up to 28 |
| Direct-attach NVMe | Up to 4 | Up to 8 |
| PCIe slots | Up to 3 (PCIe 4.0) / 2 (PCIe 5.0) | Up to 8 (PCIe 4.0) / 4 (PCIe 5.0) |
| GPU support | Up to 3 GPUs | Up to 5 GPUs (more accelerator room) |
| mLOM / OCP | mLOM slot | Hybrid mLOM / OCP 3.0 |
Choose UCS C220 M7 if
Choose the C220 M7 when you want maximum compute density per rack unit for virtualization, containers, or scale-out applications and you do not need large local storage or GPUs. It packs two full Xeon sockets and up to 4TB RAM into 1RU.
Choose UCS C240 M7 if
Choose the C240 M7 when the workload needs lots of local storage (up to 28 drives), up to 8TB of memory, or multiple GPUs for AI/ML, virtualization with heavy storage, or data-intensive analytics.
Verdict
If your priority is cores and VMs per rack unit, the 1RU C220 M7 is the efficient choice. If you need storage capacity, double the memory ceiling, or room for GPUs, step up to the 2RU C240 M7. Both share the same Xeon CPUs and DDR5 platform, so the decision is really about chassis expansion rather than raw compute. Both are TAA-compliant configurations for federal buyers.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between the UCS C220 M7 and C240 M7?
The C220 M7 is a 1RU dense compute server with up to 10 drives and 4TB RAM, while the C240 M7 is a 2RU server with up to 28 drives, 8TB RAM, and more PCIe/GPU capacity. Both use the same Intel Xeon CPUs.
Which UCS M7 server is better for GPUs and AI?
The C240 M7 has more PCIe slots and physical room, supporting more GPUs, so it is the better choice for AI/ML and accelerated workloads. The C220 M7 supports up to 3 GPUs in its 1RU chassis.
How much memory do the C220 M7 and C240 M7 support?
Both have 32 DDR5 DIMM slots, but the C220 M7 tops out at 4TB while the C240 M7 supports up to 8TB using higher-capacity DIMMs.
Do the C220 M7 and C240 M7 use the same CPUs?
Yes. Both support 4th and 5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, so per-core performance is the same; the difference is chassis size, storage, memory ceiling, and expansion.
More Compute comparisons
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