Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a V3 5U GPU Server
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a V3 5U GPU Server (Configure-to-Order) - Local Warranty
8-GPU AI Server in 5U With Neptune Water Cooling
The Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a V3 packs eight NVIDIA SXM GPUs into a 5U chassis. The CPUs, GPUs and NVLink switches are cooled by 6th Gen Lenovo Neptune water cooling across four water loops, removing up to 75% of system heat via warm water.
Dense Compute for Training and Inference
Two 5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors and up to 4 TB of DDR5 memory feed eight NVIDIA H100 or B200 GPUs. Eight front PCIe 5.0 x16 slots with GPU Direct support take network adapters at up to 400 Gb/s, and up to 12 x 2.5-inch NVMe drives hold up to 174.08 TB.
Managed by Lenovo XClarity
The SR780a V3 includes an integrated diagnostics panel with pull-out LCD, XClarity Controller 2 (XCC2), a Root of Trust module with TPM 2.0 and Platform Firmware Resiliency, and eight hot-swap 2600 W power supplies.
Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a V3 Datasheet — Technical Specifications
General
| Product Name | Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a V3 GPU Server |
| Machine Type | 7DJ5 (3-year warranty) |
| Form Factor | 5U rack server |
| Order Type | Configure-to-Order (processors, memory, GPUs, drives, network adapters, power supplies and support term chosen per order) |
| Lenovo Standard Warranty | 3 years; customer-replaceable unit and onsite, 9x5 next business day |
Processor & Memory
| Processors | Two 5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, up to 350 W TDP, PCIe 5.0 |
| Chipset | Intel C741 |
| Memory Slots | 32 DIMM slots (16 per processor); 8 channels per processor, 2 DIMMs per channel |
| Memory Speed | Up to 5600 MHz (1 DIMM per channel); 4400 MHz (2 DIMMs per channel) |
| Maximum Memory | 4 TB (32 x 128 GB RDIMMs) |
GPU & Expansion
| GPUs | Eight NVIDIA H100 700 W SXM5 GPUs (80 GB HBM3 each) or eight NVIDIA B200 1000 W GPUs (180 GB HBM3e each) |
| PCIe Slots | Up to 11 x PCIe 5.0 x16: 8 front FHHL slots with GPU Direct; up to 3 rear FHHL slots |
| Network | Up to 8 x high-performance network adapters, up to 400 Gb/s, with GPU Direct support |
Storage
| Drive Bays | Up to 12 x 2.5-inch hot-swap PCIe 5.0 NVMe bays (8 front, 4 rear) |
| Maximum Internal Storage | 174.08 TB |
| Boot | 2 x internal M.2 drives with optional Intel VROC NVMe RAID |
| Storage Controller | Onboard NVMe (non-RAID) |
Management & Security
| Systems Management | Integrated diagnostics panel with status LEDs and pull-out LCD; Lenovo XClarity Controller 2 (XCC2) |
| Front Ports | 1 x USB 3.2 G1, 1 x USB 2.0, 1 x Mini DisplayPort |
| Rear Ports | 2 x USB 3.2 G1, 1 x VGA, 1 x RJ-45 1GbE management |
| Security | Power-on and administrator passwords, Root of Trust module with TPM 2.0 and Platform Firmware Resiliency (PFR) |
Power, Cooling & Physical
| Power Supplies | 8 x hot-swap redundant 2600 W AC power supplies (220 V AC), up to N+N redundancy, 80 PLUS Titanium |
| Cooling | 6th Gen Lenovo Neptune water cooling (4 water loops) for CPUs, GPUs and NVLink switches; fans for remaining components |
| Water Requirements | ASHRAE W45 (up to 45°C inlet to the rack); rack water manifold connected to an in-rack or in-row coolant distribution unit (CDU) |
| Hot-Swap Parts | Drives, power supplies and fans |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) | 447 x 219 x 942 mm |
| Maximum Weight | 92 kg |
How to Configure Your Server — Sizing Checklist
Servers are built to order. Answer the questions below so we can size the right configuration for you.
Step 1: Hardware Requirements
- Which server form factor do you need: tower or rackmount?
- How many CPU cores, how much RAM and how much usable storage capacity do you require?
- How many processors: single-socket (1S), dual-socket (2S) or four-socket (4S)?
- Which RAID configuration do you need? Any specific HDD or SSD type, such as 7.2K or 10K rpm drives?
- Which network interface is required: 1GbE Base-T, SFP+ or Fibre Channel?
- How many years of maintenance support do you need? (Minimum 3 years)
Step 2: Deployment & Services
- How many server units are required?
- Will you run virtual machine workloads? Do you need a VMware licence, or Windows Server with Hyper-V?
- How do you store data today? Do you have existing NAS or SAN storage?
- How do you back up today? Would you like a backup proposal, such as an IDPA 8TB appliance?
- Do you require burn-in test services?
- Do you need hard disk retention services?
Operating Systems, Management & Workloads
Operating Systems & Hypervisors
Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu Server LTS and VMware ESXi. Check Lenovo's OS interoperability guide for the exact versions certified with your GPU choice.
Management Tools
XClarity Controller 2 provides out-of-band console, monitoring and alerting; Lenovo XClarity software manages the SR780a V3 alongside the rest of your ThinkSystem fleet.
Typical Workloads
Large language model training and fine-tuning, high-density generative AI inference and HPC in data centres with warm-water cooling.
Package Contents & Lenovo ThinkSystem Servers Ordering Information
What Is Supplied
The SR780a V3 is built to order: 5U chassis with the chosen eight-GPU board, processors, memory, drives, network adapters and power supplies specified on your quotation. Installation requires a heavy-duty rack with rear water manifolds and a coolant distribution unit, which are scoped separately.
Lenovo ThinkSystem Servers
| Model | Key feature |
| ThinkSystem ST650 V3 | Tower, 2-socket 4th/5th Gen Intel Xeon |
| ThinkSystem SR250 V3 | 1U, 1-socket Intel Xeon E-2400 |
| ThinkSystem SR630 V3 | 1U, 2-socket 4th/5th Gen Intel Xeon |
| ThinkSystem SR650 V3 | 2U, 2-socket 4th/5th Gen Intel Xeon |
| ThinkSystem SR630 V4 | 1U, 2-socket Intel Xeon 6 |
| ThinkSystem SR650 V4 | 2U, 2-socket Intel Xeon 6 |
| ThinkSystem SR650a V4 | 2U, 2-socket Intel Xeon 6, up to 4 double-wide GPUs |
| ThinkSystem SR645 V3 | 1U, 2-socket AMD EPYC |
| ThinkSystem SR655 V3 | 2U, 1-socket AMD EPYC |
| ThinkSystem SR665 V3 | 2U, 2-socket AMD EPYC |
| ThinkSystem SR675 V3 | 3U GPU server, up to 8 GPUs |
| ThinkSystem SR680a V3 | 8U, 8 x NVIDIA SXM GPUs |
| ThinkSystem SR685a V3 | 8U, 8 x NVIDIA SXM or AMD Instinct GPUs |
| ThinkSystem SR780a V3 (this listing) | 5U, 8 x NVIDIA SXM GPUs, Neptune liquid cooling |
Datasheet & Downloads
| Product guide | Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a V3 Product Guide (Lenovo Press) |
| Datasheet | Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a V3 Datasheet (Lenovo Press) |
| 3D tour | 3D tour: Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a V3 (Lenovo Press) |
| User documentation | ThinkSystem SR780a V3 documentation (Lenovo Docs) |
| Lenovo product page | ThinkSystem SR780a V3 on lenovo.com |
Frequently Asked Questions — Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a V3
Is this a fixed configuration?
No. The SR780a V3 is configure-to-order. GPU type, processors, memory, drives, network adapters and the support term are specified to your workload; use the sizing checklist above to brief us.
Does it need a water supply?
Yes. Lenovo Neptune direct water cooling needs a heavy-duty rack with rear water manifolds connected to a coolant distribution unit, with inlet water up to 45°C (ASHRAE W45).
Which GPUs can it take?
Eight NVIDIA H100 SXM5 GPUs (80 GB each) or eight NVIDIA B200 GPUs (180 GB each).
How much memory can it take?
32 DDR5 DIMM slots for up to 4 TB using 128 GB RDIMMs.
SR780a V3 or SR680a V3?
Both carry eight NVIDIA SXM GPUs. The SR780a V3 is water cooled in 5U, so it is denser; the SR680a V3 is air cooled in 8U and needs no water infrastructure.
