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IBM Power Systems vs Intel Server System comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 11, 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

IBM Power Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
4th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Intel Server System
Ranking in Rack Servers
11th
Average Rating
6.6
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of IBM Power Systems is 6.4%, down from 8.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Intel Server System is 4.1%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Power Systems6.4%
Intel Server System4.1%
Other89.5%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Foluso  Jibowo - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at Hiperdist Ltd
Has empowered enterprises with secure and cost-effective solutions
When discussing disadvantages, I do not see many areas for improvement because we have received good testimonies from every client. IBM gives customers peace of mind. One challenge, which I would not really call a challenge, is that initially people have the notion that IBM Power Systems is quite expensive. However, IBM does not lose deals based on price. This is a message we need to keep communicating to people who feel that IBM is on the high side in terms of cost. We encourage them to have a discussion with us about their total cost of ownership over three or five years. There is a notion in the market that IBM is expensive, which is false. However, once we engage and show them their return on investments and their total cost of ownership savings, they tend to embrace IBM.
SA
Servers Senior Network Administrator at Dukat d.d.
A stable product that constantly enhances its functionalities like multithreading and caching
The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is more stable than AMD for VMware. Intel Server System has a good track record for the last 20 years. Multithreading and caching are areas where improvements keep increasing. If you look at the last four years, you will see a big difference when it comes to the area concerning processors.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"From a reliability standpoint it has provided us with excellent performance."
"Power uniquely positions our bank in the industry because we are almost 100% virtualized, so we're cloud-ready, if you will."
"We generally find the compute and the processing power, and the ability to handle the load, is far better on the POWER systems."
"I use the hypervisor of IBM Power Systems a lot."
"Power Systems' best features are that it's reliable, stable, and easily available. It's also really scalable and can be virtualized without third-party software support."
"Compared to similar solutions, IBM Power Systems has a proven record."
"Some of the most valuable features are the processing power, stability, and security."
"The best features of the solution are its robustness and service level."
"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is more stable than AMD for VMware."
"The price is competitive and it uses well known architecture and it's easy to develop for."
"I would recommend this product; it is stable with good performance, and we are satisfied with Intel's products."
"It is stable and easy to manage."
 

Cons

"I think the cost should be cheaper."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"If you're not in the Advocate Program you have to go through the series of the lower-level tech support, and usually they're not really helpful."
"The initial setup is not straightforward."
"I would like to see firmware available to all of the systems."
"Initially when sizing it, people perceive IBM Power Systems as quite expensive."
"If you take advantage of some of these real advanced features, for oversubscribing as an example, it's not supported on Linux on Power. So that stops us, in particular, from going that way."
"Its price can be improved. It is too high."
"When you have an Intel Server System, the prices may be much higher since it is a different processor, making the solution's pricing part one of its shortcomings where improvements are required."
"The shipment time can be improved. When we order Intel products, we have to wait for a long time. They can increase the local services and engineers in China. Local engineers will be able to know and understand customer problems much better."
"We have to scale it ourselves but it scales. It depends on the software because it's mostly the hardware platform that Intel is managing."
"I give it five out of 10 because, although they're well known, the system isn't really advanced compared to some of the competitors."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Power Systems is very cheap and provides good value for money."
"IBM Power Systems is very expensive."
"I give the cost a one out of ten."
"IBM Power Systems is a really expensive product."
"It is designed for a large workload, as opposed to a small workload. For our circumstances, and even as an independent, I can't buy a Power system to experiment on. It can't happen. You cannot buy them."
"The price of IBM Power Systems is expensive and could improve."
"The licensing costs are okay. With IBM Power Systems, it's inclusive, so you can differentiate the price of the hardware from the software itself."
"The price of the solution could be somewhat better and this is what lowers my rating of it to a seven or eight out of ten."
"The price is competitive."
"I rate the pricing a ten on a scale from one to ten, where one is inexpensive, and ten is very expensive."
"It is not expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
9%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise42
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM Power Systems?
In my opinion, the product can be improved by maintaining it and not sunsetting it; that would be my recommendation for IBM. I used to work for IBM for nineteen years, and I know, unfortunately, I ...
What is your primary use case for IBM Power Systems?
I am an architect and system administrator, and I'm responsible for anything related to IBM Power Systems. In IBM Power Systems, I have found a lot of valuable features such as LVM, TCP, ODM, RSCT,...
What advice do you have for others considering IBM Power Systems?
I would recommend IBM Power Systems to others. I have given this review a rating of ten out of ten.
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Also Known As

IBM OpenPOWER LC
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cipher
Emerson, Baosight, Pentamaster
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Power Systems vs. Intel Server System and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
912,069 professionals have used our research since 2012.