According to Zhitong Finance APP, China International Capital Corporation (CICC) released a research report stating that recent reports from Taiwan's Economic Daily indicated that NVIDIA is pushing its supply chain to develop microchannel water cooling plates, strengthening expectations for microchannel cooling plate applications and reinforcing the AI data center (AIDC) liquid cooling inflation logic. The firm is optimistic about potential supply chain restructuring during the transition to new solutions, creating opportunities for domestic liquid cooling supply chain companies. Related industry chain companies, including traditional vapor chamber (VC) manufacturers, liquid cooling module manufacturers, heat sink manufacturers, and 3D printing companies, are expected to benefit.
Rubin chip power consumption continues to inflate, with liquid cooling technology solutions expected to undergo further upgrades. NVIDIA's next-generation Rubin/Rubin Ultra chips may see power consumption increase from the current GB300's 1400W to over 2000W. Current single-phase cooling plate solutions have a heat dissipation capacity limit of approximately 1500W, which may struggle to support the thermal management requirements of next-generation Rubin series computing chips. Liquid cooling technology solutions may evolve toward two-phase cooling plates or microchannel liquid cooling plates (MLCP) with stronger heat dissipation capabilities.
According to Taiwan's Economic Daily, NVIDIA is promoting supply chain development of microchannel water cooling plates, strengthening expectations for microchannel cooling plate applications. Compared to traditional cooling plate solutions, microchannel cooling plates offer advantages including low thermal resistance, large heat exchange surface area, and high flow velocity through microchannel design and integrated heat dissipation structures.
Microchannel liquid cooling is expected to reshape the industry's liquid cooling landscape, potentially creating new opportunities for domestic liquid cooling industry chains. The manufacturing processes for microchannel liquid cooling solutions differ significantly from traditional cooling plate solutions. Current participants mainly include three categories: startups specializing in microchannel technology, traditional liquid cooling heat dissipation module manufacturers, and cover plate manufacturers, each with certain advantages. During the transition to new solutions, domestic manufacturers are expected to find opportunities for integration and supporting roles.
Microchannel liquid cooling is expected to bring value enhancement, further reinforcing the liquid cooling inflation logic. Microchannel water cooling plates currently face high mass production difficulty, requiring upgrades to existing production equipment. Creating micro-scale flow channels may require special processes such as etching and 3D printing. Additionally, microchannel systems have higher requirements for system cleanliness and CDU pumping capacity, leading to higher requirements for data center water facility infrastructure and potentially further increasing costs compared to existing cooling plate solutions.