A New Trend in Liquid Cooling? NVIDIA Requires Suppliers to Develop MLCP Technology, with Costs 3-5 Times Higher Than Current Solutions

According to today's news from Taiwan's Economic Daily News, as the power consumption of the new AI platform Rubin and the next-generation Feynman platform may reach over 2000W—beyond the capacity of existing heat dissipation solutions—NVIDIA has demanded that its suppliers develop the new 'Microchannel Liquid Cooling Plate (MLCP)' technology. The unit cost of this technology is 3 to 5 times that of current heat dissipation solutions, making water-cooled plates and vapor chambers new 'strategic materials'.

Another report from Taiwan's Commercial Times notes that some companies have already completed the delivery of MLCP samples to NVIDIA. However, supply chain sources have admitted that MLCP is not the only solution for AI servers, as multiple other new heat dissipation solutions are undergoing parallel verification.

The cost increase mentioned in this report is even higher: it quotes industry insiders as analyzing that if GPUs fully switch to the MLCP solution, the manufacturing cost will be 5 to 7 times higher than that of the current Blackwell cover plate. The market expects MLCP to become a 'watershed' for the restructuring of the heat dissipation sector.

MLCP technology integrates the metal cover originally placed on the chip with the liquid cooling plate above, and is equipped with microchannels for fluid flow. This allows the liquid cooling coolant to directly pass through the chip. By reducing intermediate media, it shortens the heat transfer path, improves heat dissipation efficiency, and reduces the overall volume.

The aforementioned reports point out that the thermal power consumption of the Rubin GPU will rise from the originally expected 1.8kW to 2.3kW, which has exceeded the load capacity of current cooling plates. Therefore, NVIDIA will introduce MLCP into the Rubin GPU as early as the second half of 2026. Among them, the dual-chip version of the Rubin GPU may rely on MLCP to maintain heat dissipation efficiency; as for the single-chip Rubin GPU, it may continue to adopt the cooling plate design, and other components such as the Vera CPU and switch IC will still mainly use cooling plates.

However, as an emerging technology, MLCP still faces relatively high risks in terms of liquid permeability and mass production yield. It is reported that it will take at least 3 to 4 quarters before it can be put into mass production. In addition, some manufacturers have pointed out that the collaboration model among heat dissipation plants, packaging plants, and assembly plants is still under verification. The timeline for the introduction of this technology will depend on customer needs, and not all machine models will adopt it.

It is worth noting that Boyd (a supplier of NVIDIA) recently announced that it has delivered 5 million liquid cooling plates to hyperscale data centers. The company's main business is the design and mass production of liquid cooling plates to meet the direct cooling needs of high-performance AI computing and data center architectures, but it did not specify the specific customer for these 5 million liquid cooling plates.

Kres(Suzhou) Power Systems Technology Co., Ltd is an emerging company focused on fluid power solutions, and serve for the markets of Energy, Construction, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Transportation, Medical, Data Centers, etc., and was founded in 2022 with leading-edge engineering capabilities and innovative products to keep up with the changing customer needs. Including OCP standard UQD, UQDB, BMQC, manifold, EPDM hose and hose assemblies, FF9 full flow dual interlock quick disconnect coupling (a better replacement for FD83 series products), API heat transfer products, Gates EPDM hose and Wika products.

KRES FF9 connectors are specifically engineered for fluid transmission, electronic cooling, and data center liquid cooling applications, where full flow, fluid compatibility, and safety are of paramount importance. The FF9 series ball valve quick-disconnect couplings adopt a full-flow design and are now available in 2-inch, 1.5-inch, and the popular 1-inch sizes. The FF9 double interlock liquid cooling quick-change connector features a swivel structure at its tail, facilitating easy connection and disconnection. Additionally, its two connector halves are completely identical, simplifying maintenance, installation, and service processes.

· 100% full-flow interlock ball valve: The FF9 double interlock ball valve has a diameter of up to 21mm, ensuring large flow while reducing pressure drop, achieving large flow and low pressure drop, and has obtained SGS ROHS reports and Huace performance test reports.

· KRES interlock ball valve adopts a double interlock design with two locking mechanisms to prevent accidental disconnection and ensure data security.

· The FF9 liquid cooling quick-change ball valve has identical connector halves, making maintenance, installation, and service simple.

· As a liquid cooling quick-change ball valve for data centers, it has reliable and stable performance with minimal leakage, meeting the maintenance needs of safe machine relocation or shutdown.

· Standard body material of the liquid cooling quick-change connector: 304 stainless steel, with wide fluid compatibility, and other materials can be provided upon request.

· Standard sealing material of the liquid cooling quick-change connector: EPDM ethylene propylene diene monomer synthetic rubber, and other materials can be provided upon request.

· Operating temperature range of the liquid cooling-specific ball valve: -40℃ ~ 120℃