Traditional water cooling methods, especially those using industrial chillers, often account for nearly 40% of data center energy consumption. Additionally, these systems frequently face water loss due to evaporation. Air cooling systems consume significant amounts of electricity and create substantial noise pollution. Nvidia claims its new solution uses far fewer resources thanks to a higher base temperature.
Nvidia reports a reduction in water consumption of up to 100% — according to the company, the system is "filled once and operates in a closed loop for the entire lifespan of the facility." This solution is most effective in regions with colder climates, but it is also applicable in warmer regions as long as the ambient temperature does not exceed 45°C. If temperatures rise above 45°C, chillers may need to be activated. Nevertheless, this should reduce resource consumption and improve cooling efficiency, as such situations are atypical for most data centers.
Estimates suggest that raising the target temperature of a chiller plant by 1°C reduces electricity costs by 4%. This means data centers will significantly save on electricity consumption if they increase the target coolant temperature from 21–24°C to the 45°C recommended by Nvidia for Rubin chips.
Nvidia's new data center cooling system could eliminate several issues that have delayed the commissioning of over 75 data centers. However, it will take time to implement in new and existing projects. Moreover, this system is designed for Nvidia Rubin chips, and servers with GPUs will still require enormous resources to dissipate heat.