Zhichun Finance APP has learned that TrendForce's latest survey indicates that the market is currently focused on the supply progress of NVIDIA's (NVIDIA) (NVDA.US) GB200 rack solution. Due to the GB200 Rack's design specifications regarding high-speed interconnection interfaces and thermal design power (TDP) being significantly higher than mainstream market standards, supply chain players require more time to continuously adjust and optimize, with mass production expected to begin only after the second quarter of 2025.

The NVIDIA GB Rack solutions (including GB200, GB300, etc.) involve more complex technology levels and higher costs, and the main customers will be large Cloud Computing Service providers (CSP), as well as Tier-2 Datacenters, national sovereign clouds, and academic research institutions for HPC/AI application projects. With strong support from NVIDIA, the GB200 NVL72 cabinet is expected to become the primary adoption solution in 2025, possibly accounting for nearly 80%.

TrendForce indicates that to enhance the overall computational performance of AI/HPC Server systems, NVIDIA developed NVLink to provide high-speed interconnect technology between GPU chips, such as the GB200 adopting the fifth-generation NVLink, offering drastically superior total bandwidth compared to the current mainstream PCIe 5.0. Moreover, the HGX AI Server, dominating the market in 2024, has a TDP per cabinet ranging from 60KW to 80KW, while the GB200 NVL72 reaches 140KW per cabinet, effectively doubling the TDP and prompting industry players to explore expanding the use of liquid cooling solutions.

Due to the higher design specifications of the GB200 Rack system, there are frequent rumors in the market that some components may not meet requirements, posing a risk of delayed shipments. According to TrendForce’s survey, the current shipment situation of the Blackwell GPU is generally as originally expected, with only a small volume shipped in the fourth quarter of 2024, and gradually increasing shipments after the first quarter of 2025. In terms of AI Server systems, as adjustments across the supply chain are still pending, the shipment volume by the end of this year is expected to be lower than industry players' expectations; therefore, the peak shipment of the GB200 complete rack in 2025 will be slightly delayed.

Traditional air cooling solutions can no longer meet the TDP of the GB200 NVL72, making liquid cooling technology essential. As the GB200 Rack solution begins limited shipments by the end of 2024, relevant industry players are also increasing their efforts in developing liquid cooling components, such as suppliers of cooling distribution units (CDU) improving cooling efficiency via cabinet size expansion and more efficient cooling plates. TrendForce indicates that the current heat dissipation capability of Sidecar CDU mainly ranges from 60KW to 80KW, with expectations to achieve double or even triple heat dissipation performance in the future. Furthermore, the more efficient liquid-to-liquid (L2L) in-row CDU solutions have already been able to exceed 1.3MW in heat dissipation capability, with continued improvements anticipated to meet the growing demand for computing power.