Hotter Than a Hot Tub: The 45°C Breakthrough to Cool AI’s Biggest Machines
NVIDIA Blog · Josh Parker · 2026-06-22
NVIDIA's Rubin generation AI servers achieve 100% liquid cooling with coolant operating at up to 45°C, enabling chiller-free data center operation in suitable climates, reducing cooling energy by up to 40% and eliminating water consumption compared to conventional air-cooled infrastructure.
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Extraction
Topics: ai-infrastructuredata-center-coolingenergy-efficiencyliquid-cooling
Claims
- NVIDIA's Rubin platform is the first AI infrastructure generation to achieve 100% liquid cooling with no fans anywhere in the system.
- Running coolant at 45°C allows data centers in favorable climates to reject heat using outdoor dry coolers without mechanical chillers.
- A 50-megawatt hyperscale AI facility can save over $4 million annually in cooling energy and water costs by adopting liquid-cooled infrastructure.
- The closed-loop liquid system reduces facility cooling water consumption from approximately 2.6 million gallons per megawatt per year to near zero.
- Raising chiller plant operating temperature by one degree Celsius cuts cooling energy costs by approximately 4%.
Key quotes
The NVIDIA DSX reference design for AI factories has zero water consumption — we have eliminated massive amounts of power usage and pretty much all water usage.
Once the watts per chip crossed a certain level, liquid cooling became mandatory.
In the right geographic location, with the right system design, you don't need any refrigeration equipment. You can just put big radiator coils outside and use the air temperature for all your cooling. It's incredibly efficient.