The Zhitong Finance App learned that Zhishang Securities released a research report saying that the power of AI computing power chips and cabinets is rising at an unprecedented rate, the viable space for traditional air cooling has shrunk significantly, and liquid cooling may become the choice to support ultra-high density computing power. The trend of liquid cooling and high pressure is jointly driving changes in power supply architectures and the explosion in demand for high-end copper. High-end computing power copper has built high technical and process barriers, and the industry is upgrading from “just having copper” to “high-end copper determines the upper limit of the system”. Global leaders have put forward strict carbon footprint traceability and carbon tax savings requirements for recycled copper, driving the technical difficulty, value and profit margin of recycled copper products to be significantly higher than raw copper, and have higher added value and broader market prospects.
The main views of Zheshang Securities are as follows:
AI computing power chips and cabinet power are rising at an unprecedented rate
The Nvidia GPU jumped from 400W of the A100 to the 1000W of the GB200, and the next-generation Rubin architecture will also surpass 2300W; the TDP of the Intel CPU will also increase from 150W to 385W. At the cabinet level, the power of the GB200 NVL72 single cabinet has reached 132 kW, and the GB300 has been upgraded to 154 kW. It is expected that after 2027, the Vera Rubin single cabinet will exceed 600 kW. When the power of a single cabinet exceeds 100kW, the viable space for traditional air cooling has been significantly reduced, and liquid cooling may become the choice to support ultra-high density computing power. TrendForce predicts that the penetration rate of liquid cooling in AI data centers will rapidly increase from 14% in 2024 to 33% in 2025 and 40% in 2026, and “chip liquid cooling” is accelerating to “full liquid cooling.”
The trend of liquid cooling and high pressure is jointly driving changes in power supply architectures and the explosion of demand for high-end copper materials
Data center power supply lines have evolved through two generations of wiring harnesses and PDUs, and the third-generation rack bus (Busbar) has become the optimal solution under high current carrying conditions due to its low impedance and small size; the liquid-cooled rack bus can carry several times the current of the air-cooled bus at the same volume through an internal integrated liquid cooling guide tank, and is gradually replacing traditional air-cooled busbars as standard. At the same time, the 800V DC power distribution architecture has been established by Nvidia as the best solution for the next generation because it can significantly reduce current, copper wire usage, and end-to-end conversion losses. Demand estimates show that the liquid cooling plate of a single computing power cabinet consumes as high as 800-1000 kg of pure copper, the liquid-cooled rack bus is about 120 kg, and the 800V DC bus is about 220 kg, and the amount of copper used has increased dramatically. More importantly, high-end computing power copper has built high technical and process barriers — oxygen content must be ≤5 PPM, high temperature resistance is 900°C, flatness ≤ 0.2 mm/2m, and roughness RA 0.8 or less. The industry is upgrading from “just have copper” to “high-end copper determines the upper limit of the system”.
In the context of global AIDC construction facing environmental resistance, recycled copper has become a high-end incremental market that meets ESG needs
European and American data centers are facing policy tightening and public opposition due to high energy consumption and high water consumption, and ESG compliance has become a prerequisite for obtaining construction permits and capital. Not only does recycled copper emit only 20% of virgin copper, but its purity can reach 99.997% through the refining process, and its heat dissipation performance is comparable to or even surpass that of virgin copper. A single ton of recycled copper processing material can save about 1,054 kg of standard coal, save about 395 kg of water, and reduce carbon by more than 70%. Global leaders such as Apple have put forward strict carbon footprint traceability and carbon tax savings requirements for recycled copper, driving the technical difficulty, value and profit margin of recycled copper products to be significantly higher than those of virgin copper, and have higher added value and broader market prospects.
Risk Alerts
Risk of computing power demand falling short of expectations; risk of technology route iteration; risk of increased market competition and raw material price fluctuations; risk of customer concentration and certification barriers