Author: Yulin Wang, Senior Technology Analyst at IDTechEx
The data center cooling value chain is long, complicated, and chaotic, consisting of multiple stakeholders. Data center cooling happens on multiple levels including chip and server level, as well as the rack and facility level. On the chip and server level, cooling components include cold plate systems (e.g., cold plates, hoses, fluid distribution network), vapor chambers, and fans. On rack and facility level, cooling components include manifolds, coolant distribution units (CDUs), fan doors, rear door heat exchanger (RDHx), computer room air controllers (CRAC), and computer room air handlers (CRAH). More details on different cooling components are included in IDTechEx’s report, “Thermal Management for Data Centers 2025-2035: Technologies, Markets, and Opportunities”.
Thermal costs analysis
Depending on the components, configurations, purchase volume, customer relationships, and materials, the costs of components would vary significantly.
Thermal costs analysis: components on chip and server, as well as rack and facility level. Source: IDTechEx
Copper is commonly used for GPU cooling in data center servers due to the risk of galvanic corrosion associated with aluminum. The cost of direct-to-chip (D2C) liquid cooling systems for GPU servers, normalized per chip, ranges from US$200 to US$400. T2 red copper is typically preferred for high-performance GPUs because of its superior thermal conductivity compared to brass. For more details, please see the IDTechEx report, “Thermal Management for Data Centers 2025-2035: Technologies, Markets, and Opportunities”.
Cold plates for CPUs are generally at the lower end of this price range, while those for GPUs are at the higher end. These costs include not only the cold plates but also additional components such as hoses, fittings, fluid distribution manifolds within the server, and quick disconnects (QDs). A key cost driver is the number of QDs, which are particularly expensive, especially at larger diameters. While cold plates themselves are relatively low-cost, the value and expense of the cooling system lie in the complete assembly. This integrated system ensures efficient heat dissipation and operational reliability, making the investment in high-quality components worthwhile.
Data center cooling value chain
The data center cooling value chain is long and complicated, requiring collaboration among multiple stakeholders. To simplify this value chain, IDTechEx divides the players in data centers into several key sections. Ultimately, decision-making is based on the collaboration between players in the supply chain.
At the server and chip level, such as cold plate installation, extensive collaboration occurs between chip manufacturers and server manufacturers. Chip manufacturers provide the form factors of their chips, which guide cold plate suppliers in manufacturing cold plates. Typically, chip and server manufacturers work with multiple cold plate vendors. Once the cold plates are installed, they perform internal testing to identify the cold plate that offers optimal thermal performance. During this testing process, IDTechEx believes that if server manufacturers install cold plates upfront, they are more likely to hold the decision-making power, although thermal performance also needs to be evaluated by chip manufacturers. However, in many cases, it also depends on the customers (data center users). If they prefer to use server boards and install cold plates specified by themselves, the decision-making power ultimately goes to data center owners.
For cooling solution providers, such as cold plate vendors and immersion cooling solution vendors, the primary customers are server OEMs, chip makers, and system integrators rather than data center end-users. These providers often face limited negotiation power compared to larger entities in the supply chain, such as server OEMs, chip makers, system integrators, and data center operators, due to their relatively smaller market influence and the critical role of their customers in dictating specifications and pricing.
Value chain of data centers. Source: IDTechEx
Despite this imbalance, a notable trend identified by IDTechEx is the increasing collaboration across different parts of the supply chain. This shift is driven by the growing complexity of cooling requirements for advanced hardware, such as high-performance GPUs and AI servers. Collaborative efforts aim to align the design, manufacturing, and integration processes to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve the performance of cooling solutions. For example, closer partnerships between cooling solution providers and chip makers can result in bespoke cooling designs optimized for specific processors. Similarly, working with system integrators and server OEMs helps streamline the integration of these solutions into larger systems, fostering innovation and ensuring reliability in high-demand applications like AI and cloud computing. The “Thermal Management for Data Centers 2025-2035: Technologies, Markets, and Opportunities” report from IDTechEx includes more analysis on how the strengthening collaborations would bring opportunities.
To find out more about this report, including downloadable sample pages, please see www.IDTechEx.com/TMDC.
For the full portfolio of thermal management market research available from IDTechEx, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Research/Thermal.
