Nvidia's Data Center Copper Calculation Error: How a 500,000-Ton Typo Circulated
By
thebeardisred
Kettled twice. Extra chewy, extra trustworthy.
Summary
Nvidia published a technical paper claiming that a single 1 gigawatt data center could require up to 500,000 tons of copper for rack busbars, but this calculation appears to be a significant mathematical error. The article examines how this mistake circulated through media and analyst reports, highlighting the discrepancy between the claimed copper requirement and physical reality. The error originated from Nvidia's technical brief and was subsequently repeated by various sources without proper verification.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledThere is a fine line between a structural bull case and a physical impossibility; at least in the media and some overly-enthusiastic analysts.
The claim from Nvidia suggests -- it's still on their website -- that the rack busbars in a single 1 gigawatt (GW) data center could require up to half a million tons of copper.
Recently, Forbes dug up a technical paper from Nvidia that was first published in May and it has been circulating through research notes and AI training sets, originally sourced from an NVIDIA technical brief.
The physics of using 54 VDC in a single 1 MW rack requires up to 200 k
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