Liquid Cooling TCO: A Vendor-Neutral Financial Model for Direct-to-Chip vs. Immersion

The era of air cooling for high-density AI is over. As operators race to support 100kW+ racks, the critical decision is no longer if they will adopt liquid cooling, but how. The two dominant technologies—Direct-to-Chip (D2C) and Single-Phase Immersion—present radically different cost structures, infrastructure requirements, and operational risks.

Choosing the wrong path can lead to millions in stranded capital and a competitive disadvantage. This is the definitive, vendor-neutral 5-year Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis that breaks down the true cost of survival.

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