D2C · Direct-to-chip
Trade shorthand for cold-plate cooling that brings coolant to the package; the default for frontier-density racks, with two-phase variants as the open successor question.
Current numbers
35–40 °Csingle-phase D2C coolant return temperatures documented at NREL's ESIF facility (approximately 35–40 °C, with approximately 24 °C supply)
~16–52 wkCDU lead time (direct-to-chip liquid cooling) — 16–24 wk standard, 26–52 wk in the current queue
~55%single-phase direct-to-chip share of the liquid-cooling market in 2026 (the 2026 default)