Rack power density
Rack power density is the electrical load of one rack in kW. It equals the heat the room must remove, so it sets the power feed and the cooling.
Rack power density is the electrical load of one rack in kilowatts, also written kW per rack. Every watt a rack draws leaves as heat, so the figure sets both the power feed and the cooling. NVIDIA's DGX B300 guide shows it, with 14.5 kW of power consumption and 49,476 BTU per hour of heat output.
Vertiv says densities under 10 kW per rack remain the norm, 15 kW is typical in hyperscale facilities, and some sites near 25 kW. NVIDIA's SuperPOD guide sizes each rack feed for 20.4 kW, half the peak of four DGX H100 systems, and advises against more than four per rack for thermodynamic reasons. A DGX B300 takes 10 RU and 14.5 kW. A DGX GB200 NVL72 rack consumes approximately 120 kW, and its compute trays are cooled by liquid through cold plates.
Divide the rack's kW budget by each system's maximum draw, not its typical draw. Check cooling separately from the electrical feed, since a rack with circuits for 20 kW can still lack the means to remove 20 kW of heat.
Sources
- Publisher
Vertiv
- Publisher
NVIDIA
- Publisher
NVIDIA
Last verified October 30, 2026.
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