Vera Rubin racks hit 250kW, and NVIDIA is handing out the plans
Key takeaways
- NVIDIA contributed Vera Rubin rack and compute tray designs to the open MGX architecture at the OCP Global Summit.
- MGX 1.2 adds native 19-inch equipment support and a liquid-cooled 5,000A busbar, with designs aimed at up to 250kW per system.
- NVIDIA and Cisco also announced USFP, a module for 400Gb/s networking fabrics.
Last updated: 14 October 2026
250 kilowatts. That is the power ceiling NVIDIA is designing for in a single Vera Rubin rack, and this week it put the blueprints into the open.
At the OCP Global Summit, NVIDIA contributed Vera Rubin rack and compute tray designs to MGX, its modular framework for AI infrastructure. MGX 1.2 adds native support for 19-inch equipment and higher-density racks, plus a liquid-cooled 5,000A busbar to carry the current.
What was announced
Beyond the rack designs, NVIDIA and Cisco announced USFP, which the coverage describes as the first module for 400Gb/s-based networking fabrics. NVIDIA and Google announced Falcon Transport support for future ConnectX-10 SuperNICs. Visionbay introduced an 800V DC design for what it calls AI factories in the Vera Rubin era.
The coverage gives no benchmarks for Vera Rubin itself, and these details come from newsletter summaries rather than NVIDIA's own documents, so treat the specifics as reported rather than confirmed.
Why it matters
Power per rack is now the main limit on AI buildouts. At 250kW, a single rack draws as much power as roughly 80 kettles boiling at once, which is why liquid cooling and heavy busbars are part of the standard rather than an add-on. Published designs let server makers and data centre builders copy the plumbing instead of working it out alone.
It also shifts the competitive picture. AMD is pitching its own open-standards approach, as in our comparison of AMD Helios and NVIDIA Vera Rubin, and NVIDIA opening MGX narrows that gap. For background on the platform itself, see our Rubin platform explainer.
What to watch next
Watch which server makers and cooling suppliers adopt MGX 1.2 first, and whether the 800V DC designs become a shared standard or stay a one-vendor bet. The other number to track is the one nobody has published yet: how many sites can actually deliver 250kW to a rack.
