NVIDIA has detailed an 800-volt direct current (800 VDC) power architecture developed in collaboration with Google and Microsoft through the Open Compute Project. The design aims to reduce power conversion stages between the electrical grid and graphics processing units, addressing infrastructure bottlenecks in high-density artificial intelligence facilities.
Traditional data center power systems convert alternating current (AC) electricity multiple times before it reaches accelerators. According to NVIDIA, these repeated conversions add overhead and inefficiencies that compound at higher power levels. The 800 VDC architecture distributes power directly at higher voltages using direct current, decreasing the number of conversion steps required.
The company plans to release an MGX-compatible 800 VDC power rack in the second half of 2026. Designed to fit into existing AC infrastructure without requiring changes to a building's electrical system, the unit delivers 800 VDC directly to compute racks within a row.
"800 VDC unlocks the compute performance and power density required for AI at scale," said Vladimir Troy, vice president of data center infrastructure at NVIDIA. He stated that the company is working with more than 80 ecosystem partners to establish a practical deployment path for facility operators.
A joint white paper detailing the architecture was published in March 2026, followed by the LVDC Solid-State Transformer Specification v0.3 in July 2026. More than 80 equipment manufacturers and infrastructure companies are building products to this specification.
Reference designs under the NVIDIA DSX framework outline additional scaling options beyond the initial power rack. A row power center expected in 2027 will use an overhead 800 VDC busway to distribute up to 2 megawatts per row across multiple rack rows.
Research firm Wood Mackenzie projects global investment in AI and data infrastructure will reach $9 trillion through 2040. For newly constructed facilities, NVIDIA is planning a DC power block that converts grid electricity directly to 800 VDC in a single step at medium voltage.
