NVIDIA Rubin CPX Solution’s Incremental Impact Analysis on PCBs and Equipment Materials

NVIDIA has introduced the Rubin CPX solution (full name: Rubin NVL144CPX cabinet) based on the existing Rubin and Rubin Ultra solutions. The core design integrates 36 CPUs and 144.6 GPUs in a traditional cabinet, with an additional 144 CPX GPU chips to handle inference tasks through “contextual computation” and “generation phase,” addressing the low computational efficiency of traditional solutions. According to NVIDIA’s public data, this solution’s performance when processing large amounts of context is 650% higher than that of the GP300’s NVA72 cabinet (i.e., 6.5 times); at the same time, the cost of CPX chips is significantly lower than that of the original GPUs. Although the PCB usage in the cabinet increases, the overall usage cost for customers decreases significantly—this combination of functional optimization and cost control becomes the core advantage of the solution.

From a structural change perspective, the core increment of the Rubin CPX cabinet is concentrated in the PCB segment. To achieve high-speed bandwidth interconnection between CPX chips and original GPUs, the solution adds 8 CPX chip trays on top of the existing structure, along with two key PCBs: one is the carrying PCB for the CPX chip itself, and the other is the “orthogonal mid-board” that connects the upper and lower trays (to replace traditional copper cables). Specifically, traditional cabinet trays rely on copper cables for internal and external connections, while the new solution completely replaces the copper cables inside the trays with PCBs (no copper cables inside the trays), directly leading to two aspects of PCB increment: first, the net increase of two PCBs inside the tray (orthogonal mid-board and CPX carrying PCB), directly enhancing PCB demand; second, the orthogonal mid-board has extremely high signal transmission requirements, necessitating an upgrade to M9 materials (replacing traditional materials). This material upgrade not only increases the “volume” of PCBs but also enhances the “price” through technological iteration—combining material upgrades with high-speed transmission requirements forms the logic of “volume and price increase together.”

The increase in PCB volume and material upgrades directly translate to the equipment and materials sector. In terms of materials, the demand for drill bits has grown significantly: on one hand, the number of PCB layers continues to upgrade (evolving from the current 20-30 layers to 70-80 layers or even over 100 layers), leading to a substantial increase in drilling difficulty—what was originally a design that could be drilled through with one via now needs to be divided into 3-5 segments, and multi-layer PCBs need to be split into multiple small PCBs for processing, significantly increasing drill bit wear; on the other hand, the application of M9 materials leads to a sharp decline in drill bit lifespan—test data shows that the drilling lifespan of M9 materials is only below 200 holes, which is not only far shorter than traditional materials but even half that of M8 materials, meaning that for the same number of PCB processes, the usage of drill bits needs to double. Additionally, the price elasticity of high-end materials and drill bits in large scenarios further amplifies the value increment of materials. In terms of equipment, the mechanical drilling process becomes the core beneficiary direction (e.g., leading drill bit manufacturer Dingtai High-Tech, leading drilling equipment manufacturer Dafeng Technology), while laser drilling in the HDI field (e.g., Second Laser) is a potential beneficiary point, and high-end exposure equipment (e.g., global leader Qiqing Micro-Assembly) will also continue to benefit from technological upgrades.

The subsequent catalyst mainly comes from the verification progress of the orthogonal backplane. In the second quarter, the orthogonal backplane completed its first round of verification, being introduced to downstream board manufacturers such as Dongshanxiang, Shenghong, and TTM; starting in September, it entered the second round of intensive verification, with technical finalization expected from late September to the end of the month—this round of verification involves not only the introduction and selection of new suppliers but also further technical adaptation of the first-round suppliers. From an investment perspective, it is currently essential to focus on mechanical drilling-related targets (such as Dingtai High-Tech’s drill bits, Dafeng Technology’s equipment), laser drilling directions (such as Second Laser), and high-end exposure equipment (such as Qiqing Micro-Assembly); diffusion directions can focus on Dongwei Technology, Dazhu Laser, Kaige Jinj, Jinzhu, and Inno Tian Tian’s punctual delivery punishment, while also suggesting tracking the periodic rebound opportunities within the sector. Overall, the PCB volume increase and material upgrades brought by the Rubin CPX solution, combined with the verification catalyst of the orthogonal backplane, will drive the equipment and materials sector into a “volume and price increase” cycle, making it a key direction for current investment layout.