A cold plate apparatus includes a top wall and a bottom wall that enclose a plenum for fluid flow; an inlet and an outlet each formed in one of the top wall or the bottom wall; a first active area within the plenum; a second active area within the plenum; and a partition that extends between the top wall and the bottom wall within the plenum and that separates the first active area from the second active area so that a portion of fluid flowing from the inlet to the outlet through the plenum flows through either the first active area or the second active area but not through both active areas.