[kuang3]

I was so excited when I read about the possibility of Lucid year ago, although I was also worried that it could be a vapourware.

however the wait could be over, as Lucid announced that we will be seeing the shipping of their hardware in the next 30 days. And most of us know that the MSI Big Bang is the first motherboard which has this amazing chip implemented.

It should be a cooler-running chip compared to NF200, as Lucid claims that its TDP rated at 6w.

It doesn't come cheap though, with Lucid pointing out roughly $1.50 per PCIe lane, with the high-end chip provides up to 48 lanes, now that is a premium of $72!!

Lucid demo with HD4890 and GTX 260+ on single system.


Bioshock running in mixed GPUs mode.


No actual words on its performance or stability yet.

Soon all our doubts will be answered, drop by Anandtech to see if they have any further update on this.

article source: AnandTech: Lucid Hydra 200: Vendor Agnostic Multi-GPU, Available in 30 Days

But somehow I am curious, if this chip performs as advertised, how come EVGA haven't adopted one for their classified board?

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[khaos83_2000]

maybe the lucid chip has not proven itself yet?

[kuang3]

the fact that 2 graphic cards are connected with VGA/DVI cable makes me wonder if all the cards have to be connected to the monitor for Lucid to work?

[jason1980]

Originally Posted by kuang3

the fact that 2 graphic cards are connected with VGA/DVI cable makes me wonder if all the cards have to be connected to the monitor for Lucid to work?

That makes it redundant...

[LiM]

If I am not mistake, the hydra chip only can do CF/SLI for the same brand of GPU.

[jason1980]

ATI CrossFire™ and Physics

same as nivdia?

[kuang3]

apparently MSI has a web page bragging about the arrival of next gen of gaming power with Lucid, you can go to msi Big Bang to have a look.

I will have my crossed hoping that this is truly a revolution in PC gaming.

by the way, anybody feels that while gaming PC is not dead, it is slowing down a lot, even if Lucid does work flawlessly, we don't really need this kind of horsepower?

[psolord]

Wow if this happens, it will be biggest thing since the Voodoo!

I wonder what will happen with the integrated Lynnfield controller? Will P55 mobos+Lynnfield+Hydra 200, be 2X 16X PCI-e 2.0 capable? That would be interesting.

I was hot on the heels getting an X58+Bloomfield or P55+Lynnfield but now I'll wait to see how this plays out!

[kuang3]

Originally Posted by psolord

Wow if this happens, it will be biggest thing since the Voodoo!

I wonder what will happen with the integrated Lynnfield controller? Will P55 mobos+Lynnfield+Hydra 200, be 2X 16X PCI-e 2.0 capable? That would be interesting.

I was hot on the heels getting an X58+Bloomfield or P55+Lynnfield but now I'll wait to see how this plays out!

honestly I am so eager to see it in action too!!

but seeing the chipset might cost an arm and leg, I also want to see how much the price is.

[psolord]

Originally Posted by kuang3

honestly I am so eager to see it in action too!!

but seeing the chipset might cost an arm and leg, I also want to see how much the price is.

Heck, if it delivers 100% gpu scaling for cards of the same vendor, the medium Hydra would not increase the cost of the mobo more than 32 lanes X 1.5USD=48$ which is a fair price to pay.

I mean if you think of it, you can buy two 5850s and coupled with the Hydra chip you would be much faster across the board, than two 5870s with a vanilla P55+Lynnfield.

Imagine Vanilla P55+Lynnfield Crysis scaling for two 5870s=5870+50% or
P55+Hyrda 200 Crysis scaling for two 5850s= errmm...5850+5850! lol

You save 240$ for the added cost of two 5870s and pay 48$ for the medium Hydra or 72$ for the high end.

I think we should buy the Lucid guys dinner too! As long as all this holds any truth that is and the Hydra does not drop to single gpu operation for half the games.

Personally I couldn't care less about the crossplattform operation. Give me linear scaling and I'm happy as a clam on LSD+ecstasy!

Since I'm feeling stupid today, imagine two ASUS 5850s@1Ghz+Hydra 200+Core i7-860@4.2Ghz!

[kuang3]

Originally Posted by psolord

Personally I couldn't care less about the crossplattform operation. Give me linear scaling and I'm happy as a clam on LSD+ecstasy!

Since I'm feeling stupid today, imagine two ASUS 5850s@1Ghz+Hydra 200+Core i7-860@4.2Ghz!

same here!!

[argeze]

I also have been waiting for a long time for this hydra chip to be available. This is gonna be a great new technology advance in multi-GPU.

I really want to buy that MSI board when it comes out except that LUCID says it support any DX9 or DX10.1 games but they do not say anything about what is gonn abe required to support DX11 ones.

If its a driver update then fine but if its a future HYDRA300 or such then its really a bad thing...


My first post!!!! YAY after reading the board for over a year

[HumsterMKII]

Originally Posted by argeze

My first post!!!! YAY after reading the board for over a year

Welcome to your DOOM!!!!

[argeze]

Originally Posted by HumsterMKII

Welcome to your DOOM!!!!

Thanks


But just to explain my fear a bit more is that if the lucid chip disable automatically and default to 1 card every time it does not support a game. I am just affrais that it would do this for every DX11 enabled game that are gonna come out.

[psolord]

Originally Posted by argeze

Thanks


But just to explain my fear a bit more is that if the lucid chip disable automatically and default to 1 card every time it does not support a game. I am just affrais that it would do this for every DX11 enabled game that are gonna come out.

DX11 could be a problem. But the article states that it intercepts DX and OGL calls. It does not mention any limitations. It would be stupid of Lucid to launch a chip, at the same time as Win7 launch that would be incompatible with Win7's proprietary rendering API!

They don't mention however, under what circumstances, the hydra could revert to single gpu operation. I guess we will learn more things as the launch date approaches. Nobody is going to buy until the first reviews arrive anyway!

Welcome to the forum!