CPU/Mobo MSI bigbang with Lucid Hydra - ATI + Nvidia multigpu now possible

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WingZero

WingZero

Forerunner
During the last week we have seen many new P55 based motherboards,
among them the new line of MSI , and today , IOPANEL.NET gives you an
exclusive look at the "Hidden" member of MSI product line - The Big Bang,
which is a P55 motherboard with Lucid Hydra chip - which should enable the
operation of NVIDIA and ATI based video cards on the same motherboard.

Who Is Lucid ?

Lucid is an israeli company, located at Kfar-Neter, which is developing the Hydra Chip, which is a Chip that should enable the use of NVIDIA and ATI
video cards on the same motherboard.the company holds some cooperation agreements with some of the biggest players in hardware industry, and the
motherboard that we preview today is one of the first products of this
cooperations.

msi_big_bang_09.jpg


The Lucid Hydra chip, as mentioned before should enable the use of 2
different video cards together on the same motherboard.
We have been told in the past that there will be different versions of the
chip - one will enable the usage of video cards like HD4870 along with a
HD4650 for example , another version will enable the usage of NVIDIA based
video cards together - like a GTX260 together with 9600GT for example,
and of course one version will enable a mix of video cards -ATI video card
together with a Nvidia video card on the same motherboard.
The Hydra chip is responsible for the Balance and link between the different
video cards.

The Big Bang -

MSI P55 "The Big Bang" is a P55 based motherboard, which hosts the Lucid Hydra chip that will replace the nf200 chip.
As you can see in our photos, the Hydra Chip is located between the CPU socket and the first/Upper PCI-Express Slot.
As for now we can't tell which one of the versions of the Hydra is placed on the motherboard, and how it performs ,
but a source inside one of the companies told us that the Hydra Chip is working as planned.

Msi P55 The Big Bang - Lucid Hydra Inside - Ati Work With Nvidia - IOPaneL
 
Guys following the multi gpu news would have come across Hydra chip by Lucid, which lets you combine Nvidia+ATI chips, well it seems that MSI is gonna include it in its P55 based mobo for Lynfield...

Msi P55 The Big Bang - Lucid Hydra Inside - Ati Work With Nvidia - IOPaneL

Lucid is an israeli company, located at Kfar-Neter, which is developing the Hydra Chip, which is a Chip that should enable the use of NVIDIA and ATI

video cards on the same motherboard.the company holds some cooperation agreements with some of the biggest players in hardware industry, and the

motherboard that we preview today is one of the first products of this

cooperations.

The Lucid Hydra chip, as mentioned before should enable the use of 2

different video cards together on the same motherboard.

We have been told in the past that there will be different versions of the

chip - one will enable the usage of video cards like HD4870 along with a

HD4650 for example , another version will enable the usage of NVIDIA based video cards together - like a GTX260 together with 9600GT for example, and of course one version will enable a mix of video cards -ATI video card together with a Nvidia video card on the same motherboard.

The Hydra chip is responsible for the Balance and link between the different

video cards.
Click to expand...
 
thats gr8 peice of info mate !!!! :clap::hap2::clap:
btwwill P55 be used by the i5 proccys ????
 
There are three versions of the Hydra 200: the LT22114, the LT22102 and the LT22114. The only difference between the chips are the number of PCIe lanes. The lowest end chip has a x8 connection to the CPU/PCIe controller and two x8 connections to GPUs. The midrange LT22102 has a x16 connection to the CPU and two x16 connections for GPUs. And the highest end solution, the one being used on the MSI board, has a x16 to the CPU and then a configurable pair of x16s to GPUs. You can operate this controller in 4 x8 mode, 1 x16 + 2 x8 or 2 x16. It's all auto sensing and auto-configurable. The high end product will be launching in October, with the other two versions shipping into mainstream and potentially mobile systems some time later.

2x16block.jpg


Lucid wouldn't tell us the added cost on a motherboard but Lucid gave us the guidance of around $1.50 per PCIe lane. The high end chip has 48 total PCIe lanes, which puts the premium at $72. The low end chip has 24 lanes, translating into a $36 cost for the Hydra 200 chip. Note that since the Hydra 200 has an integrated PCIe switch, there's no need for extra chips on the motherboard (and of course no SLI licensing fees). The first implementation of the Hydra 200 will be on MSI's high end P55 motherboard, so we can expect prices to be at the upper end of the spectrum. With enough support, we could see that fall into the upper mainstream segment.

2x16z.jpg


Lucid specs the Hydra 200 at a 6W TDP.

Also unlike last year, we actually got real seat time with the Hydra 200 and MSI's Big Bang. Even better: we got to play on a GeForce GTX 260 + ATI Radeon HD 4890 running in multi-GPU mode.

hydrasetup.jpg


Of course with two different GPU vendors, we need Windows 7 to allow both drivers to work at the same time. Lucid's software runs in the background and lets you enable/disable multi-GPU mode

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