Hydra 100 chip?

[Reality|Bites]

So this will improve SLI and Crossfire performace then?

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/...echnology_Finally_Available_Demonstrated.html

 

[TheRedZealot]

TLIUWB

This link is useless without benchies

 

[cavemanoc]

OMGWTFBQ!

I call foul on your abbreviation!

as a stand alone add in card I can't see it working, but if Intel do license this to motherboard manufacturers it could become a very useful option for the tri/quad boards.

 

[Angilion]

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2328495,00.asp

I think it could work as a standalone card too, depending on cost and it reliably working as claimed. If it works as claimed, it will give significantly better performance than you'd get with the same cards in SLI or Crossfire. People will pay for that.

It might even work out cheaper in some cases. For example, it appears possible to "mix and match" different cards if they can use the same drivers, which leads to the possiblity of comparing cost and performance between, for example, two 4870s in Crossfire and 4870 + 4850 + Hydra. It might also give extra upgrade options, allowing you to continue using your current single card along with a new card and a hydra card.

It appears that a Hydra card would be very simple, which implies that the cost of it would not be much more than the cost of the Hydra chip.

Interesting.

 

[Shaolin Chicken]

Sounds very good indeed.

No need to get rid of your old graphics cards, as they can be used in the same system with the hydra chip (*as long as they are the same manufacturer).

I hope we hear more of this hydra chip in the near future.

 

[gurusan]

Two RV770s already give a 100% boost over 1 in some games....

 

[Angilion]

Sounds very good indeed.

No need to get rid of your old graphics cards, as they can be used in the same system with the hydra chip (*as long as they are the same manufacturer).

I hope we here more of this hydra chip in the near future.

They don't have to be from the same manufacturer. Hydra is theoretically compatible with any combination of cards. The issue is graphics card drivers, or rather driver, singular. As the saying goes, there can be only one. So the cards must be capable of using the same driver. It doesn't matter who makes them.

At the very least, Hydra looks useful for multi-GPU cards, e.g. 4870 X2. It would be more efficient than the current design.

 

[Rroff]

Even with hydra mixing an older slower card with a newer faster one isn't going to give much in the way of useful gains as the amount of time the older card can contribute anything useful to the faster one is going to be very limited.

If it works as well as they claim it would be very useful for 3+ cards.

 

[Angilion]

I'm not so sure. For example, I have a very heavily overclocked 7900GT. If I picked up an 8800GT and a Hydra card and stuck them in, the 7900GT should still contribute a useful amount. If Hydra works as stated. Better than putting the 7900GT in the ever-growing collection of unused old parts gathering dust in my spare bedroom, certainly.