When it first made news, it drew some shock and awe reactions from the community. LucidLogix' Hydra Engine promised enthusiasts the ability to mix and match multiple GPUs of any make, model, and generation, a model that threatened to shatter AMD CrossFire and NVIDIA SLI. When it was finally introduced it worked, the performance scaling between identical GPUs wasn't spectacular compared to native technologies (SLI/CrossFire), but it worked as advertised.

A report by Overclockers Ukraine suggests that Lucid is finding hardware-based Hydra Engine technologies obsolete since there's close to zero patronage, and that both Intel and AMD chipsets are supporting both SLI and CrossFire (with some riders). Hydra as a concept, itself evolved to Lucid Virtu and XLR8. An MSI representative told OCUA that the company doesn't have any products in the pipeline that uses Hydra. MSI designed a few motherboards in the past, based on Lucid Hydra.

The PowerColor HD 6970 X2 isn't the only new dual-GPU graphics card on display at PowerColor, there's also the HD 6870 X2. We're not entirely sure why one would come up with such an SKU in an already crowded performance market segment, but perhaps PowerColor is trying to squeeze in between performance levels of HD 6970 and HD 6990. While not a bad idea, it comes with the usual challenges and limitations of a dual-GPU graphics card: application support for CrossFire, and usually high power draw.

Like on the HD 6970 X2, PowerColor used Lucid Hydra technology, with a Hydra Engine chip that provides each of the two AMD Barts GPU with a PCI-E 2.0 x16 link. Users can choose between AMD CrossFire or Lucid Hydra multi-GPU technologies. With Hydra enabled, you will be able to get this card to work in tandem with any other card in the system. Each Barts GPU has 1120 stream processors, 32 ROPs, and 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across 256-bit wide memory interfaces.

While between the GeForce GTX 580 and Radeon HD 6970, the former is clearly the faster graphics card, the two share a disputed lead over each other in their dual-GPU avatars, GeForce GTX 590 and Radeon HD 6990, attributed to the HD 6990 sustaining clock speeds closer to those on its single-GPU implementation, and a better electrical design. While NVIDIA is fixing the electricals on a revised PCB design scheduled for release in the weeks to come, companies like ASUS are wasting no time in designing their own PCBs that can let the two NVIDIA GF110 GPUs sustain clock speeds identical to those on the single-GPU GTX 580. This would pose serious competition to the HD 6990. To ward that off, PowerColor is working on a new Radeon HD 6970 X2 graphics card, which has two AMD Cayman GPUs clocked on par with single-GPU HD 6970, and having the same overclocking headroom.

The new card from PowerColor is not just an overclocked HD 6990, but also has the overclocking headroom of the HD 6970. Further, unlike the HD 6990, it uses Lucid Hydra technology. The PLX-made, AMD-branded PCI-Express bridge chip is replaced by a LucidLogix-made bridge chip that gives each GPU PCI-Express 2.0 x16 bandwidth. Users can run the two GPUs in either AMD CrossFire (with Hydra features disabled), or enable Lucid Hydra Engine features, and let the two GPUs work in tandem with any other graphics card installed in the system, that uses GPUs of any make and generation.

SAPPHIRE Technology, best known as a manufacturer and global supplier of graphics solutions has just announced plans to seriously address the motherboard market with the introduction of high end Intel platforms.

SAPPHIRE has just released information that for the first time it will introduce Intel based mainboards in the high-end sector. Designed to appeal to the enthusiast, the first product will be a fully featured X58 board, to be known as the SAPPHIRE Pure Black X58, supporting the Intel core i7 series of processors. In addition to the established and highly regarded X58 chipset, the board incorporates many state of the art features such as on-board USB3.0, SATA 6 Gb/s ports in addition to SATA 3 Gb/s, six DDR3 memory slots, 3 Gen2 (x16/x8/x8) and one Gen1 (x4) PCI-Express expansion slots as well as a host of peripheral connections and on-board 8-channel audio.

MSI is readying a new high-end socket LGA1155 motherboard based on the Intel P67 chipset, geared for overclocking, that features the LucidLogix Hydra Engine chip, that gives out no less than eight PCI-Express x16 slots (electrical lane configurations may vary). The Big Bang Marshall is an XL-ATX motherboard, it makes use of a strong 18-phase CPU VRM that makes use of DrMOS, solid-state chokes, and POSCAP capacitors. The four DDR3 DIMM slots support dual-channel DDR3-2000 MHz memory. The PCI-E 2.0 x16 link from the processor is wired to the Lucid Hydra chip, which controls all installed graphics card, irrespective of make and generation, and creates a multi-GPU array with it. This means that you can pair AMD Radeon graphics cards with NVIDIA GeForce ones, and can even mix and match different GPUs of the same make.

That aside, the Big Bang Marshall features four SATA 6 Gb/s and four SATA 3 Gb/s ports, two USB 3.0 ports, dual gigabit Ethernet, 8-channel HD audio, and tons of overclocker-friendly features such as OC Genie, consolidated voltage measurement points, and a feature-rich BIOS. The board is slated for release after Intel's early-January launch of the 2011 Core processor family, which starts off with quad-core Core i7 and Core i5 processors.

ECS is designing an upper-mid range socket LGA1155 motherboard based on the Intel P67 Express chipset, ready with upcoming Sandy Bridge processors, called the P67H2-A. A pre-release version was shown to the press. The highlight here is ECS' use of the LucidLogix Hydra Engine chip that lets the motherboard mix and match graphics cards of different makes and types. The CPU is powered by a 14-phase VRM, it is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory, speeds of up to 2600 MHz are supported by overclocking. Expansion slots include three PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (likely x16, x16, NC / x16, x8, x8, thanks to the Hydra chip), and two each of PCI-E x1 and PCI. Four out of six of the SATA 3 Gb/s ports from the P67 PCH are assigned as internal ports (color-coded orange), two SATA 6 Gb/s controllers give out two ports internal (color-coded red). Connectivity includes 8-channel HD audio, dual gigabit Ethernet, two NEC USB 3.0 controllers that give out two ports on the rear panel and two for the front-panel via header, eSATA 6 Gb/s, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. The final version may look slightly different, of course those jumper wires won't be there.

When we first saw the ASUS ROG Crosshair IV Extreme back in March, it seemed like just a beefier version of the Crosshair IV Formula with four well spaced out PCI-E x16 expansion slots, a stronger VRM, and a few more ASUS-exclusive goodies thrown in. Later in May, we learned that the Crosshair IV Extreme is different from its smaller, more popular sibling, in featuring the LucidLogix Hydra Engine chip that lets the users pair graphics cards across the lineups and GPU vendors, whichever way they want to upscale performance or add features. After quite some wait which led some of us to fear that ASUS shelved the product as Crosshair IV Formula seems to have been well received, the company surprised us by finally releasing the beast to the market.

The Crosshair IV Extreme that we see today is slightly different from the older iterations in featuring a different heatsink assembly design. It features bulkier, more groovy-looking heatsinks over the north-west cluster that houses the CPU VRM and AMD 890FX IOMMU, while the south-east cluster has a sleeker heatsink that cools the Lucid Hydra chip and the AMD SB850 southbridge. Most other features remain the same: expansion slots that include five PCI-E x16, one PCI; support for dual-channel DDR3-2000 MHz memory; a six-port SATA 6 Gb/s RAID controller, 2 SATA 3 Gb/s ports, two eSATA 3 Gb/s; connectivity that includes gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, 8-channel SupremeFX X-Fi audio, USB 3.0; and a boat-load of OC-friendly features including ROG Connect, redundant BIOS, on-board voltage-measure, PCI-E gating and OC controls, etc. It is priced around 300 EUR.

MSI is readying yet another socket AM3 motherboard that features the Lucid Hydra chip, called the 870A Fuzion Power Edition. MSI had earlier launched a motherboard with nearly the same features called the 870A Fuzion. The 'new' motherboard from MSI uses the AMD 770 northbridge with the SB850 southbridge, a confusing name. The Lucid Hydra LT22102 chip that lets you pair two different ATI or NVIDIA graphics cards in ATI+ATI, NVIDIA+NVIDIA, and ATI+NVIDIA configurations. What's new with this board, however, is that a few components have been relocated, and the CPU VRM has been upgraded to 10+1 phases with high-C capacitors.

Expansion slots include two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (full-bandwidth), three PCI-E x1, and one PCI. Connectivity includes 8-channel HD audio with optical and coaxial SPDIF connectors, USB 3.0 (one on the rear panel, one internal port), gigabit Ethernet, FireWire, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. With the SB850 southbridge the motherboard has six internal SATA 6 Gb/s ports. The pricing of this board is expected to be around the 170 EUR mark, which is about 45 EUR more than that of the 870A Fuzion.

MSI rolled out two of its performance Lucid Hydra based motherboards it's been working on, the socket LGA1156 P55A Fuzion and socket AM3 870A Fuzion. The P55A Fuzion uses a 10-phase CPU VRM that makes use of high-C capacitors, Lotes-made socket, two-phase VRM for the memory, and expansion slots which include two PCI-E 2.0 x16 (full-bandwidth), two PCI-E x1, and two PCI. The PCI-E x16 slots are wired to the Lucid Hydra 200 chip that gives each graphics card full interface bandwidth, and offers vendor-neutral multi-GPU pairing. Users can pair NVIDIA graphics cards with ATI, and can also mix and match different GPUs. Connectivity features include two SATA 6 Gb/s ports, six SATA 3 Gb/s, USB 3.0, 8-channel audio, and gigabit Ethernet.

The 870A Fuzion is based on the AMD 870 chipset with SB850 southbridge. It supports socket AM3 CPUs, including six-core Phenom II X6. The CPU is powered by a 4+1 phase VRM. Expansion slots include two PCI-E 2.0 x16, two PCI-E x1, and one PCI. Apart from the CPU architecture, this board has all the features of P55A Fuzion, except that it has eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Connectivity here, too, includes USB 3.0, 8-channel audio, Lucid Hydra multi-GPU technology, and gigabit Ethernet. The 870A Fuzion is expected to be priced around US $160, while the P55A Fuzion is expected to go for $190.