Lucid's multi-GPU HYDRA technology explained
By Darren Murph 
posted Aug 20th 2008 11:01AM
posted Aug 20th 2008 11:01AM
Putting it simply, Lucid's goal with its HYDRA technology is to "build a completely GPU-independent graphics scaling technology" which enables two completely different cards to work together in harmony with "little to no software overhead." Let that sink in a minute. Now that a puzzled look has surely overtaken your face, we'd strongly recommend hitting the read link for a (very) detailed look at the technology, an explanation of how it works and even a few hard hitting questions addressed to the company. We're trying to stifle our excitement here, but our hopes are escalating quickly.
So essentially I would be able to use not only my current graphics card but I could throw in the last one or two I owned as well and this would farm out work to each of those as well? Sounds pretty damn cool.
"Our" hopes perhaps?
Can I use my radeon and my 9800 GT?
If you read the article you would realise that you cannot use two different graphic drivers under XP or Vista, meaning two graphics cards from two different companies wouldnt work.
Yes you can in XP and Vista actually. Just that WDDM drivers in Vista have to be the same. When you use the XDDM drivers in Vista, multiple display drivers are possible, but it disables Aero. In XP you can only use XDDM drivers to begin with, so it ain't an issue.
Plus, both ATi and nVIDIA use a unified driver model now, so you can actually use Aero with both... let's say a GeForce 8400 with two 9800GTXs. That's what I do right now to get dual-monitors with SLi enabled.
Ouch! Current gpu's with linear scaling? This can only hurt larrabee which was hedging its bets that its near linear performance scaling would give it an edge.
this will be dead in the water unless lots of motherboard manufacturers jump on it.
PhysX, meet your relative.
YOU MEAN "OUR HOPES"
NOT "ARE HOPES"
I am available for a senior editor position.
That technology is genius. If they can get it to work perfectly there is definately a market.
So, lemme get this straight, Intel Capital is backing Lucid, the people who make Hydra, which in principle sounds awfully similar to Intel's Larrabee's big advantage?
Unless Intel Capital has nothing to do with Intel, then It seems very strange that Intel would be funding a technology that essentially undermines their next best thing. Or is this kinda like a technical demo with no real intent of releasing this into the wild, 'cause from the way everyone's been reporting it (maybe they're just being optimistic) it sounds like this is meant to be adopted by an array of companies and integrated into the motherboard as a high-end feature.
" Intel Capital is a global commitment aimed at investing and supporting profitable enterprises that will drive internet growth, enable new usage models, and advance industry standards. We build companies using our worldwide customer base, technological knowledge, extensive access to capital, and the power of the Intel brand. While financial return is imperative, our greater mission is to spur innovation and inspire the entrepreneurial spirit to thrive."
Looks like an investment thingy to make Intel money.