Computex - PowerColor adds NIC and Hydra to GFX cards

The first curiousity goes by the name of HD5770 Sniper, a Juniper RV840 based card that sports not only a GPU but also an onboard Ethernet connector, the likes of the ones we see from Bigfoot Networks, that is, Killer Xeno Pro. NPUs give users a slight edge in gaming as they prioritise gaming network packets to reduce possible latency.

We say .. the most latency is to be found inbetween your chair and the keyboard.

The second item is even more curious. Powercolor has mounted a Hydra chip onto its HD5770 design making it possible to do multi-vendor multi-GPU without, what seems to be, the need for a brand new motherboard.

Lucidlogix, the maker of the Hydra chips, had laid out this plan way back in late 2008. The original idea was to get the chip running in one of two configurations, the first being integrated into the motherboard as an add-on chip, and the second as an add-in card. Of course, an add-in card for such a small chip would've cost too much and sold too little. The option is then made to strap it onto the graphics card. Thus is born the HD5770 Evolution.

According to Powercolor,this will allow Tri-GPU configurations with SLI and CrossfireX combinations. Personally we tested Hydra .. and aren't to fond of it at all.