LucidLogix Hydra About to Be Axed

LucidLogix' Hydra system-on-chip devices may have just made the difference clear between a revolutionary breakthrough and something that is 'just' a breakthrough. The Hydra 200 SoC, first used in the MSI Hydra 200 Big Bang Fuzion motherboard, seemed to fit the bill of a revolutionary technology perfectly when it emerged for the first time.

With the ability to allow AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards to work in tandem, regardless of model, it seemed to be just what everyone was waiting for. Unfortunately, the great idea turned out not to be so well received, even though initial appreciations were high.

In the end, the performance of Hydra-enabled multi-card setups was inferior to that of 'pure' AMD CrossFire or NVIDIA SLI configurations.

Now, there are genuine concerns that nothing more will come of the idea. Looking back, it seems as though the way the whole idea was approached wrong. Only some high-end motherboards actually got landed with Hydra, but the price premium made CrossFireX and SLI models all the more appealing. After all, if people could afford a high-end platform, they could just as easily afford a pair of AMD or NVIDIA cards as well.

It doesn't help the technology's situation that MSI announced it had decided not to include Hydra SoCs on future products. All in all, cross compatibility for video cards was one of those dreams that proved not to be all they were cracked up to be when they finally came true.

On the bright side, Lucid, as a company, doesn't have to worry about its wellbeing, since the Virtu and XLR8 technologies have been fueling its finances quite readily.  At this point, it is almost a certainty that LucidLogix will just go ahead and abandon the whole hardware side as obsolete. If nothing else, NVIDIA and AMD can sit back and breathe a sigh of relief.