More Details on Multi-GPU Lucidlogix's Hydra

Although he wouldn't go into too much detail, we did find out some new and interesting aspects on what Hydra can do. First of all, the implementation done by ELSA Japan is not the same setup as that which will be found on consumer motherboards, as the Hydra chip can function in two different modes. To make a replacement for SLI or CrossFireX, the Hydra chip has to be configured to run in graphics performance mode, but ELSA's implementation doesn't generally work in this mode, as ELSA is using the chip as a PCI Express controller for use with Nvidia Tesla cards for GPGPU applications.

The Hydra chips have a built in RISC processor which is the key part in the graphics performance mode and this makes it a much more flexible solution than your average PCI Express controller. ELSA's implementation is said to be cheaper than using a Tesla server with four cards from Nvidia, but we'll have to wait and see what ELSA's official pricing will be until we know this for sure. In non graphics performance mode up to four cards can be used, but in graphics performance mode you're limited to two cards at the moment, but Lucidlogix is working on allowing for up to four cards.