Intel P55 and HYDRA 200 Paired on MSI's Big Bang Motherboard

Following the introduction of its new HYDRA 200 chip for multi-GPU configurations, LucidLogix has announced today that it has collaborated with the world's leading chip maker Intel to enable the new solution on the latest P55 platform, providing computer enthusiasts with a choice for a high-end computer system that offers performance and flexibility in a single package. The HYDRA 200-enabled solution has already been adopted by MSI, one of the world's leading chip makers, with the introduction of its new Big Bang Gaming Motherboard, a platform designed on Intel's new chipset with the aforementioned HYDRA 200 processing engine.

 

“People want the flexibility to upgrade their system for maximum gaming performance at their convenience,” said Henry Lu, MSI global senior vice president. “With a ground-breaking gaming motherboard like the MSI Big Bang, we’ve taken the guesswork out of adding graphics. It’s easy to change cards based on what brand and model you like, your budget or what titles you wish to support, whether you are an enthusiast gamer or a mainstream user.”

 

The Intel P55 chipset and LucidLogix's HYDRA 200 chip combined solution provides consumers, motherboard makers and gaming enthusiasts with a choice for a high-end computing platform that offers a unique flexibility in choosing the graphics processing unit. MSI's Big Bang board will enable its users to boost their system's graphics performance through the addition of new graphics cards, from either NVIDIA or ATI. A similar technology was enabled on Intel's high-end X58, but when accompanied by NVIDIA's NF200 chip and only allowing customers to add multiple NVIDIA or ATI graphics cards. With the HYDRA 200 chip users can pair an NVIDIA graphics card with one from ATI to increase their graphics performance.

 

“The graphics-vendor-agnostic Lucid HYDRA SoC allows consumers who are tired of complicated graphics solutions to transition towards ultra-responsive, ultra-realistic 3D graphics performance,” said Moshe Steiner, CEO of Lucid. “The Intel and HYDRA 200 solution levels the playing field for users and provides seamless compatibility and interoperability across components.”

 

The board is expected to become available later this year, just after the Windows 7 launch and before the upcoming holiday season.