MSI's Hydra 200-Enabled Big Bang Fuzion Finally Launches

MSI has delayed the release of its Big Bang Fuzion motherboard for several months, but it seems that the product is finally going to go out into the world. The motherboard will be the first consumer-oriented mainboard built with the LucidLogix Hydra 200 chip, which enables multi-GPU configurations with graphics cards of differing models.

Examples of multi-GPU configurations made of graphics adapters of different models are AMD combinations such as Radeon HD 4870 and Radeon HD 4890, or NVIDIA pairings such as the GeForce GTX 275 and GTX 260. Still, what makes this chip even more noteworthy is its ability to leverage the graphics capabilities of adapters even in combinations of GPUs from differing manufacturers. Gamers and graphics enthusiasts will finally be able to combine, for example, an NVIDIA GTX 260 with an AMD (ATI) HD 4870.

The motherboard is powered by the Intel P55 and supports the LGA 1156 chips, such as the Core i5-750, Core i7-860 and Core i7-870 processors. The board is built with four DDR3-2300 memory slots, three PCI-Express x16 slots, two eSATA and ten SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, dual Gigabit Ethernet and FireWire. In addition, the MSI Big Bang Fuzion features a 1 phase DrMOS, Active phase Switching(APS), V-Check points, 100% Hi-c Caps, the OC genie technology and a SuperPipe cooling system.

The SuperPipe cooling system boasts 8mm heatpipes and a surface 56% larger than that of competitors, enabling a temperature decrease of 50%. Furthermore, the OC Genie is MSI's original, smart overclocking chip, which automatically detects the optimal settings for the system and the 100% Hi-c Cap increases the system stability while also enabling a longer operation. Unfortunately, the Fuzion does not feature either of the USB 3.0 or SATA 6.0 Gbps advanced technologies.

The board will become available around the middle of January and will be sold directly through the manufacturer's website. The product will come bundled with an OC Dashboard and a Quantum Wave PCIe x1 audio card and will be priced at $390.

The product page for the LucidLogix Hydra 200-enabled MSI Big Bang Fuzion may be found here.