LucidLogix made a name for itself way back in 2008 with the unveiling of its HYDRA cross-vendor multi-GPU technology, but it hasn't managed to make many giant strides since.
To date, MSI remains the only big-name manufacturer to adopt the technology, and offers just the single HYDRA-enabled board; the pricey Big Bang Fuzion.
Fetching close to £300 at retail, it hasn't quite set the market alight, and early benchmarks suggested that multi-GPU scaling in either N-mode (SLI), A-mode (CrossFire) or X-mode (mixed) configurations didn't quite live up to expectations.
Hoping to remedy some of the problems, MSI has today announced what it calls a "major" driver update. Version 1.5.106, available to download from MSI.com, introduces support for three-way cross-vendor configurations, and belated support for DirectX 11.
MSI reckons the software update will boost performance, but it's unlikely to breathe a new lease of life into LucidLogix's seemingly fading technology. Whilst the underlying promise is still there, there could be a number of reasons for Hydra's slow growth - the technology doesn't seem mature enough to offer CrossFire/SLI levels of performance, the added cost is an issue, and the pessimists among us may argue that board manufacturers are reluctant to adopt the technology in fear of alienating themselves from both AMD and NVIDIA.
Whatever the reasoning, it seems LucidLogix is facing an uphill struggle. Highlighting the slow development, the technology doesn't yet support NVIDIA's recently introduce GeForce GTX 400 series products. Another driver update is in the works.
Press release: Major HYDRA Driver Update Boosts Performance of MSI Big Bang-Fuzion
