Lucid's HydraLogix manufacturer-agnostic multi-GPU solution is an impressive product with one major drawback - it requires most users to buy an expensive new motherboard that includes the chip. That won't be the case much longer, though, as the company has announced plans to build the processor directly onto video-cards.
Two become one
The new UNITY graphics-architecture will pave the way for manufacturers to place the HydraLogix 200 processor alongside a GPU to work its magic as if it was built into the motherboard. Buying a new video-card with one of these chips will allow you to combine it with older cards from a previous generation - or even another manufacturer - rather than just throwing it away.
Of course, this will be a lot cheaper than buying a new motherboard just to gain access to Lucid's technology. The main benefit of the HydraLogix chip is its flexibility, allowing any GPU to be combined with any other on any platform, regardless of chipset or processor. The new architecture will give users even more options when it comes to building a multi-GPU system.
A Lucid dream
Our only concern is that, with a lot of extra data going to and from the video-card, the PCIe bus could start to get choked, especially on motherboards with only eight lanes-per-slot. This could obviously hurt overall performance, though we're sure Lucid have found a way to make it work.
While the company won't be making any add-in boards itself, it does have a number of high-profile partners. PowerColor has already signed up and will be the first manufacturer to launch a card based on the UNITY design. While nothing has been announced, MSI and ASUS produce motherboards that make use of the chip, so we wouldn't be surprised to see them develop a video-card as well.
According to Lucid, cards will be available before the end of this year for under $199 (£155 including VAT). This means that we could see GPUs including the Radeon HD 5770 and GeForce GTX 460 getting the HydraLogix treatment.
