Hydra Feedback

[saaya]

READ FIRST! This Poll is multiple choice, please select one option out of each scenario, hydra scales worse, the same or better than sli/xfire. Please read the detailled features i described BEFORE voting as it does more than just raw fps scaling.

Theres been a lot of talk about Hydra, and many are interested in it...
Just how interested are you in it?

How much would you be willing to spend extra on a board to have Hydra multigpu on it? Hydra doubles the pciE lanes like an nf200 or PLX chip and can put out 16/16 or 8/8/8/8 lanes. It supports object based frame splitting, which is pretty much a specialized SFR method, which should have no drawbacks like stuttering and frame time delays like AFR which is what xfire and sli use most of the time.
Here are the features short and simple:

So at the same fps than SLi/Xfire Hydra should allow for more fluid gameplay, fps isnt everything...
It can act as a PLX like pciE splitter to allow you 16x 16x lanes for sli or xfire
It can act as a PLX like pciE splitter to allow 16x vga plus 16x raid controller operation.
It can use all monitor outputs of all vgas at the same time
It can use idle 3d resources of cards that are used to display 2d on one monitor, to run 3d with another gpu on a second monitor.

Thanks for voting!

[BenchZowner]

I'd be ok with even 50$ if it scales better than SLI/CFX and DOES NOT suffer from any kind of disturbing issues like MicroStuttering or severe application incompatibilities.
For what it's worth, we haven't seen it up and running yet, and I don't expect to see it anytime soon ( while working fine ).

[saaya]

ive seen it hehehe
it doesnt seem to benearly as app specific as sli and xfire and almost needs no maintenance driver wise, so compatibility should be much better as well, thats another plus actually...
scaling depends on the game and videocards used... cant tell you more

[CmB]

If Hydra can do what is claimed $50 would be worth IMHO. That's a big IF. I would love the benefits of Crossfire and SLi without dealing with the problem if it works out that way. thanks for listening.

--Chris

Edit:

ive seen it hehehe
it doesnt seem to benearly as app specific as sli and xfire and almost needs no maintenance driver wise, so compatibility should be much better as well, thats another plus actually...
scaling depends on the game and videocards used... cant tell you more

Saaya, you're leaving me hanging.

[warlove3]

if supports full 4x16 lanes =D , bring it on, plus it scales way more better than current CF/SLi solution right?

[xXlAinXx]

Duo the market target, I will probably not end to fully tryout i5 platform at least not for bench/gaming propouse, anyway I will be really interested about 32 nm Westmere - Gulftown in particular.
One native six core processors would definitively be another steep foward not only for us enthusiatic.
If Hydra manages to keep its promises.. well, sooner or later we will see some number. In the end uor hope is last to die!


better scaling than SLi/Xfire - 50$

50 Dollar!? OMG Even 70 Euro

[saaya]

warlove3, it takes 16 lanes and turns that into dual 16 or quad 8

so nobody cares about the multidisplay features and the improved gpu scaling with no stuttering and frametime delays isnt that important either it seems... you all just care about the performance eh?

[zanzabar]

i think that it would be cool and u wouldent have to deal with getting an sli license so the NV people dont complain. its just no1 has done a public write up on it so there is nothing to compare it against. and if the price is similar to the plx then i would go for it.

[westtrade]

If it will provide true 16/16 or 8/8/8/8 lanes and do away with frame time delays, then I would have no problem paying $50 more for the board.

[saaya]

well the license from nvidia is only 5$, the hydra chip is obviously more expensive than that, but it does have nice features.
Its just hard to tell if its worth it... like i said in another thread, if you beef up your mainstream boards too much they end up in the same price range as your highend boards

[HDCHOPPER]

eyem cheap

but this is no place to scrimp this is the reason for oc boards

my coustermers will never buy the kind of boards we do

edit : how about a poll on amount of copper for boards to make them tuff to volts

[zanzabar]

well the license from nvidia is only 5$, the hydra chip is obviously more expensive than that, but it does have nice features.
Its just hard to tell if its worth it... like i said in another thread, if you beef up your mainstream boards too much they end up in the same price range as your highend boards

so your saying that NV is licensing sli on the i5, dose that mean that they are also doing the am3

and how dose plx + sli cost compared to the hydra

[warlove3]

......2x16 is enough for me, performance is what we care about =D

[Sch0cK]

Most interesting point for me is SLI/CF with Cards from different generations.

Like keep my GTX 280 and add a GTX 380

[saaya]

eyem cheap

but this is no place to scrimp this is the reason for oc boards

my coustermers will never buy the kind of boards we do

edit : how about a poll on amount of copper for boards to make them tuff to volts

you mean a poll on how much people want bold marketing campaigns?
like with anything, i like if people/companies try something new, like those special capacitors on asus and evga cpu sockets, thicker copper layers and whatnot, but if theres no real benefit then i dont see a point in following it up. our engineers are aware of what others do and we will add features that make sense

just like how asus copied us a couple of times and added features that make sense... and i heard they really like the BR pwm and might use the same or similar components in future

so your saying that NV is licensing sli on the i5, dose that mean that they are also doing the am3

and how dose plx + sli cost compared to the hydra

i didnt say that
according to rumors in the industry, i5 yes, am3 no, even with nf200...
cost is about the same for any pciE switch

......2x16 is enough for me, performance is what we care about =D

well the difference between 8/8 and 16/6 for normal sli and xfire is very small with pciE 2.0... 10% tops id say

Most interesting point for me is SLI/CF with Cards from different generations.

Like keep my GTX 280 and add a GTX 380

not sure, but with hydra that should work... should...
they recommend coupling the same gpus tho

[Sch0cK]

As far as i know is it possible to combine any GPU and Hydra manages it.

By using Windows you have to get to the same Company because of the Driver for the GPU.

[zanzabar]

if the cost is the same go for the hyda IMO, it will still work as a pci-e switch if u dont want to use its multi card, right so there is no loss in using it