Multi-GPU Lucid Hydra On Linux: No Plans Yet

Last year the Lucid Hydra 200 was announced as a unique, universal multi-GPU solution. The Hydra 200 is a custom chipset that allows the graphics rendering workload to be split between multiple graphics processors, but the graphics cards do not need to be tied to a particular vendor. Lucid Hydra can work with NVIDIA and ATI graphics cards like SLI and CrossFire, respectively, but you could have a mix of NVIDIA and ATI graphics cards connected to a single motherboard boasting a Hydra 200 chipset.

The Lucid Hydra 200 is now shipping and can be found on select motherboards. Windows performance figures have shown some performance improvements, but not without some bugs and other software challenges. However, if you are hoping to base a multi-GPU setup around the Lucid Hydra that runs Linux, think again before making your purchase.

In our forums it's been confirmed by Lucidlogix through Deanjo that there are no plans on Linux gaming just yet.

Thank you.
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Good luck,

Offir

We weren't particularly looking for Lucid Hydra support on Linux at this time due to the lack of native games for Linux, especially those where a modern GPU is the limiting factor. If you are looking for a multi-GPU setup on Linux either for driving more displays or splitting up the rendering workload, NVIDIA fully supports their Scalable Link Interface (SLI) technology within their binary UNIX drivers that are pretty much on par with the Windows version. There's also support from AMD/ATI of CrossFire on Linux via their Catalyst driver, but that is limited to a two-way CrossFire setup and not the three-way CrossFireX solutions. AMD also has Eyefinity with their Radeon HD 5000 "Evergreen" series for driving a great number of displays.

There's no open-source Linux drivers capable of distributing GPU rendering work across multiple GPUs.