Using multiple graphics cards to improve gaming performance has been a reasonable solution for over a decade now but that usually means being locked into a specific vendor at best and the same specific model of graphics card at worst.

In comes the MSI Big Bang Fuzion which uses the Lucid Hydra 200 chip that allows two graphics cards, even from competing vendors, to team up and tackle those pesky high-end gaming titles. Guru3D has the rather lengthy review:

So let me put it simply: The first Big Bang branded mainboard, Trinergy is designed with high-end technologies including nVidia nForce 200 SLI technology, Quantum Wave audio processing with the latest THX TruStudio PC and Creative EAX ADVANCED HD 5.0. The second one, the Fuzion, is perfectly the same motherboard that uses an Intel P55 platform board and a Lucid HYDRA chip that adds support for different brands and models of GPUs in the same system.

It’s extremely expensive and only a P55 motherboard as well but it does offer many compelling features as an enthusiast board.

There was a time when you’d have to stick to one of the two graphics chips makers in case you wanted, some day, the Multi-GPU upgrade option. Heck you even had to stay within the same card generation, same specs as well, if you wanted that sweet sweet frame rate boost two graphics cards offered. That’s no longer the case.

The Lucid Hydra 200 chip is designed to take any supported graphics card and allow you to pair it up with the competition’s graphics cards with some interesting scaling results. HotHardware has a few test cases:

We tested the graphics cards in this article using a unique setup provided by Lucid. The main components consist of a Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R motherboard powered by Intel’s Core i7 920 quad-core processor and 2GB of OCZ DDR3 RAM. Of course, this particular motherboard does not feature Lucid technology so as a result, the graphics cards were installed on a special evaluation board featuring the Hydra 200 chip. The evaluation board was connected via PCIe card installed on an x16 slot on the GA-EX58-UD3R motherboard. We were told that this test setup simulates the performance of the Hydra 200 when integrated on a mainboard.

It’s not final and hasn’t been integrated into a motherboard yet but the performance it’s pumping out is highly impressive and should be on most gamer’s want lists, and high end motherboards, in short order.

The thought of a computer using two graphics cards from very different graphics chip vendors would seem absurd, or even vaporware in the eyes of many…well it would seem we all have a bit of rethinking to do over the next few months.

AnandTech scoped out the Lucid Hydra 200 chipset which is set to allow for game acceleration by graphics cards from ATI and Nvidia, and perhaps Intel in the future, all at the same time:

There are three versions of the Hydra 200: the LT22114, the LT22102 and the LT22114. The only difference between the chips are the number of PCIe lanes. The lowest end chip has a x8 connection to the CPU/PCIe controller and two x8 connections to GPUs. The midrange LT22102 has a x16 connection to the CPU and two x16 connections for GPUs. And the highest end solution, the one being used on the MSI board, has a x16 to the CPU and then a configurable pair of x16s to GPUs. You can operate this controller in 4 x8 mode, 1 x16 + 2 x8 or 2 x16. It’s all auto sensing and auto-configurable. The high end product will be launching in October, with the other two versions shipping into mainstream and potentially mobile systems some time later.

Interesting technology which should make for some interesting testing with mixed and matched graphics boards.

Intel’s X58 Express chipset has been a solid partner to the company’s Core i7 processor for a good while now but in the hands of some experience engineers and, lets face it, performance crazed individuals things can be taken to extremes.

EVGA’s X58 SLI Classified offers up enough expansion and tweaking options to keep you busy tweaking, and upgrading, for a very long time. HardOCP has the details:

As has become common place with the higher end enthusiast targeted boards, EVGA did a masterful job with the X58 SLI Classified’s design and overall layout. While the Northbridge cooler does look a bit close to the primary PCI Express x16 video card slot, there are 3 others you can use without any impedance. The board’s serial number and revision are located on a white sticker in the upper left corner of the board, with the board tested being a revision 1.0. The board’s serial number is also located on a white sticker in the upper right hand corner of the included certificate of authenticity. Unsurprisingly, EVGA used high quality aluminum based solid-state capacitors throughout the board’s surface.

A quality motherboard capable of taking your gaming to new heights, just not your score…that’s all on you.

Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 295 setup was the fastest "single card" graphics product on the market for some time. The issue was that the design is in fact two graphics cards attached together into a nightmare cooling scenario. This changes things.

Gainward’s Single PCB GeForce GTX 295 moves everything on to a single card simplifying the cooling system although it does make for a much longer card. bit-tech has a look:

While the layout and structure of the card might have changed significantly, the specs are identical to the original GTX 295. The card still makes use of two 55nm GT200b GPUs running at 576MHz, still packing 480 stream processors (240 on each GPU) running at 1.242GHz. Each GPU still has 896MB of GDDR2 running at 999MHz (1,998MHz effective) at its disposal. However, while the out of the box specs are the same, we’re hopeful that the improved cooler will unlock some more overclocking potential.

It’s important to note that the card uses up just as much power as the previous two PCB design which was unexpected.

It used to be that the microATX segment was underserved, relying on expensive boards that didn’t have much going for it other than a smaller form-factor. Those performance hungry engineers got their hands on to everyone’s favorite miniature spec and pumped out something devious.

Hardware Canucks has a look at the ASUS Rampage II Gene mATX motherboard which comes in with Intel Core i7 support as well as CrossFireX and SLI capabilities. Some of their thoughts:

Turning the focus north up the board we can see that our expansion slot
selection is rather limited. This is an obvious set back to the small
form factor, but at some point concessions have to be made for this
small footprint and up until now, this is seemingly the first one. The
focus of this motherboard is to offer an m-ATX motherboard with full
graphics power that an ATX motherboard is capable of. Providing this
power are two 16X PCI-E slots capable of CrossFireX and SLI. The
spacing will allow for double slot cooled graphics cards realizing the
potential for dual GTX 295’s or HD4870 X2’s.

One can’t help but get all excited just thinking about this board.

Intel’s Core i7 chip is quite a performer in its own right, given the right motherboard though you can do so much more with it. Budget boards just won’t do when you want to push your chip to new levels so MSI whipped up something new.

Their Eclipse SLI X58 motherboard sports a slew of features focused at enthusiasts and their desire for speed. PC Perspective has a look at the board and what it can do:

The layout around the CPU is not cramped with capacitors and lends
itself to any high-end air cooler on the market. Copper heatsinks  and
heatpipes are used over the X58 Northbridge and DrMOS. DrMOS has an
integrated driver IC, top MOSFET, and bottom MOSFET. It uses GreenPower
technology, XpressCool, and RapidBoost to provide solutions for lower
temperatures during idle, and delivering consistent power during
overclocking.

Look they even kept things clear for your massive heatsink and fan, obviously focused on your needs.

Intel’s motherboards have a reputation for being somewhat…bland. Sure they offer stable performance and security features, so they’re tried and true, but most other manufacturers tend to pass over for the full throttle overclocking prowess so they get all of the attention.

Enter Intel’s Extreme Series DX58SO motherbord which combines their stable board pedigree with the side option to overclock a Core i7 CPU a whole heck of a lot. Legit Reviews has a few thoughts on it:

The bottom left of the board is where we have the location of our
PCI/PCIE slots.  The Intel DX58SO board has one legacy PCI slot, two
X16 PCIE slots that support Crossfire and SLI technologies, one X4 PCIE
slot and two X1 PCIE slots.  Next to the X4 slot at the top, we also
have a 4-pin molex connector that gives extra power for those that will
be running a multi-video card setup.

CrossFire, SLI, overclocking…the X58 Express chipset sure does wonders.

When one considers the microATX form factor its best trait is the small footprint it has in comparison to larger ATX boards. It’s all about the size in that market so very little focus is actually placed into making performance motherboards in such sizes.

The ASUS Rampage II Gene bucks trends with its Intel Core i7 support, ATI CrossFire and Nvidia SLI multi-GPU support, and plenty of overclocking options. Interested? Elite Bastards has a look:

The Rampage II Gene’s bundle doesn’t seem huge compared to some of the
offerings we’ve seen from ASUS, but it still features cables aplenty, a
manual and driver disc (as well as a fully paid-up copy of 3DMark06,
and ASUS’ handy little LCD Poster for showing BIOS information, errors
and the like.  An SLI cable is also included to make use of NVIDIA’s
multi-GPU configurations.

Perhaps a smaller, beastlier machine is in your future courtesy of this motherboard.