Lucid Hydra Configuration and Testing
One of the most exclusive features ECS added to the P67H2-A was Lucid’s HydraLogix Hydra Core Technology that allows users to combine graphics cards from AMD and NVIDIA and use them in tandem to boost the PC’s graphics performance. Many people have been skeptical about Lucid’s claims to combine two GPUs from two different vendors, but we were able to put those issues to rest in a previous review Ryan did on MSI’s Big Bang Fusion motherboard review last year.
There are three ways to configure the Hydra Core technology – A-Mode, N-Mode, and X-Mode. A-Mode is used for dual AMD video cards, N-Mode for dual NVIDIA video cards, and X-Mode for a mixture of AMD and NVIDIA video cards.
Since we’ve done in-depth reviews on Lucid’s Hydra Core technology in the past, I decided to focus on how the P67H2-A incorporates it into their P67 offering. We put together an XFX HD 5770 and Gigabyte GTS 250 to see how well the Hydra Core technology worked when we benchmarked them in 3DMark Vantage.
The performance results speak for themselves as the HD 5770 combined with the GTS 250 boosted our 3DMark Vantage score by almost 7,000 points. Our GPU score alone shot up almost 100 percent, which is a great indication of how Lucid’s Hydra Core technology works in ECS’s P67H2-A. We were highly impressed by the results, and when this technology is supported by more games, we would love to see this chip as a standard option in future motherboard offerings.
