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Lucid's Hydra allows for this kind of fraternizing to take place. An Nvidia and ATI card in the same system.

(Credit: Eric Franklin/CNET)

Last year I reported on the Lucid Hydra 100. For details on what Hydra is and how it works, check that post.

This week Lucid is announcing an upgraded solution, the Hydra 200. Hydra allows two video cards to simultaneously be used in a single system.

Before clicking the Back button, yes I know Nvidia and ATI have been doing this for years with their SLI and Crossfire solutions, respectively.

The twist here is that the Lucid technology will allow you to mix and match both ATI and Nvidia cards. According to Lucid, you'll even be able to use cards from different manufacturers like EVGA and Sapphire. Lucid says that as long the cards are PCI-Express-compatible and support Direct X 9, they will work and provide an additive performance increase when paired together.

The first motherboard to implement the technology will be MSI's Big Bang in late October 2009, using Intel's P55 platform.

From there, we'll see how well it works out in the real world. With so many different configurations to test for, there are bound to be a few Lucid's testing team missed, as diligent as I'm sure they were.

Also, how much performance ncrease will you actually see? It had a demo PC running Bioshock and FEAR 2, but to be honest it was difficult to see a noticeable difference between using just one card or both.

It will be interesting to see how ATI and Nvidia respond to this as well, and can they get OEMs like Dell to adopt the technology?

The technology is exciting if it actually works in the real world and they can get enough support from manufacturers and OEMs. I guess we'll have a clearer picture in a few weeks when Big Bang drops.

Photos: Lucid's Hydra 200 in action

One prolific manufacturer of computers has announced what we had already known for a while: Core i7 laptops are ready to hit soon. And by soon we mean September. MSI has confirmed a series of 15.4- and 17-inch mobile Core i7 laptops that will hit just before the launch of Windows 7.

The question is, will you buy one? For those who aren't familiar, Core i7 processors are excellent at multitasking and hard-core gaming, but are hardly power-friendly. They're the chips that will populate the next generation of eye-popping gaming laptops that will, in most instances, also come with eye-popping prices.

That's not to say this power won't be passed down the laptop food chain. Intel's platform code-named Arrandale will produce Core i3 and i5 mobile processors next year, set to replace more mainstream laptop processors.

For now, though, these MSI Core i7 super-laptops will be top-of-the-line desktop replacements, far from the budget categories that have been the fastest-growing part of the marketplace. And the real question will be whether battery life will be anywhere near functional for a serious laptop user who isn't interested in camping near a power outlet.

If you were buying a Windows 7 laptop, would power matter to you? Or would you be equally satisfied with a well-functioning Windows 7 Netbook or ULV thin-and-light?

(UPDATE: we spoke with Intel, asking about MSI's announcement and whether it broke embargoes. Their response: "Yes, they did with product details, but their timing is wrong." Take that as you will.)

(Via Gizmodo)

Does including an external drive make it a better deal?

(Credit: MSI)

Despite many Netbooks and thin-and-lights ditching optical drives in favor of more compact computers, corporate folks are apparently still concerned and looking out for us suddenly-DVD-free folk. MSI has announced availability of a new thin-and-light ULV (ultra-low voltage) notebook, the MSI X600, which comes with its own external DVD/CD drive right in the box.

For $899, the X600 comes with a 1.4GHz Intel SU3500 ULV processor, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a 320GB hard drive, ATI HD 4330 graphics, and a 15.6-inch 1366x768 screen. It includes a six-cell battery, an improvement on the X340, which had a somewhat disappointing battery life. It also packs HDMI-out and Bluetooth while being a hair under an inch thin.

This all sounds good, with two exceptions. One: its processor is a single-core ULV. Two: this "thin-and-light" weighs 5.5 pounds. That's a serious chunking up from the X340's 2.9-pound frame.

Will a Core 2 Solo processor--the same that's in the X340--be enough for a 15.6-inch laptop? Time will tell. Until our review, we invite you to check out some images of the external drive, which at least stylishly matches the big sibling it comes packed with. The MSI X600 comes in black and silver.

MSI X600

(Credit: MSI)

The 2009 budget train continues, as MSI has just announced a back-to-school lineup of 16- and 17-inch additions to the Classic C Series notebook line, promising starting prices as low as $549. What's new and notable here is that the 17.3-inch models all have 1600x900 resolutions, which is a nice upgrade from the 1366x768 we're used to seeing on budget machines. Even more intriguingly, the 16-inch CR600-017 includes a Blu-ray/DVD drive for hi-def movie watching (but sadly and quizzically, only a 1366x768 resolution on that one). But this is the kicker: it only costs $649.

All machines also feature ATI or Nvidia graphics of some sort--the CX600 and CX700 models have ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330 graphics cards with 512MB RAM, while the CR600 and CR700 models have Nvidia GeForce 8200M GPUs.

There is one caveat, however: all these laptops have Pentium Dual Core T4200 and T4300 processors. Therein lies the discount. However, it could be an excellent compromise for those who value some multimedia and screen size over processor speed. In essence, your price options are either $549, $649, or $799. Details below for reference (all 16-inchers are 1366x768, all 17.3-inchers 1600x900):

• CR600-013US ($549): 16-inch, 2.0 GHz T4200, 4GB RAM, GeForce 8200M G, DVD
• CX600-049US ($649): 16-inch, 2.0 GHz T4200, 4GB RAM, ATI Mobility Radeon 4330, DVD
• CR600-017US ($649): 16-inch, 2.1 GHz T4300, 4GB RAM, GeForce 8200M G, Blu-ray
• CR700-012US ($649): 17.3-inch, 2.0 GHz T4200, 4GB RAM, GeForce 8200M G, DVD
• CX700-020US ($799): 17.3-inch, 2.0 GHz T4200, 4GB RAM, ATI Mobility Radeon 4330, DVD

If you're bargain-hunting, check out the gallery below.

MSI C Series laptops

(Credit: MSI)

The battle over ultrathin, low-voltage laptops has begun in earnest.

MSI announced Wednesday the availability of the X340, the first notebook to hit the market sporting Intel's new CULV (consumer ultra-low voltage) processor.

The X340 is the first of many ultrathin notebooks that look a lot like the MacBook Air, but bear significantly lower prices. Intel's CULV processor draws 5.5 watts, or one-sixth the power of other mobile processors, which leads to longer battery life. The X340 has a 13.4-inch screen, and is priced at $900. It weighs 2.86 pounds, measures .78 inches thick and comes with an HDMI port for displaying high-definition video.

There are going to be many more of these cheaper thin and light laptops to come. On Monday, Lenovo announced its U350 notebook, which will also come with the CULV processor, and will be priced at $649. But it won't be available until the end of June. Acer also plans a series to include CULV in its upcoming TimeLine notebooks, which will range from $699 to $899.

The Wind just got boob-tube-friendly.

(Credit: MSI)

MSI's newest Wind has gone on sale, upgrading to an Atom N280 processor from the previous N270 for some modest performance gains. What else is new as compared with the last-generation Wind? Four colors instead of two--blue, red, gray, and white, so a family of four could have its own MSI Wind party and not mix up their laptops.

Also new and notable is a TV antenna connector, turning the Wind into a portable broadcast-ready set in a pinch. Most of what we watch these days is on the Internet anyway, but this could always come in handy for live sports or events.

Packed with a six- or nine-cell battery (no three, so you have to live with the "battery bump"), prices start at $380 for the six-cell, and $430 for nine-cell. Both models come with 1GB RAM, a 160GB HDD, a 1.3-megapixel Webcam, and a 10.2-inch screen--no surprises. The nine-cell also adds 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.0, whereas the six-cell just has 802.11 b/g.

More juice for your Hackintosh Netbook.

(Credit: Boing-Boing Gadgets)

Although Apple doesn't have any clear Netbook plans on the horizon, that hasn't exactly stopped anyone from getting their own Apple Netbook the hacky way. Hackintoshes, i.e. PCs with Mac software loaded on them, hadn't truly started stealing the spotlight until the Netbook phenomenon. For as little as $300 and a copy of Leopard, you too could have the sort of ultraportable that Jobs and Co. would only sneer at.

The downside, besides no official hardware support from Apple, has been battery life, an area where OS X hasn't exactly been Netbook-friendly.

That is, until now.

Early reports from MSI forums claim boosts from 3 hours 45 minutes to 5 hours 5 minutes on a six-cell MSI Wind after upgrading to 10.5.7, which just became available Wednesday. The update doesn't claim battery life improvements as a feature, according to Apple's official documentation. If battery life improvements were true, one imagines they would be advertised.

On the other hand, maybe these improvements only show up on Atom processors. Others around the Web are planning to do their own testing to see if any Apple magic has been bestowed on their little Mac Mobile mutants.

We haven't tried it here yet, but have any of you found Hackintosh advantages? That is, if you have a Hackintosh. Let us know below.

A notebook from MSI portends the crush of lower-cost, Intel-based MacBook-Air-like laptop designs to come.

The MSI X-Slim series herald Apple MacBook Air-like laptops without the luxury laptop tax

(Credit: MSI)

As I've written before, consumer ultra-low-voltage (CULV) chips will arrive in earnest this summer. The X-Slim X340 from MSI (Micro-Star International) is using the ULV SU3500, a precursor to lower-cost CULV Intel chips to come.

(Note: On April 19, Intel cut prices (PDF) on a wide range of processors. Though the SU3500 didn't see any cuts, the prices on its low-power cousins, the SL9400 and SU9400, were reduced 10 percent and 9 percent, respectively.)

What is CULV exactly? Well, one thing it's not is the Netbook-centric Atom processor: the 1.4GHz SU3500 is based on Intel's higher-performance mainstream Core 2 architecture. But like the Atom, it's a single-core chip. Single core means low power. In this case, the SU3500 draws only 5.5 watts, more than the Atom but a fraction of the dual-core mainstream Intel mobile chips rated at 25 and 35 watts. It also comes in a small 22mm chip package.

And what does all this mean? Better performance than Atom-based Netbooks. And in a well-designed system, longer battery life than a mainstream laptop.

Oh, and lower prices than luxury laptops like the Apple MacBook Air and Dell Adamo, which start at around $1,800. The MSI X-slim 340 with the SU3500 was launched this week in Japan and the higher-end version starts at around $1,000. U.S.-based reports say it is priced at $1,100.

The ultra-thin HP Pavilion dv2 laptop powered by AMD's Athlon "Neo" chip is also in this price range. AMD CEO Dirk Meyer said Tuesday that the single-core Neo processor will get a dual-core sibling dubbed "Congo" by summer.

Let the low-cost laptop competition begin.

The MSI WindTop hits online stores Tuesday.

(Credit: MSI)

According to our inbox, MSI's WindTop AE1900 touch-screen all-in-one PC is scheduled to hit online retailers Tuesday. It will join the already available Asus Eee Top and Averatec All-in-One in the niche-but-growing Nettop category. On paper, anyway, the Wind Top may stand out due to its many features.

The $525 WindTop essentially marries the key features of the Eee Top and the Averatec system with no price premium. Like the Asus system, MSI's WindTop will feature touch-screen capability, only with a larger, 18.5-inch screen that MSI says conforms to the familiar 16:9 screen ratio common to HDTVs. And as with the Averatec All-in-One, the WindTop also includes a DVD burner. The Eee Top is optical drive free.

Like these other Nettops, the WindTop is powered by a slow, low-power Intel Atom CPU. With Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and the Windows XP Home Premium operating system, the WindTop is only a serviceable computer (serious digital media work and 3D gaming are both out), but marketers and fans of the Netbook/Nettop movement will tell you that computing power isn't the point.

As long as Nettop prices stay low and real all-in-one prices stay high, we agree. The only problem is full-power systems like Dell's $699 Studio One 19 starting to emerge in the same price ballpark. If that trend continues, the "performance doesn't matter" argument won't hold up for long.

Photos: All-in-one Nettops