AMD R9 Nano Review - New ITX GPU Performance King!!!

**AMD Radeon R9 Nano Review: A Deep Dive into Performance, Design, and Features**

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### Introduction

The AMD Radeon R9 Nano officially launched on August 27th, marking a significant milestone in GPU technology. This review, brought to you by Hardware Canucks, delves into the details of this compact powerhouse, exploring its design, performance, efficiency, and more. If you're considering building an ITX system for your living room, this article is for you.

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### The R9 Nano: A Compact 4K GPU

The R9 Nano aims to be the ultimate 4K compact ITX GPU, thanks to its tiny form factor—measuring just 6 inches or 15 cm. Despite its size, it packs a punch with a fully enabled Fiji XT core, delivering impressive performance while maintaining a 100W TDP reduction compared to the flagship Fury X. This efficiency is achieved by selecting only the most power-efficient components.

Priced at $649, the R9 Nano is a niche card for several reasons:

1. **Competition**: For the same price, you could opt for the Fury X or the 980 TI, both of which offer strong performance.

2. **Form Factor Compatibility**: Many small form factor enclosures support longer GPUs (e.g., 10" or 12"), which can diminish the Nano's compact appeal. For example, the Silverstone SG13 is a perfect ITX chassis for the Nano, but it might feel too large for such a small card.

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### Design and Features

The R9 Nano boasts an impressive cooling solution with a single 90mm fan, keeping temperatures low even in tight spaces. During load, the GPU maintains a temperature of 74°C—a remarkable achievement for its size. The design includes:

- **Display Ports**: Triple DisplayPort 1.2 and one HDMI port (only 1.4), which limits 4K gaming at high refresh rates since most UHD TVs lack DisplayPort support.

- **Shroud Design**: While the cooler is efficient, the shroud lacks illumination, making the vibrant red text somewhat lost in darker environments. The absence of a back plate exposes the PCB, which is intentional for ITX builds where the GPU stands upright.

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### Power and Performance

The R9 Nano is incredibly efficient compared to the Fury X, with stable core frequencies hovering around 900 MHz—exactly as expected. Its power consumption is noteworthy, making it an excellent choice for compact systems.

In terms of raw performance, while it may not be at the top of the charts, the R9 Nano shines in its category, easily outperforming the 980 and 390x in ITX builds. Overclocking tests were pleasantly surprising, with the core reaching up to 1.7 GHz stable, nearly matching the Fury X's performance.

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### Thermal and Acoustic Considerations

The Nano's thermal design is impressive, maintaining low temperatures despite its size. However, it does have a downside: noise. The coil whine from the GPU can be quite loud, making it one of the loudest cards in testing. This issue isn't due to the fan but rather the power delivery components.

To mitigate heat and noise issues, ensure optimal airflow when building your system. While looks aren't everything, the R9 Nano is designed for ITX setups, so pairing it with a well-ventilated case is crucial.

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### Availability and Recommendations

The R9 Nano's niche status introduces challenges regarding availability and overclocking potential. Its compact form factor may appeal to enthusiasts willing to compromise on size for performance, but others might find similarly priced alternatives more appealing.

For prospective buyers, the decision hinges on whether you prioritize the ITX form factor over noise or if your priorities lie elsewhere. While it's not a perfect GPU, the R9 Nano represents a significant step forward in design and efficiency.

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### Conclusion

The AMD Radeon R9 Nano is an innovative product that pushes the boundaries of compact GPU design. It excels in power efficiency, performance for its form factor, and thermal management but falls short in terms of noise levels and HDMI 2.0 support. For those building an ITX system in the living room, it's worth considering if you value size over sound.

Would you recommend the R9 Nano to a friend? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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### Final Note

Thank you for reading this detailed review of the AMD Radeon R9 Nano. Make sure to subscribe for more insightful content and stay tuned for our next video!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis video is brought to you by nc.com great technology selection and service amd's R9 Nano officially launched on August 27th where we saw the initial slide Deck with a Specs the card design and our at the time speculation of how the Nano will perform against competing cards and all of that can be found in our R9 Nano explain video Linked In the description or in the eye here I'm Dimitri with hardre KN and the R9 officially launched today for retail we have all the gaming performance all the Acoustics power consumption frequencies uh and everything will be ready for you in this video make sure to stick around this is going to be a good one now to quickly recap what the Nano is trying to achieve is become the ultimate 4K compact ITX GPU for the living room simply because it's so tiny at 6 in or 15 cm with a great cooling solution yet feature a fully enabled Fiji XT core the same that is found on the fury x with 4 GB of HPM but with a 100 Wat TDP reduction than the flagship and this is done through picking only the most efficient course and thus introduce a challenge in its own for availability and overclocking that we'll talk a bit later priced at $649 the R9 Nano is a niche card for several reasons first you can look at what competing cards you can get for the same amount of money like the really appealing Fury X or the 980 TI second if you're really after the ITX form factor most newly released small form factor enclosures support 10 and 1 12 in gpus that could void the compact appeal of the Nano take the sg13 from Silverstone for example this is a perfect ITX chassis for the Nano that leaves plenty of space inside for a front-mounted radiator as the car does not even extend past the motherboard itself and you could say that this case is actually too big for the Nano on the flip side of that coin the sg13 has no issues accomodating for 980 or a 980 TI thus I suspect that most potential owners of the Nano will pick a really narrow case on purpose to accommodate for that short form fractor has put the Nano inside a full tower and an ATX motherboard and to me this looks completely out of place and while looks aren't really everything the R9 Nano is an ITX card designed for ITX habitat only in my opinion but be aware of the fact that aside from triple display port 1.2 the HDMI port is only 1.4 which makes 4K gaming in the living room not as appealing at 30 HZ as most UHD TVs still are not equipped with display port now for the price I was expecting AMD to focus a bit more on the Shroud design especially considering how much thought and emphasis went into the uh cooler design for the furyx so the radio text on both sides is not illuminated it's just vibrant red and gets kind of lost in the dark plus we have no back plate leaving the dark PCB exposed which I think is on purpose as most ITX cases will have the GPU standing like so and the back blade you could say is not really necessary it is impressive though what AMD can achieve with such a tiny yet effective cooler in a single 90mm fan keeping the card during load at 74° C which is a fantastic temperature for tight enclosures although the vrms check out these thermal shots here get super hot and we advise to set up the best possible airf flow to get rid of all that heat away from the PCB now there's a constant balancing act with monitoring core frequencies to hit the power and temperature targets with a nano hovering around 900 MHz which was our exact expectation having said that our sample experienced some terrible coil wine bumping the Nano into being one of the loudest cards in our stack this is not the Fan's fault per se as it is Library quiet as AMD calls it but the coil wine is definitely part of the equation take a listen to Power the Nano You' need a single eight pin that plugs in the bag and thus extends the length of the GPU by at least an inch keep that in mind however check out that power consumption the R9 Nano turns out to be an incredibly efficient GPU when compared against the fer X we are happy to see this and the binning process seems to have made a significant impact on separating the Nano against all other gpus and with that out of the way let's check out the benchmarks now obviously from a pure raw performance perspective the R9 Nano isn't at the top of the charts but given it's placed in a completely different category for ITX the Nano is a Powerhouse of its own beating the 980 and 390x easy as for overclocking Headroom we were not expecting much from the Nano and were pleasantly surprised when the core pushed all the way to 1,70 MHz stable bringing the performance right below the F ex so where does this leave us with the Nano it's obviously not a perfect GPU with two major downsides being Acoustics and the lack of HDMI 2.0 whereas power efficiency stable core frequencies and form factor are all major selling points and for prospective buyers it really becomes a balancing act whether or not you value the ITX length of the card over loud operation and whether or not your priorities lie with the size uh and not within choosing to go similarly priced but outperforming solution but having said that this is an absolute step in the right direction and giving it the hro KN damn Innovative award and so now that you've seen all the numbers would you recommend the R9 Nano to a friend who is potentially building an ITX system for the living room and if not how would you set up the perfect ITX gaming machine leave your thoughts in the comments below thanks so much for watching make sure to subscribe for more similar content and we'll see you in the next onethis video is brought to you by nc.com great technology selection and service amd's R9 Nano officially launched on August 27th where we saw the initial slide Deck with a Specs the card design and our at the time speculation of how the Nano will perform against competing cards and all of that can be found in our R9 Nano explain video Linked In the description or in the eye here I'm Dimitri with hardre KN and the R9 officially launched today for retail we have all the gaming performance all the Acoustics power consumption frequencies uh and everything will be ready for you in this video make sure to stick around this is going to be a good one now to quickly recap what the Nano is trying to achieve is become the ultimate 4K compact ITX GPU for the living room simply because it's so tiny at 6 in or 15 cm with a great cooling solution yet feature a fully enabled Fiji XT core the same that is found on the fury x with 4 GB of HPM but with a 100 Wat TDP reduction than the flagship and this is done through picking only the most efficient course and thus introduce a challenge in its own for availability and overclocking that we'll talk a bit later priced at $649 the R9 Nano is a niche card for several reasons first you can look at what competing cards you can get for the same amount of money like the really appealing Fury X or the 980 TI second if you're really after the ITX form factor most newly released small form factor enclosures support 10 and 1 12 in gpus that could void the compact appeal of the Nano take the sg13 from Silverstone for example this is a perfect ITX chassis for the Nano that leaves plenty of space inside for a front-mounted radiator as the car does not even extend past the motherboard itself and you could say that this case is actually too big for the Nano on the flip side of that coin the sg13 has no issues accomodating for 980 or a 980 TI thus I suspect that most potential owners of the Nano will pick a really narrow case on purpose to accommodate for that short form fractor has put the Nano inside a full tower and an ATX motherboard and to me this looks completely out of place and while looks aren't really everything the R9 Nano is an ITX card designed for ITX habitat only in my opinion but be aware of the fact that aside from triple display port 1.2 the HDMI port is only 1.4 which makes 4K gaming in the living room not as appealing at 30 HZ as most UHD TVs still are not equipped with display port now for the price I was expecting AMD to focus a bit more on the Shroud design especially considering how much thought and emphasis went into the uh cooler design for the furyx so the radio text on both sides is not illuminated it's just vibrant red and gets kind of lost in the dark plus we have no back plate leaving the dark PCB exposed which I think is on purpose as most ITX cases will have the GPU standing like so and the back blade you could say is not really necessary it is impressive though what AMD can achieve with such a tiny yet effective cooler in a single 90mm fan keeping the card during load at 74° C which is a fantastic temperature for tight enclosures although the vrms check out these thermal shots here get super hot and we advise to set up the best possible airf flow to get rid of all that heat away from the PCB now there's a constant balancing act with monitoring core frequencies to hit the power and temperature targets with a nano hovering around 900 MHz which was our exact expectation having said that our sample experienced some terrible coil wine bumping the Nano into being one of the loudest cards in our stack this is not the Fan's fault per se as it is Library quiet as AMD calls it but the coil wine is definitely part of the equation take a listen to Power the Nano You' need a single eight pin that plugs in the bag and thus extends the length of the GPU by at least an inch keep that in mind however check out that power consumption the R9 Nano turns out to be an incredibly efficient GPU when compared against the fer X we are happy to see this and the binning process seems to have made a significant impact on separating the Nano against all other gpus and with that out of the way let's check out the benchmarks now obviously from a pure raw performance perspective the R9 Nano isn't at the top of the charts but given it's placed in a completely different category for ITX the Nano is a Powerhouse of its own beating the 980 and 390x easy as for overclocking Headroom we were not expecting much from the Nano and were pleasantly surprised when the core pushed all the way to 1,70 MHz stable bringing the performance right below the F ex so where does this leave us with the Nano it's obviously not a perfect GPU with two major downsides being Acoustics and the lack of HDMI 2.0 whereas power efficiency stable core frequencies and form factor are all major selling points and for prospective buyers it really becomes a balancing act whether or not you value the ITX length of the card over loud operation and whether or not your priorities lie with the size uh and not within choosing to go similarly priced but outperforming solution but having said that this is an absolute step in the right direction and giving it the hro KN damn Innovative award and so now that you've seen all the numbers would you recommend the R9 Nano to a friend who is potentially building an ITX system for the living room and if not how would you set up the perfect ITX gaming machine leave your thoughts in the comments below thanks so much for watching make sure to subscribe for more similar content and we'll see you in the next one\n"