AMD Radeon R9 Nano Review by TPU...Not

[HumanSmoke]

Speaking of Canadians. Hardware Canucks:
"The amount of noise this pint-sized card’s PWM puts out is nothing short of astronomical. It wails, squeals, chugs and emits all sorts of other electrical blather. Granted, some gamers will be more susceptible to hearing it than others and there are certain cases on the market that will reduce the amount of perceptible noise but this is still unacceptable on any $650 card released in 2015. AMD is aware of this but they don’t count it as a problem. We will have to see how widespread it is once the Nano gets into the hands of end users. It is important to note that we're not sure how widespread this is or whether or not we received one of the "louder" samples. We just report it as we see it. "
Oops AMD.

Doesn't seem to be an isolated case.

We did, however, experience quite a bit of inductor noise with our card under load. Noticeable clicks and squeals could be heard emanating from the card, and we're told this isn't something isolated to our sample. - Hot Hardware

The noise we have to deal with is from the other components on the card. Coil Whine/Noise as it is commonly called is very much an issue on the R9 NANO. - Hardware Heaven

It's worth noting that AMD's Nano reference sample generated a serious amount of coil noise. People complained about the Fury X coil noise but for us it wasn't that bad. The Nano really screams, however. - TechSpot

All of this lets us overlook smaller caveats, such as the R9 Nano’s cheap coils, which make the card sound like cicadas in love. The new graphics card’s fan also isn't our favorite, since it gets obnoxious once a certain temperature is reached. - Tom's Hardware

In the acoustic department, our main gripe with the R9 Nano is actually the coil whine we experienced throughout testing which was often considerably more obvious than any system fan noise. - bit-tech

The coil whine issue on the card is something of a sore spot for me though as the rest of the technical design and implementation is spectacular. Why AMD can't address these small bugs and issues before the cards are released (see also the Fury X pump whine) is beyond me as the company has intelligent people throughout. - PC Per

Also, and let me state this clearly, we are hearing coil noise coming from the card. If that is something that would bother you, then you need to weigh it into your purchasing decision. We doubt you'll be bothered by it in a closed chassis though.- Guru3D

However, we noticed significant coil whine across our suite of games, particularly in Total War: Rome II. This may be sample-specific, but it would grate us long term if this was the case with all cards.- Hexus

Our only gripe comes from the dreaded 'coil whine' - the R9 Nano is much louder here than the Fury X, a card we re-tested during production of this feature. It sounds akin to a constant buzzing, something that may be unique to our particular review sample - Eurogamer

Unfortunately, this Radeon R9 Nano suffers coil whine.... - Hardware France

What was noticeable was the coil whine that our R9 Nano sample exhibited. As soon as a GPU load was applied, the inductors would put out a high-pitched squeal that was undeniably frustrating to hear. Did this act as an annoyance during the gaming experience? Without headphones on, in my opinion, yes it did. But that is just my opinion and you may have different tolerance levels.- KitGuru

Odd that AMD are pricing the Nano as a premium limited edition product, but skimped on QA testing.

 

[cuneytcam]

I like how most of the people compares a product to another league of products and then dismisses it of the edge. I can say the same for Titan series. Titans got bashed for similar things but the funny part is defenders and offenders swapped roles this time. Its like all the fanboys counter argumenting themselves on the next morning. (unfortunetally proffessional fanboys revealing themselves aswell)

 

[nem]

you want a good review , here we have one

 

[EarthDog]

Well, the two posts above this one are certainly gems... wow.

 

[bencrutz]

wow tpu, still butthurt, eh?

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Dat coil whine. 8|

900 MHz is not bad at 75C.

It beat the 390X in almost every benchmark...impressive. At $200 more than 390X though, this is only going to appeal to people where a 390X or Fury can't fit.


I wonder if Nano is going to spur the creation of ITX-length computer cases--cases that aren't so deep. AMD Nano-ready cases, as it were.


Until they fix that coil whine, I'd never recommend it. I have a sound card that does it and it's really freaking annoying.

 

[mr2009]

wow tpu, still butthurt, eh?

i know right. Suck it up already...

 

[Lionheart]

wow tpu, still butthurt, eh?

Yeah I was kinda thinking that but at the same time they still deserved a sample to review, I mean TPU is the creator of GPU-Z for christ sake!

 

[15th Warlock]

I like how most of the people compares a product to another league of products and then dismisses it of the edge. I can say the same for Titan series. Titans got bashed for similar things but the funny part is defenders and offenders swapped roles this time. Its like all the fanboys counter argumenting themselves on the next morning. (unfortunetally proffessional fanboys revealing themselves aswell)

Yeah, I'll be the first to say that after the launch of the 980Ti, the Titan doesn't make any sense unless you want to build an uber system backed up with water cooling, and money is not an issue, at least with Titan you know you were getting the fastest single GPU card available at the time of release, even today, there's no faster single GPU card than Titan X, as simple as that. The Nano gives you less performance for the equal amount of money people pay for Fury-X, and with lower quality components to boot as shown by the vast amount of reviewers complaining about coil noise.

This card is targeted to a niche audience, and it seems AMD skimped on testing, and even reduced that target audience furthermore by not even including HDMI 2.0, which would have made this card perfect for ultra small factor HTPC builds, very few 4K TVs have DP, but most 4K TVs sold after 2014 include at least HDMI 2.0 (I know my Sony Bravia does, and most Samsung models do as well), so by saving a few cents by not investing on a higher spec HDMI port or even getting some decent inductors that don't squeal like the ones in this card, I see even less of a reason for AMD to charge $649 for it, then again, I'm not the target audience for it, this is basically a halo product, albeit one that makes very little sense when you can get Fury-X for the same amount of money, and even most small form factor cases can accommodate at least one 120mm rad.

Too bad, I was really looking forward to replacing my 290Xs, but this round was a complete miss for AMD.

Yeah I was kinda thinking that but at the same time they still deserved a sample to review, I mean TPU is the creator of GPU-Z for christ sake!

Exactly, W1zzard started with Atitool many years ago, I remember visiting the OCFAQ forums (the vestigial predecessor to TPU) and how passionate W1zzard was at supporting all Ati cards more than a decade ago, so much for any semblance of gratitude from AMD

 

[Raovac]

I wish this card was going $650. Here in Canada at my local memory express store, they are asking $900 CDN.
Computer gaming is becoming way too expensive these days.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

It's because the CAD fell BIG compared to the USD:
900 CAD = 680.37 USD

Cheap oil is blamed. Theoretically, the CAD will recover when Saudi Arabia and Iran stop dumping oil.

 

[gaximodo]

Personally, I'm waiting for BIOS flashes... Because it seems to me if you could THAT would make the cost explained. You buy the card without the watercooler (and the cooler's power supply), and get a higher-quality chip, perhaps. Flash the BIOS, and you got one killer GPU, if overclocking tools worked.

It's that sort of stuff the sites that didn't get cards typically look at, isn't it?

which will not work due to power restriction and the fact there will be no non-reference nanos.

 

[Big_Vulture]

So seems like TPU was not good to AMD, since every other site got the card for review?

 

[1c3d0g]

wow tpu, still butthurt, eh?

No, but them fanboys sure are!

 

[Xaled]

Why did AMD send a sample to Hardwarecanucks and didnt send one to TPU? It is really true that some nvidia products are overrated here but nothing close to Hardwarecanuck, they are the most biased, nvidiot review site on earth, AMD has really lost mind!

 

[gaximodo]

Why did AMD send a sample to Hardwarecanucks and didnt send one to TPU? It is really true that some nvidia products are overrated here but nothing close to Hardwarecanuck, they are the most biased, nvidiot review site on earth, AMD has really lost mind!

Hello new member

 

[Xaled]

View attachment 67912

Hello new member

Hello 'old' member? (I really wonder how old you are as a person not as a member though) ..

I dont think you know that this "up to %.." Thing Was first used by nvidia, then AMD followed up..

And yes nVidia products are overrated here, TPU is one of the fewest sites that justified the 1000$ price tag of Titan..

I am a new member but i am regular visitor of TPU since 2005 or 2006..

 

[gaximodo]

Hello 'old' member? (I really wonder how old you are as a person not as a member though) ..

I dont think you know that this "up to %.." Thing Was first used by nvidia, then AMD followed up..

And yes nVidia products are overrated here, TPU is one of the fewest sites that justified the 1000$ price tag of Titan..

I am a new member but i am regular visitor of TPU since 2005 or 2006..

Wow what's the matter all I did was saying hello - and very nice 666th reply to the thread,

As a reply to your post, I post, I reply to everything I found interesting, not just AMD related news.

whereas you, we all see what you did there with your 13 now 14 posts.

I have bad experiences with AMD for their 4850, 4870X2, 5850, and I found their marketing rather misleading, therefore my negative attitude towards this company.

Edit - oohhh wait, mine was the #666th, Hooray~~!

 

[the54thvoid]

Titan arguments about pricing are irrelevant. Yes, Titan is unrealistically priced but it has a full core and double the memory of a 980ti. And it came out first.
Nano is slower, noisier and costs the same as a Fury X. Lots of praise for it is lost on me when Fury X blazed the SFF PCB footprint.
As for TPU being butthurt. No, vindicated. That coil complaint from almost every review shows that it's noise output (AMD sell it as a quiet card) is terrible.

Let's hope the dual Fury eliminates that shoddy choice of chokes.

And for the guys that will spout verbal shit about me being Nvidia biased, no, just no. I'm logical about things, almost autistically so. Nano makes no sense for its price (came out after Fury X, performs worse, is louder and costs more) or its size.
HBM allowed Nano to be so small and the Fury X demonstrated that first too.

 

[fullinfusion]

280$ for NANO which outperforms gtx 980 , are u serious , really ? NANO is so small , power efficient and it even beats gtx 980 which is 500$ so your price tag of 280-ish is kinda childish... , you wish what you really cant buy , period , cheers !!

Lulz,

Yes I'm dead serious.. If anything is childish, its a comment about dont wish for what ya cant afford!! So dont concern yourself with what I can or can't afford there mate . It was an (IMO) comment mkay.

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

If I have a choice & $700 in my hand, I won't pick the Nano for a lot of reasons. It's either a GTX980Ti OR dual GTX970 for SLI as they're more reasonable, doesn't kill your monthly utility bills & gives you better overall gaming performance across ALL resolutions on ALL games at near Max settings without breaking a sweat, whether it's an AMD-exclusive or not an exclusive for both camps, as per what most honest, unbiased reviewers would say & they're right. AMD's claim however considered them as "unfair" or "one-sided towards Nvidia for unknown reasons". With their shares falling below 20%, it's no surprise they're stooping this low & desperate for spreading a false hope to their supporters.

 

[geon2k2]

Why everybody is complaining about price.

In capitalism it is very simple. Just try selling something on ebay.
If the price is right people will buy, if not and you still want to sell it you decrease the price ... and so on until you find a buyer, which considers your product to be rightfully priced for what it offers.

It is the same with companies. If people buy, then the price is right.
If too many people want it then you increase the price (see the bitcoin mining craziness), if too less you decrease the price up until you reach your profit/production costs targets at which point you can choose to discontinue the product or to sell it at a loss.

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

Also, the lack of samples to get by is another lowly tactic from AMD to "sell" the Nano at sky-high prices. You don't even need to spend $650 for a mediocre card that can't even perform as good as the 980Ti in real world usage... Sorry, but Nvidia is coming home with me... AMD is out of the question even if I have the money for it as I would not recommend ANYONE a card that's still haven't been proven by real world testers. Synthetic numbers & botched benches shall not be entertained. Oh, tests that hides their settings or give a few simple words too shall be treated as trash.

 

[gaximodo]

Why everybody is complaining about price.

In capitalism it is very simple. Just try selling something on ebay.
If the price is right people will buy, if not and you still want to sell it you decrease the price ... and so on until you find a buyer, which considers your product to be rightfully priced for what it offers.

It is the same with companies. If people buy, then the price is right.
If too many people want it then you increase the price (see the bitcoin mining craziness), if too less you decrease the price up until you reach your profit/production costs targets at which point you can choose to discontinue the product or to sell it at a loss.

Hello, yet another new member,

c'mon, you guys are just too obvious.

 

[Frick]

Soooo what do we think of the dual Fiji? Should it be dual Fury/X or dual Nano? I want both.