AMD Announces the Radeon R9 Nano Graphics Card

[btarunr]

AMD continues to push the boundaries of graphics card design, today announcing its category-creating AMD Radeon R9 Nano, the fastest Mini ITX graphics card ever to enable 4K gaming in the living room through ultra-quiet, ultra-compact PC designs. First previewed to gamers around the world during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles in June 2015, the AMD Radeon R9 Nano graphics card is based on the graphics chip codenamed "Fiji," and is the third "Fiji"-based product to launch this summer alongside the AMD Radeon R9 Fury and R9 Fury X graphics cards. The AMD Radeon R9 Fury graphics family, based on the "Fiji" chip, marks a turning point in PC gaming with the implementation of High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) to deliver extreme energy efficiency and performance for ultra-high resolutions, unparalleled VR experiences, smoother gameplay, with the Radeon R9 Nano revolutionizing form-factors for enthusiasts everywhere.

With 30 percent more performance and 30 percent lower power than the previous generation AMD Radeon R9 290X card, the 175W AMD Radeon R9 Nano is the world's most power efficient Mini ITX enthusiast graphics card. The six-inch long, air-cooled board represents a new class of graphics card, enabling gamers, PC modders, and system integrators to build compact, unique, ultra-small form factors that have never before been possible, opening the door to new, sleek PC designs that are no bigger than a home DVR or videogame console, and look every bit in place beside them.



"With the Radeon R9 Nano graphics card, AMD is enabling 4K class gaming in your living room in an exceptionally quiet, ultra-small design built to excel in today's games and on the latest APIs like DirectX 12 and Vulkan. There simply is nothing else like it," said Matt Skynner, corporate VP and general manager, Product, Computing and Graphics Business Unit at AMD. "Our Radeon graphics line-up is ushering in a new era of PC gaming delivering remarkable performance, unmatched GPU designs and groundbreaking technologies. Today is a revolutionary moment for PC gaming, and we are proud to add this distinct product to our well-rounded AMD Radeon R9 graphics lineup."

The AMD Radeon R9 line of graphics cards offers a spectrum of products ranging in price from $199 - $649 SEP. The Radeon R9 Nano is priced at $649 (MSRP). Delivering stunningly powerful graphics for unparalleled 4K gaming experiences in their class, the AMD Radeon R9 Series meets virtually every need and budget for anyone who demands a premium gaming experience.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Chaitanya]

eagerly waiting for the review.

 

[Disparia]

That card is the hot sex.

 

[W1zzard]

Some things from the briefing that AMD forgot in this press release:

• The retail price is $649
• On-shelf availability is projected for September 10.
  
• GPU Clocks are "up to", which means the card will rarely run at its peak frequency because it is power-throttled to 175 W, expected is "around 900 MHz"
  
• Noise levels measured by AMD are 41 dBA
  
• HBM overclocking will not be available
• HDMI supported is 1.4, or higher when using a DP to HDMI adapter

No review soon, the NDA for reviews is much later, and I haven't heard anything from AMD regarding samples.

 

[5DVX0130]

LOL @ price. Really makes you wonder how much the interposer and HBM cost.
But even IF it lives to the hype/marketing bull**** it still shouldn’t cost more than the non-x Fury or the GTX 980.

That said does it matter? It’s not like we'll be able to actually buy a card. Seeing as both Fury versions are having stock problems, having yet another card with the same chip should only make things worse.

 

[Lionheart]

Erghhh I was excited until the price Then again it's basically a downclocked throttling Fury X

 

[Vayra86]

That price will kill them, but on the other hand the price suits the limited stock.

I'll believe the AMD slides once we see benchmarks...

 

[the54thvoid]

And a paper launch with no word of reviews. Still, Sept 10th is only 2 weeks away.

 

[_LEGendARY_]

Damn it AMD. The entire Fury line up has been a disappointment for me. especially the overclocking part. You can't extract a fair amount of fps from these videocards in contrast to the GTX 9xx.
I'd probably just get the 980 ti. This should set me free for a year.

 

[JAKra]

I rarely write here, but I’m going to share my opinion now.

What is this now? Is it an announcement or is it a product launch? Because I am confused.
It fails both.

1) Remember the times when you could buy a launched product? I do. Remember paper launches when you could at least read reviews a week or weeks before able to buy these? My memory is not that short: Fury X

2) How many times do you “announce” a product? I think this is like the 2nd major announcement, because we already knew about it’s existence.

*To AMD - Please announce the next generation graphic family built on FinFET tech next week. Better early than late.


Reading a few of W1zzards comments lately I kinda have the feeling that AMD does not care that much anymore and the support for reviewers is the worst in years.

As an AMD fan am going to look at the bright side:
I have a small museum of sorts AMD and ATi(only) with more than 20 functioning PCs form the original IBM XT till nowadays. If AMD goes bankrupt or will be bought, my collection will worth more.

 

[rtwjunkie]

I'd probably just get the 980 ti. This should set me free for a year.

Quite a bit more than a year. That's a two to 3 year upgrade cycle purchase.

 

[_LEGendARY_]

Quite a bit more than a year. That's a two to 3 year upgrade cycle purchase.

lol .. You know that itch you get every new hardware release!
Next year is gonna be an exciting one. The 16nm train is gonna hit hard. I currently have a very decent video card, an R9 290 water cooled. I just want that extra gravy on 1440p/81Hz. And crossfire/sli is not an option

 

[Steevo]

Hard to manufacture die and substrate package with onboard memory FTW?

I am guessing with the cost to AMD to manufacture this they have to ask for such a price premium to make it profitable.

 

[Retell]

lol .. You know that itch you get every new hardware release!
Next year is gonna be an exciting one. The 16nm train is gonna hit hard. I currently have a very decent video card, an R9 290 water cooled. I just want that extra gravy on 1440p/81Hz. And crossfire/sli is not an option

81Hz??

 

[_LEGendARY_]

81Hz??

Yep. Manually overclocked my monitor.

 

[Random Murderer]

Yep. Manually overclocked my monitor.

80Hz would be better than 81. Is 81 where yours topped out, even after reducing timings?

 

[Furunomoe]

The six-inch long, air-cooled board represents a new class of graphics card, enabling gamers, PC modders, and system integrators to build compact, unique, ultra-small form factors that have never before been possible, opening the door to new, sleek PC designs that are no bigger than a home DVR or videogame console, and look every bit in place beside them.

Yeah whatever. Even the slim RVZ/FTZ-01/02 or the Node 202 or that Azza something could accept a full length graphic card. Why should I buy this crippled $649 graphic card instead?

 

[Fx]

That card is the hot sex.

Yes it is. I like it. I like it a lot.

 

[Ruru]

Yeah whatever. Even the slim RVZ/FTZ-01/02 or the Node 202 or that Azza something could accept a full length graphic card. Why should I buy this crippled $649 graphic card instead?

Crippled? It has nothing disabled on the chip.

 

[the54thvoid]

Crippled? It has nothing disabled on the chip.

Crippled by the TDP limit. It's like putting a speed limiter on it. But it's not crippled, its an essential design element.

 

[FrustratedGarrett]

Damn it AMD. The entire Fury line up has been a disappointment for me. especially the overclocking part. You can't extract a fair amount of fps from these videocards in contrast to the GTX 9xx.
I'd probably just get the 980 ti. This should set me free for a year.

Why so? The FuryX competes quite well with the 980 TI. I wouldn't bother spending over $350 on a graphics card, but for those who do spend that much on graphics cards, I'd say the FuryX is more than appealing, with potentially surprising performance upgrades once those DX12 games start coming out. We'll see soon how GTA V will perform on this card once the DX12 patch is released.

This card seems to be targeting micro ATX/HTPC systems with its low power and small form factor.

 

[tabascosauz]

So WCCFTech was actually right for once?

$649. $649. That's like, $880 CAD. I guess cadaveca isn't getting a Nano anytime soon.

Way to rub the "niche" part in our faces, AMD. If you had been a bit more vague about it and set the price at $350, people would have been eager to buy it over the GTX 970.

This has nothing to do with mITX cases. The SG08 is basically the only well-known case that requires a card like this under certain circumstances. Even so, I could buy a 970 DC Mini, grab myself another 500GB 850 EVO and still have some $ left over for lunch.

I guess the 280X and 265 got what they wanted. They're definitely sticking around.

 

[15th Warlock]

More info here:

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015...a-full-fury-x-into-a-tiny-6-inch-form-factor/

And wtf is AMD thinking? $649 for less performance than Fury X? They have completely lost their marbles, I was seriously looking forward to upgrade my Radeon box with two of these cards, but AMD just lost me as a customer, for shame

 

[Vayra86]

I think we can already safely conclude that Nano isn't going to change AMD"s market share

Ars doesn't have a review, that page is just a glorified announcement. They even push the 'potential for overclocking' while we already know how that will work out - especially with a 175W TDP.

 

[Sony Xperia S]

I think we can already safely conclude that Nano isn't going to change AMD"s market share

Probably Nano will change it, after all. It will actually help AMD's market share to keep declining.