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[bomblord1]

Hello, it's bomblord1 your self proclaimed tiny hardware guru back with a thread about the R9 Nano's new position after it's price drop.

Now that the R9 Nano is in the same price bracket as the non-ti 980 legit reviews did a comparison using the latest drivers (both cards have had updates since the initial reviews came in). Keep in mind these are at stock clocks and the 980 does have overclocking headroom where the Nano doesn't have lot however for a mini ITX build that's pretty much irrelevant.

http://www.legitreviews.com/amd-radeon-r9-nano-versus-nvidia-geforce-gtx-980_177681

The nano beat it across the board but only by a few fps in some games.

AMD cutting the MSRP of the Radeon R9 Nano from $649 to $499 made it available to a whole new class of buyers. If you have $500 to spend on a graphics card the AMD Radeon R9 Nano is a pretty solid choice as it did perform better than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 reference card in virtually every game title that we benchmarked. The performance between the two cards was close in some benchmarks, but the tiny Radeon R9 Nano proved to be the winner overall. At the old $649 price point it wasn’t competitive with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti and got it’s ass handed to it, so we are glad that AMD slashed the tiny card premium and is going after NVIDIA at the $500 price point. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 is available for as little as $479.99, so while the card is a tad slower in the benchmarks, it is also slightly less expensive.
Read more at http://www.legitreviews.com/amd-rad...geforce-gtx-980_177681/10#gPhBocjPo8sLLwm2.99

 

[storafötter]

Been waiting for a smaller form factor card with good performance. Might buy this if I wont wait for Pascal.

 

[Litri]

Wanted to build a silent and powerful HTPC and I think I have just found my new graphic card.

 

[JJD]

Hey bomblord1, I'm looking into a SFF PC for my living room and I was thinking of buying a CyberpowerPC Zeus Mini Evo.

Do you know if it's a good small PC? I was looking into the one with a i7, 980TI and at least 16 gigs of DDR4.

Building a PC is not an option for me, and I don't mind paying a premium.

Do you have any idea if CyberpowerPC is a good PC builder?

Thanks for the help man!

 

[Hoo-doo]

Hey bomblord1, I'm looking into a SFF PC for my living room and I was thinking of buying a CyberpowerPC Zeus Mini Evo.

Do you know if it's a good small PC? I was looking into the one with a i7, 980TI and at least 16 gigs of DDR4.

Building a PC is not an option for me, and I don't mind paying a premium.

Do you have any idea if CyberpowerPC is a good PC builder?

Thanks for the help man!

I'm curious. In what situation is building a PC not an option?

It's like connecting 10 pieces of Lego and then you boot it up.

 

[bomblord1]

Hey bomblord1, I'm looking into a SFF PC for my living room and I was thinking of buying a CyberpowerPC Zeus Mini Evo.

Do you know if it's a good small PC? I was looking into the one with a i7, 980TI and at least 16 gigs of DDR4.

Building a PC is not an option for me, and I don't mind paying a premium.

Do you have any idea if CyberpowerPC is a good PC builder?

Thanks for the help man!

May I ask why building is out of the question? The only prebuilt gaming mini PC I would personally recommend is the Alienware Alpha because of the price and the form factor is small enough that you couldn't build your own with off the shelf parts.

I tried looking up the model you mentioned on their site and couldn't find it.

 

[JJD]

I'm curious. In what situation is building a PC not an option?

It's like connecting 10 pieces of Lego and then you boot it up.

The last time I had a dedicated gaming PC was 20 years ago when I was 15 and I didn't build that on too. Building a mini PC is not as straightforward as a regular sized one IMO. Since they are so small the wiring, airflow, etc are much more important and I'm not confident that I would manage to arrange everything properly for it to run as cool and silent as possible. I also want to cram as much hardware as I can in the smallest case I can find.

I'm not hurting for cash, so why not buy one custom designed to suit my needs?

Honestly speaking is kinda annoying that experient PC gamers are always asking that question. I'd rather not deal with the building process and spend the little off time that I have doing things that I believe are more important.

Since bomblord1 said he's an expert in smaller PCs I thought I could ask his opinion. I've seem a fair share of good reviews on CyberpowerPC stuff but I trust gaffers more.

 

[Sir Abacus]

Can we try that again with the 980 at 1350/1450/1500 core/boost/max boost and see how those numbers look?

 

[0.1.1.2.3.5.8.13.21.34.55]

Thanks for this OP, the Nano would do well in a Fractal Design Node 202 case.

 

[Vanmunt]

The last time I had a dedicated gaming PC was 20 years ago when I was 15 and I didn't build that on too. Building a mini PC is not as straightforward as a regular sized one IMO. Since they are so small the wiring, airflow, etc are much more important and I'm not confident that I would manage to arrange everything properly for it to run as cool and silent as possible. I also want to cram as much hardware as I can in the smallest case I can find.

I'm not hurting for cash, so why not buy one custom designed to suit my needs?

Honestly speaking is kinda annoying that experient PC gamers are always asking that question. I'd rather not deal with the building process and spend the little off time that I have doing things that I believe are more important.

Since bomblord1 said he's an expert in smaller PCs I thought I could ask his opinion. I've seem a fair share of good reviews on CyberpowerPC stuff but I trust gaffers more.

In the same boat to be honest, I can build a PC as I have done it before and done a course on it. This time I picked my parts on a site in the UK and they are building it for me at no real extra cost, I guess they make the money on being able to source parts a lot cheaper than I can do it. Also 12 months interest free and 3 year warranty really swung it for me.

 

[scitek]

Can we try that again with the 980 at 1350/1450/1500 core/boost/max boost and see how those numbers look?

Totally goes against the point of the card, really. The Nano isn't for people building huge monstrous rigs meant for a computer desk.

 

[JJD]

May I ask why building is out of the question? The only prebuilt gaming mini PC I would personally recommend is the Alienware Alpha because of the price and the form factor is small enough that you couldn't build your own with off the shelf parts.

I tried looking up the model you mentioned on their site and couldn't find it.

Thanks for the answer man!

The PC I'm looking into is this one:

https://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/landingpages/ZeusMiniEVO/

As I said previously I don't feel confident enough to build one myself.

I'm brazilian. PC parts here are expensive as hell and I couldn't easily find all the stuff I wanted so I probably would have to import some stuff. The price plus the import fee would probably make the overall price of the PC close to or higher than what I'd paid buying a pre build PC.

I'm buying from the UK because I have family there and visit then often.

Edit: I thought about buying an Alienware X-51. There's a really good thread here with lots of people who have one. But it seems I would need a little bit more horsepower than it can offer considering I'm planning on plugging my PC on a 4K TV on my living room. If possible I wanted to run my games at medium to high graphics with at least 30FPS.

In the same boat to be honest, I can build a PC as I have done it before and done a course on it. This time I picked my parts on a site in the UK and they are building it for me at no real extra cost, I guess they make the money on being able to source parts a lot cheaper than I can do it. Also 12 months interest free and 3 year warranty really swung it for me.

Where did you buy your PC? I'm buying from the UK too. Is it regular sized or smaller sized?

 

[bomblord1]

Since bomblord1 said he's an expert in smaller PCs I thought I could ask his opinion. I've seem a fair share of good reviews on CyberpowerPC stuff but I trust gaffers more.

I don't know about you but I'm an expert xD. That was just a little jab at my expense because I've made several threads about small form factor tech.

 

[Rushersauce]

Totally goes against the point of the card, really. The Nano isn't for people building huge monstrous rigs meant for a computer desk.

And the Nano can be overclocked. I've seen it reaching Fury X territory.

 

[Durante]

In my experience, "Legit" reviews is literally one of the worst tech review sites out there in terms of actual technical sophistication of their reviewing process.

That is not to say, of course, that they are wrong in this particular instance.
Other sources (which I personally consider far more trustworthy) corroborate these findings:

 

[Vanmunt]

Thanks for the answer man!

The PC I'm looking into is this one:

https://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/landingpages/ZeusMiniEVO/

As I said previously I don't feel confident enough to build one myself.

I'm brazilian. PC parts here are expensive as hell and I couldn't easily find all the stuff I wanted so I probably would have to import some stuff. The price plus the import fee would probably make the overall price of the PC close to or higher than what I'd paid buying a pre build PC.

I'm buying from the UK because I have family there and visit then every often.



Where did you buy your PC? I'm buying from the UK too. Is it regular sized or smaller sized?

Small size, FRACTAL DESIGN NODE 304 Mini ITX Case.. I used PC Specialist, I am sure others can give you other sites but like you I just wanted the convenience and they haven't ripped me off. Arrives in 10 days if you want I can PM you my personal experience with them.

 

[Nikodemos]

And the Nano can be overclocked. I've seen it reaching Fury X territory.

You need liquid cooling to make sure the VRMs don't fry.

Speaking of which, what is the best micro-case that supports liquid cooling?

 

[shandy706]

I do want to build a small (tiny) gaming system one day, so I need to keep this GPU in mind. I've been nVidia for years, but I'd be willing to try this for a small build.

 

[Evolution of Metal]

I'm curious. In what situation is building a PC not an option?

It's like connecting 10 pieces of Lego and then you boot it up.

In the situation where you couldn't be bothered. One defective piece (RAM/MOBO/PSU) and you are stuck wasting hours to figure out what exactly is wrong, then waiting additional days for the part to be replaced.

 

[diaspora]

If only the Nano wasn't hitting the $1000~ range in Canada =(

 

[Terbinator]

...however for a mini ITX build that's pretty much irrelevant.

Seems like an odd comment to make given the card is being tested on an open-air test bench.

 

[opticalmace]

In the situation where you couldn't be bothered. One defective piece (RAM/MOBO/PSU) and you are stuck wasting hours to figure out what exactly is wrong, then waiting additional days for the part to be replaced.

There are some computer shops (e.g. NCIX) that will build and test the parts you purchase for a small fee (I think $50 USD). That way you get the advantages of a custom build without having to worry about troubleshooting.

 

[Shuggananas]

Isn't the 980 kinda bad value anyway ?

 

[mrklaw]

Where did you buy your PC? I'm buying from the UK too. Is it regular sized or smaller sized?

If you don't want to build yourself, don't build yourself. I bought a bitfenix prodigy based setup from Overclockers back in 2013 with a 7950. Then and now, the 'high mid range' SFF prebuilt seem to hover around £899-999, which is in line with cyberpower's 970 version.

I'd say the 980 build on cyberpower is a little expensive. Likely when they get to the higher end kit they start upping their margins. Also I'm not personally sure I'd get a 980 at all. You could consider one of the cheaper setups and then buy something like a 980ti to install yourself (just slots in). or the 970 build seems about right in terms of cost (assuming a premium for SFF).

If you want it for VR, make sure it has enough USB 3 ports..

 

[lightchris]

The price/performance ratio is actually pretty good compared to a GTX 980, at least if you don't like overclocking. Tha fan seems to be better/quieter than you'd expect for such a small form factor too.

I don't see AMD making a lot of money of it though. They need a 50% larger die than Nvidia in order to reach similar levels of performance and power consumption.

 

[Durante]

Isn't the 980 kinda bad value anyway ?

It sits in a rather bad spot. Not significantly faster than the 970, but a lot more expensive. The 980ti is also not as good in terms of perf/$ as the 970 obviously, but at least it is a significant jump and has the selling point of being the fastest single GPU currently by a decent margin.

 

[bomblord1]

Seems like an odd comment to make given the card is being tested on an open-air test bench.

That's video is a series of mini-itx cases, tests, and usage scenarios. They even specifically mentioned they had to drill holes in the top of one to allow better airflow into the case because components were throttling in the tight space

 

[Hoo-doo]

In the situation where you couldn't be bothered. One defective piece (RAM/MOBO/PSU) and you are stuck wasting hours to figure out what exactly is wrong, then waiting additional days for the part to be replaced.

I don't mean to offend you, I just think people are grossly overestimating the complexity of building a PC.
Really, if you've ever put an IKEA cabinet together you're already overqualified.

I mean, wouldn't you want to know in case you ever want to upgrade? Or when a part breaks?

 

[Shuggananas]

It sits in a rather bad spot. Not significantly faster than the 970, but a lot more expensive. The 980ti is also not as good in terms of perf/$ as the 970 obviously, but at least it is a significant jump and has the selling point of being the fastest single GPU currently by a decent margin.

Yeah that's my take on it too, either buy a 970 or 980 ti or just wait for pascal if you can

 

[bomblord1]

Thanks for the answer man!

The PC I'm looking into is this one:

https://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/landingpages/ZeusMiniEVO/

As I said previously I don't feel confident enough to build one myself.

I'm brazilian. PC parts here are expensive as hell and I couldn't easily find all the stuff I wanted so I probably would have to import some stuff. The price plus the import fee would probably make the overall price of the PC close to or higher than what I'd paid buying a pre build PC.

I'm buying from the UK because I have family there and visit then often.

Edit: I thought about buying an Alienware X-51. There's a really good thread here with lots of people who have one. But it seems I would need a little bit more horsepower than it can offer considering I'm planning on plugging my PC on a 4K TV on my living room. If possible I wanted to run my games at medium to high graphics with at least 30FPS.



Where did you buy your PC? I'm buying from the UK too. Is it regular sized or smaller sized?

I mean bro if you have the money go for it. My first PC was a cheap IbuyPower that I ended up swapping out almost all the components but the PSU in various upgrades. If it helps you or you are really that uncomfortable with it go for it. However if you are planning on gaming at 4k a 980ti is really a minimum.

 

[lukeskymac]

AMD should have dropped the price even lower. Everyone that's informed is (or at least should be) holding out for 14nm.

I'm curious. In what situation is building a PC not an option?

It's like connecting 10 pieces of Lego and then you boot it up.

That comparison is only valid for decently computer literate people. Which most people aren't.

 

[JJD]

Small size, FRACTAL DESIGN NODE 304 Mini ITX Case.. I used PC Specialist, I am sure others can give you other sites but like you I just wanted the convenience and they haven't ripped me off. Arrives in 10 days if you want I can PM you my personal experience with them.

Thanks man! I'll PM you after you get your rig!

If you don't want to build yourself, don't build yourself. I bought a bitfenix prodigy based setup from Overclockers back in 2013 with a 7950. Then and now, the 'high mid range' SFF prebuilt seem to hover around £899-999, which is in line with cyberpower's 970 version.

I'd say the 980 build on cyberpower is a little expensive. Likely when they get to the higher end kit they start upping their margins. Also I'm not personally sure I'd get a 980 at all. You could consider one of the cheaper setups and then buy something like a 980ti to install yourself (just slots in). or the 970 build seems about right in terms of cost (assuming a premium for SFF).

If you want it for VR, make sure it has enough USB 3 ports..

I'm not thinking about VR right now but I was going for at least a 980 for future proofing.

Thanks for the tips, I'll look into what Overclockers are offering. Are you satisfied with your PC from then?

 

[FX-GMC]

AMD should have dropped the price even lower. Everyone that's informed is (or at least should be) holding out for 14nm.



That comparison is only valid for decently computer literate people. Which most people aren't.

I agree. I have friends that I would not trust putting a computer together. It's not just about putting things into the correct slots. Care has to be taken and these friends don't know what careful means. They also wouldn't read the mobo manual to determine the correct polarity and placement of the mobo headers.

PC Building is not for everyone. Dunno why it gets pushed on so many who don't want to do it.

 

[Nachtmaer]

I don't see AMD making a lot of money of it though. They need a 50% larger die than Nvidia in order to reach similar levels of performance and power consumption.

The chip/package is only a part of the total cost though. I'm sure it's obvious to say that because a chip is x% bigger that the entire card's x% more expensive to produce. I mean I'm not gonna deny that Fiji is more expensive, especially since it uses HBM, but there's also the PCB and other components to consider. No doubt that Nvidia's margins are a lot higher though.

 

[Vitor711]

That comparison is only valid for decently computer literate people. Which most people aren't.

As someone who had wanted to build a desktop for years and only just got around to it - it's really not as easy as people made it out to be.

Yes, it's relatively simple, but it still took a whole afternoon to put it all together, install windows, drives etc.

If you want to save time, going pre-built isn't as awful as people make it out to be.

 

[kaioshade]

By the time im looking to build another nice and small mini itx system, this might be a contender.

Havent had an AMD card since the 9700 Pro.

 

[mrklaw]

Thanks man! I'll PM you after you get your rig!



I'm not thinking about VR right now but I was going for at least a 980 for future proofing.

Thanks for the tips, I'll look into what Overclockers are offering. Are you satisfied with your PC from then?

Oh I wasn't recommending them - but its fine and still working well with an upgraded 970 in it now. I was just trying to illustrate that the £900-1000 ballpark is about par for the course for a decent mid-high range prebuilt machine (eg that 970 from cyberpower)

 

[Evolution of Metal]

I don't mean to offend you, I just think people are grossly overestimating the complexity of building a PC.
Really, if you've ever put an IKEA cabinet together you're already overqualified.

I mean, wouldn't you want to know in case you ever want to upgrade? Or when a part breaks?

I built my own PC. The value of building my own PC is great for me, but it isn't for everyone. If you aren't into computers, you will have to look up and decide all the parts. It also requires a significant time investing (half a day at least) from sealed parts to browsing internet. Many adults could spend that day working and pay $100-150 to have it built for them. What is more, the risk of the defective component (out of the box, or one year into use) requires a huge time investment to diagnose and replace. I don't think that my parents, sisters or majority of the people I know are physically capable of researching how to self-diagnosing why PC freezes, randomly resets or doesn't turn on. On the other hand, most of them are probably capable of following the instructions or the video how to put it together.