When testing the AMD Radeon R9 Nano in general gameplay, I had FRAPS running so I could see the frame rate for reference when I needed to. The methodology is to play the game and note the typical FPS, any rendering issues, look for stutter and also keep an eye out for imperfections around colour or textures that impede the immersion.
These tests are subjective, less reproducible and much more prone to variation so I haven’t compared the results to other cards. This is a good representation of my experience with the review sample and what you should expect if you went out and bought this card.
All observations were made on the test system used for benchmarks connected via DisplayPort with FreeSync enabled and running at a resolution of 2560×1440/144Hz unless specifically noted in the comments.
First Person Shooters
 Titanfall |
With 2x MSAA down, 8x Anisotropic with all other settings notched up at 1440p, I saw ~62-119 FPS with an average of 79. The variation in framerate was not noticeable, probably due to FreeSync being enabled. Combat felt fluid, responsive and the whole experience was very immersive. |
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With all settings maxed out, I saw 79-93FPS with an average of 90FPS. No complaints at all here. For good measure, I also tested COD: Black Ops 2 and saw ~144FPS in general which showed that from a gameplay point of view, there is much life left in the older title. |
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BF4 set to Ultra at 2560×1440 pushed the Nano but frame rates stayed within the Freesync range, providing awesome gameplay experience that caused me to lose track of time for a few hours. The frame rates were typically ~54-100 with an average of 71FPS. Once again, I believe that FreeSync smoothed out the frame rate variation here. |
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At ultra settings, the frame rate variation was really tight. I had to check that VSYNC was off and restarted the game a few times just to make sure. Performance ranged from 57-65 FPS with an average of 59 in the daytime setting and outdoors. |
Role Playing Games
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ESO provided a highly variable experience depending on the weather and time of day within the game. All settings were maxed out. I noted typical frame rates of 95+FPS when indoors and 50-90 when exploring outside. The variable frame rate outside wasn’t obvious to the eye and I had to keep referencing the FPS counter to see what the frames were doing. The weather detail and lighting effects make ESO a really pretty game but also seem to be the main culprit in performance spikes. Immersion was fine and features like flames, lighting and water all looked great.
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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt |
The Witcher 3 punishes graphics cards in a big way. Whilst trying to find a sweet spot, I made the following observations: 2560×1440 (Ultra: 30-42FPS with an average of 37, High: 45-53FPS with an average of ~50FPS) High settings kept the range within the FreeSync capabilities. |
Other Titles
I also tested the following games to round out the selection.
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Elite: Dangerous has really impressive sounds and I played this with a HOTAS joystick setup. The frame rate I typically experienced at 2560×1440 was 108+FPS. |
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Project Cars was awesome with all of the fast moving action, variable weather and outdoor scenery easily managed by the Nano. The frame rate was consistently in the 105-120FPS with the driver-style camera and 123-135FPS when using the external view at 1440p. |
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Frame rate isn’t as important for a turn based strategy game but CIV V has animations, water and clouds. Typically, I saw 105FPS at 1440p with 8xMSAA. The clouds, water, birds etc all looked really sharp like a God’s eye view should.
This one actually had me wishing I had the BenQ BL3201PT 4K display back in the lab… |
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World of Warships is probably one of the best free games going around. Due to the fact that you control .. erm… ships, there is a lot of water, waves and spray in the game but you also see the translucence of the water too against your ship.
The typical frame rate at 2560×1440 with everything maxed out was ~80FPS. |
At the moment, the AMD R9 Nano is the best card for an ITX build – it will play everything at 1440p with moderate power consumption and in a compact form factor.
