[section_title title=”Conclusion”]
Conclusion
When outlaying a large cost on a new PC, you want to get the best for your money! Not only is the actual specification a key selling point of any system, but the overall package and build quality is equally important. PC Specialist is obviously very experienced, but does the small Orion Nano tick all the positive boxes of a pint-sized powerhouse PC?
Let’s start with what the Orion Nano isn’t, and then we can move on… It’s not big and it’s not 4K ready. There, that was easy! What the Orion Nano actually does well is combine cutting edge hardware inside an expensive, but bespoke SFF chassis like the Fractal Node 202, which not only compliments the overall quality of the build, but sets it off in ways other ITX cases probably wouldn’t have. The choice of hardware used in the Orion Nano is sufficient, although 2133MHz memory is hardly blistering for DDR4 and I can’t imagine it would have hurt to “plump” up the specifications a bit.
The AMD R9 Nano and Intel Core i5 6600K processor are quality bits of kit and really do the tasked job when gaming, without sacrificing on compute performance and are more than adequate for streaming. Even the Noctua L9i low profile cooler does a fantastic job of keeping this system cool and that’s very important for such a small case with restricted airflow. The inclusion of the Samsung SM951 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD adds a bespoke element to the system; it’s a very high performance drive and with a 1TB HDD included for storage of all those games you’ll be dying to play!
Although we have touched on performance, design, how small it is, now it’s time to touch on one of the defining elements; the price! Coming in at £1199, it’s certainly not cheap… but you do get what you pay for when you consider the quality of the components used and of course, the gorgeous Fractal Node 202. The 13 year experience of PC Specialist is surely evident here with the Orion Nano and they did a top job in putting together a pint-sized powerhouse worthy of your money!
If you have £1199 to spend on a system and want something capable of running the latest games at 60fps+ with good settings and are restricted on space, then the Orion Nano should certainly be considered.
Huge thanks to PC Specialist for sending us the Orion Nano system in for review.
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Performance
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Design
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Value
Summary
Pros:
– Did we mention we love the Fractal Node 202?
– Good build quality throughout, including cable management
– The Intel Core i5 6600K and AMD R9 Fury Nano work well together
– Pricing is relatively reasonable
– The welcome package is a nice addition (includes a booklet and the required power cables)
Cons:
– 8-10 days build time is a little long in our opinion
Well I bought one, I have been looking for a similar spec nano pc capable of games at decent frame rates and this ticked the box pretty much. Id have hoped the ddr4 would have been a faster version but all in all its a great price; especially when you spec it like for like on other sites. The r9 nano will certainly do until pascal arrives.
I’ve just got to wait for the build and delivery, I’m sure the wait will be worth it.
Let us know your thoughts when it gets there Jim. It’s nice to have feedback even if you disagree with some of our findings 🙂
Craig, Well I have got it now, it was ten working days in production, and about 24 hours for delivery. I did have an email and phone call about the 5th working day to inform me the r9 nano was not in stock; I had the option to wait or choose a different card, so for an extra £80 I chose a Zotac GTX 980Ti. So arguably even more powerful for the price.
The pc is great, very quiet even under load, the subtle red glow from the mobo, very snappy loading/boot times and the case is even better in the flesh, compact, premium and solid.
I’m happy with the service I received and order tracking, albeit the waiting time seems long, its been worth it, ticks the boxes on many fronts.
What do you think so far? 😀
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