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Review: Chillblast Fusion Nano Fury

by Parm Mann on 8 October 2015, 15:00

Tags: Chillblast, AMD (NYSE:AMD), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qacu5w

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Conclusion

...Chillblast's minuscule build is a timely reminder of why this is an exciting era for mini-ITX.

High-performance mini-ITX PCs remain a niche solution and there are obvious reasons as to why - they typically aren't cheap, heat and noise tends be an issue, performance can be sacrificed and future expansion opportunities are few and far between.

Some of these provisos are almost impossible to eradicate, but cramming high-end hardware into small enclosures retains a curious attraction. There's just something fun about a pint-sized box delivering a full-tower punch.

Proving that some of the traditional small-form-factor provisos are beginning to fade, Chillblast's Fusion Nano Fury is a modern-day mini-ITX build that shows just how far PC hardware has come. Despite its diminutive size, the system packs an overclocked quad-core Intel Skylake processor, 16GB of DDR4 memory, an SSD, an SSHD, and one of AMD's most powerful graphics cards, the suitably-sized Radeon R9 Nano.

This eclectic mix of tasty hardware doesn't come cheap, and sure, it needs some liquid cooling and a chassis modification to make it happen, but Chillblast's minuscule build is a timely reminder of why this is an exciting era for mini-ITX. Thinking of downsizing for your next gaming PC? Fusion Nano Fury is worthy of consideration.

The Good
 
The Bad
AMD Radeon R9 Nano graphics
Overclocked Core i5 'Skylake' CPU
High-speed SSD and DDR4 memory
Custom-modified mini-ITX chassis
Five year warranty
 
High-end mini-ITX doesn't come cheap
Can get noisy when gaming



Chillblast Fusion Nano Fury

HEXUS.where2buy

The Fusion Nano Fury mini-ITX base unit is available to purchase from Chillblast.

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At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.



HEXUS Forums :: 6 Comments

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ohhhhhh an NVIDIA with similar performance could not be used here!! :) & I like it!
Not sure there is much point having a side panel window on the chassis. All you see is a meaty ATX PSU and 2 fans with a rad sandwiched in the middle!
I have two builds using the same chassis in both AMD and NVidia configuration. If you purchase the chassis/case independently, it can actually be reconfigured in an “opposite” orientation. In it's stock form (window on the right), the Metis is able to hold up to a 215-220mm GPU (about 8.5 inches) using a non-modular Corsair CX500 PSU. I have a 4th gen i5, Sapphire dual fan HD7790, 16GB RAM, a standard 2.5 SSD as the boot drive, a standard 3.5 WD storage drive and a full-sized CM Hyper 212 plus for cooling. The Metis can also be completely disassembled and reassembled with the window on the left. With this “reversed” orientation, I was able to build a Xeon based system, 16GB of RAM, a 2.5 SSD and a 2.5 WD Black HDD (and an option for mSata), a non-modular Corsair TX650 PSU, AIO water cooler with 2 fans and an Nvidia Asus GTX970 mini. Both are quite capable systems and temperature is not a big issue if you have the rear fan set as intake and the PSU doing all the exhausting.

I love how chillblast reconfigured this system to make use of the new skylake CPU and AMD Nano. The mostly aluminum Metis is a nice sleek case and the Nano simply begs to be installed in a system with such a small footprint.
I'd quite like one of these, just because I like the idea of having a small PC. Not that it'd make any difference to me but it's cool anyway. I think I'd want a case with a SFF PSU if I'm going down that road though.
Jonatron
I'd quite like one of these, just because I like the idea of having a small PC. Not that it'd make any difference to me but it's cool anyway. I think I'd want a case with a SFF PSU if I'm going down that road though.

Yeah I don't really understand why they haven't used an SFX PSU in this one to be honest - would give them much more breathing room and the power draw is easily low enough!

I have an SFX in my mini-ITX build (although out of necessity in my case) and I'd never go back unless I absolutely had to. With components getting ever more power efficient, the days of needing huge PSUs are surely numbered…