Items tagged with brix
The Gigabyte BRIX Gaming UHD is an exciting small form factor PC prospect. It packs a surprising amount of muscle into a tiny frame. This little flyweight may not sound too beastly with its GeForce GTX 950, but Gigabyte reckons it is more than capable of streaming 4K UHD media and taking a few swings at 1080p gaming with good image quality. Its 4.3-inch square footprint should help it blend into many entertainment centers or find a home on a dorm room desk for work, play, business or pleasure. Most ultra small form-factor computers, by comparison, rely on integrated graphics to due to thermal constraints. Don’t get us wrong, integrated graphics solutions from Intel and AMD have come a long ways,...
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If you’re a fan of Gigabyte’s BRIX family of small form-factor barebones PCs, then you’ll be happy to learn that the company is updating the lineup with Kaby Lake power. Kaby Lake brings improved processing performance across the board, a 10 percent uplift in graphics performance, and a new HEVC 10-bit hardware acceleration media engine for all your 4K video needs. Those that opt for Gigabyte’s new BRIX computers can choose from power-sipping Intel Core i3-7100U, Core i5-7200U, and Core i7-7500U processors depending on your budget and performance needs. The BRIX is also available in two sizes, the smaller of which can only accommodate a single M.2 SSD. A slightly larger model can accept both...
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As longtime enthusiasts, we tend to get most excited for the latest, big, bad, benchmark-busting specimens of PC hardware to hit the lab. However, there’s something about ultra-small form factor devices that’s intriguing as well. The focus on power efficiency and performance-per-watt from virtually all semi-conductor manufacturers over the last few years has enabled some pretty impressive hardware in fairly tiny form factors, and it’s now possible to have a fully-functional – and rather quick – desktop PC that literally fits in the palm of your hand.Take the Gigabyte Brix S (model number BSi5HT-6200) we’ll be showing you here, for example. This tiny machine is packing a Skylake-based Intel Core...
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We had a chance to visit Gigabyte this week at CES, and as always, the company had plenty to showcase for our eager eyes. On tap were new Skylake BRIX mini-PCs, new WINDFORCE graphics cards, a new gaming laptop and a familiar 34-inch curved AIO machine. First up, however, is Gigabyte’s refreshed BRIX mini-PCs which feature a high-quality, brushed aluminum finish to class things up a bit. Customers can choose from three Skylake processor, all with a TDP of 15W and all with Intel HD Graphics 520 onboard: the Core i3-6100U, Core i5-6200U or Core i7-6500U. Gigabyte's Skylake BRIX Mini-PC Two M.2 slots are included in the BRIX machines, with one already occupied by a combo Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module,...
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Gigabyte's Brix line-up of small form factor systems is the company’s answer to the teeny, tiny NUC from Intel. These ridiculously small PCs pack all the power of a laptop, or a budget desktop, into a box small enough to fit in your palm. These wee PCs are marketed to non-gamers and people who need a basic, no-nonsense PC with a tiny footprint. Think people who need a PC for a kiosk or for basic, day to day computing. These little brick PCs are basically made to mount behind a monitor, and use mobile parts and solid-state components to keep the noise and heat to a minimum. One big difference between these Ultra small form factor PCs and traditional PCs is that these little boxes are mostly sold...
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Gigabyte is introducing a new X99 motherboard for overclockers that are on a budget. The X99-SOC Champion, like the other members of Gigabyte’s X99 motherboard lineup, supports Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition (LGA 2011-v3 socket) processors, International Rectifier’s all-digital CPU power design, and a PCI Express design that utilizes 100% of all 40 lanes from the processor when in a 4-way or 3-way graphics configurations. Compared to Gigabyte’s existing X99 lineup, the X99-SOC Champion compares most favorably to the X99-SOC Force. But whereas the X99-SOC Force features 8 DDR4 DIMM sockets, the X99-SOC Champion makes do with just 4 sockets. Gigabyte claims that cutting the number of DIMM sockets...
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These are the days of form factors. The PC market is changing rapidly as tablets supplant some laptops, new players such as the Chromebook disrupt the old WIntel model, and innovations in processors and graphics allow for ever-smaller PCs such as Intel’s NUC. Here’s a new one for you: a tiny NUC-style PC that doubles as a video projector. It's an interesting combination and that’s we have for you today with the Gigabyte Brix Projector. The little PC ships as a barebones unit without storage or memory, but it actually has some solid specs under its diminutive hood and capabilities not found in virtually any PC product on the market to date... PC And Projector In-One: Gigabyte's...
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These are the days of form factors. The PC market is changing rapidly as tablets supplant some laptops, new players such as the Chromebook disrupt the old WIntel model, and innovations in processors and graphics allow for ever-smaller PCs such as Intel’s NUC. Here’s a new one for you: a tiny NUC-style PC that doubles as a video projector. It's an interesting combination and that’s we have for you today with the Gigabyte Brix Projector. The little PC ships as a barebones unit without storage or memory, but it actually has some solid specs under that diminutive hood and capabilities not found in virtually any PC product on the market to date. Gigabyte Brix Projector Specifications...
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There are lots of SFF PCs floating around these days, but the Zbox Sphere from Zotac is an odd duck among them. Instead of a tall and slim chassis or a tiny square-ish thing like a NUC, this PC is a sphere. (Er, hence the name.) It’s not just a gimmick to hear Zotac tell it, either; in a press release, Zotac actually calls it a “sphere form factor” which would indicate that the company views the Sphere series as a whole new way of making SFF rigs. From a marketing perspective, it’s certainly a wise idea. The sphere shape is distinctive and could help Zotac’s products stand out from NUCs and Brix PCs, and it’s too obvious to try and copy it. (That said, there’s...
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Although it’s not the first fanless NUC-ish PC to hit the market, the Gigabyte Brix (GB-BXBT-2807) is the first to offer a dual-core Bay Trail chip with no fan. The unit has been out for a couple of weeks, but Fanless Tech has confirmed that this Brix PC will indeed be fanless. That’s a notable feature for a tiny PC that’s designed to integrate into spaces such as your home theater. Even the relatively quiet whir of a SFF PC’s lone fan is enough to drive you a little nuts when watching a film, especially during those intense quiet scenes. The same holds true for other multimedia such as playing music or games. The Bay Trail edition of the Brix offers a dual-core Intel...
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Intel's Haswell 4th generation Core series processors with Iris Pro Graphics (formerly known by the code name Crystal Well) offered the promise of more robust integrated graphics performance, since we first laid eyes on the Gigabyte-built device we're showcasing here today, back at CES 2014 in Las Vegas earlier this year. The Gigabyte BRIX Pro is a tiny 4.5-inch square "brick" of technology, if you will, and it's powered by an Intel Core i7-4770R quad-core processor with integrated Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200. This CPU actually boasts the fastest, most powerful Intel graphics engine we have tested to date, so this should be an interesting ride to say the least. Let's have a look... Gigabyte...
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Mini PCs are big business these days, whether you consider devices like Valve's Steambox initiative, ASUS' Chromebox, Zotac's ZBox line or Intel's own NUC (Next Unit of Computing) mini PC. In fact, Intel has gone on record, projecting mini PCs like this have shipped over a million units in 2013 and are projected for strong growth this year as well. So what's the attraction? Obviously there are a number of use cases for this class of device, whether it be as a home theater PC, a strategically placed and aesthetically pleasing family or office PC or even as an arguably (or not) more versatile alternative to console gaming. Regardless, the form factor itself has taken the market...
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In this latest episode of HotHardware's Two and a Half Geeks, Dave, Iyaz, and Marco discuss AMD's recently announced Radeon R7 265 graphics card, Lenovo's new 2014 ThinkPad X1 Carbon, why Woz thinks Apple should consider building an Android phone, Sony's VIAO Tap 21 All-in-One mobile PC, a sneak peek at Gigabyte’s BRIX Pro SFF system with Intel Iris Pro graphics, and we hint at our next contest giveaway and more! Show Notes: 01:45 - Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2014 Edition) 08:45 - AMD Radeon R7 265 Review 14:00 - Woz Says Apple Could Make an Android Device 18:32 - Toshiba Completes OCZ Acquisition 21:25 - Sony VIAO Tap 21 Mobile AIO...
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We got a sneak peak at Gigabyte’s new Brix Gaming PC when we toured the company’s booth at CES, and now the tiny machine with discrete graphics is official. Other Gigabyte Brix PCs we’ve been privy to rely on integrated graphics--which, considering that some of those IGPs are Intel’s Iris Pro Graphics isn’t anything to sneeze at--but the new Brix Gaming model offers a discrete AMD Radeon R9 M275X GPU (2GB), along with an AMD A8-5557M APU. The system is sold as a DIY kit (with a preinstalled WiFi Mini PCIe module), so you can choose your own SO-DIMMs (there are two slots supporting up to 16GB of 1600MHz) and storage configuration. For storage, there’s an mSATA...
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Computer hardware companies have a vested interested in PC gaming, so it's no wonder that so many firms are excited about Valve's Steam Machine platform. No less than 14 OEM and boutique system builders announced Steam Machine configurations of their own at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week, and if that weren't enough, Intel gave each of the 1,200 Valve Developer Day attendees a Gigabyte Brix Pro Steam Machine. Intel's generosity stems in part from its desire to showcase its Iris Pro graphics. Each Brix Pro system sports an Intel Core i7 4770R quad-core processor (3.2GHz to 3.9GHz, 6MB cache) with integrated Iris Pro graphics 5200 (200MHz base frequency, 1.3GHz max dynamic...
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We spent a little time meeting with the folks from Gigabyte while zipping from demo suite to demo suite at CES, and have some interesting products to show you. Along with a their wide array of existing motherboards, graphics cards, and peripherals, Gigabyte was showing off some brand new products as well, including a few updated (and more powerful) Brix small form factor machines and a couple of Thunderbolt 2.0 certified motherboards. This GA-ZZ87X-UD7 TH is one of Gigabyte’s latest flagship Z87 Express based motherboards for Intel’s 4th Gen Core processors. In addition to all of the features inherent to the chipset, Gigabyte has also equipped this board with high-end...
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You may find that your next PC is a pint-sized model about the size of an optical drive, or even smaller. Mini PCs are becoming more powerful, making them viable options for people who really just need a daily driver for getting around on the web and productivity chores, or even some light gaming. Underscoring that point is Gigabyte's upgraded BRIX Ultra Compact PC Kit. "This new and updated Gigabyte BRIX builds on the incredible success and popularity of our original compact PC design," commented Henry Kao, Vice President of Gigabyte Motherboard Business Unit. "We’re confident end users will enjoy the improved overall performance that the latest Intel Core processors offer, as well as...
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Big, boxy, beige tower PCs aren't nearly as common as they once were, but oddly, neither are mini PCs. Instead, the notebook world has been eating into the desktop share, but that doesn't mean that there are no companies cranking out boxes for the niche. Gigabyte has just introduced the BRIX PC, a super small desktop with some pretty potent innards. You can order one with a Core i3, i5 or i7 within, an SSD, two USB 3.0 ports, a mini-DisplayPort socket, and an HDMI port. In other words, this would make a killer HTPC for those who don't need a monster of a GPU. Pricing has yet to be announced, but it should begin to ship soon....
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