GIGABYTE Updates BRIX: Now with Haswell
by Ian Cutress on September 7, 2013 7:50 AM EST
Back at Computex in June, GIGABYTE gave us a quick glimpse at future updates to their BRIX, their small form factor NUC type replacement. Today we get the full launch with three different mobile CPUs, all dual core CPUs with hyperthreading, along with full USB 3.0 support, a front SPDIF jack, HDMI, mDP, WiFi/BT4.0 module, and gigabit Ethernet in an aluminum chassis measuring 107.6mm x 114.4mm x 29.9mm with a Kensington Lock slot.
The three models listed in the PR (and another one on the website) have the following:
| BRIX Model | GB-BXi7-4500 | GB-BXi5-4200 | GB-BXi3-4010 | GB-BXCE-2955 |
| Intel Processor | Intel® Core™ | Intel® Core™ | Intel® Core™ | Intel® Celeron |
| i7-4500U | i5-4200U | i3-4010U | 2955U | |
| IGP | Intel HD 4400 | Intel HD 4400 | Intel HD 4400 | Intel HD |
| Cores | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Threads | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Clock Frequency | 1.8GHz – 3.0GHz | 1.6 GHz – 2.6GHz | 1.7 GHz | 1.4 GHz |
| Audio Codec | Realtek ALC269 | Realtek ALC269 | Realtek ALC269 | Realtek ALC269 |
| Expansion | 1x mSATA | 1x mSATA | 1x mSATA | 1x mSATA |
| 1x mPCIe (WiFi) | 1x mPCIe (WiFi) | 1x mPCIe (WiFi) | 1x mPCIe (WiFi) | |
| Memory | 2 x SO-DIMM | 2 x SO-DIMM | 2 x SO-DIMM | 2 x SO-DIMM |
| DDR3 1.35 V | DDR3 1.35 V | DDR3 1.35 V | DDR3 1.35 V | |
| LAN | Realtek RTL8111G | Realtek RTL8111G | Realtek RTL8111G | Realtek RTL8111G |
Users will need to add in a pair of DDR3 SO-DIMM modules (thus up to 8 GB) and an mSATA drive. All BRIX have VESA support for 75mm square and 100mm square brackets.
Back at Computex we were able to take a picture of the insides of the Ivy Bridge BRIX (below), and the Haswell model should provide an iterative update on the design.
No word on pricing or availability, however the previous Ivy-Bridge based BRIX models are around $300 as a barebones.
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jrs77 - Saturday, September 7, 2013 - link
The Zotac ZBOX with an AMD E450 is available for some $200, but still totally enough for a HTPC/OfficePC. You can slap in a standard 2.5" SSD/HDD and it has even a remote. It's a little bit larger though.Bob Todd - Sunday, September 8, 2013 - link
An E450 would be brutally slow as an "office" PC, even if you are referring to basic office use like Excel/Outlook. They make great media streamers, but they are too damn slow for much else. For basic home use like email/Facebook I'd still say something around Sandy Bridge Celeron or Llano performance would be the bare minimum for a decent experience.heffeque - Sunday, September 8, 2013 - link
I have the Zotac's E450 and... yes, it's a slooooow CPU. It's totally fine for HD videos and stuff, but even web surfing can sometimes be a bit frustrating.jrs77 - Sunday, September 8, 2013 - link
It's not too slow for an office PC. I even played EvE Online on an E350 netbook when I was travelling. No problems there at all.Bob Todd - Monday, September 9, 2013 - link
"Good experience" is definitely open to individual interpretation, but I don't personally know anyone who would be truly happy with the experience offered by an E350/E450 for general home use. Like I said, the iGPU is great for decoding HD content, but the CPU cores are frustratingly slow, and I'm talking about just doing basic tasks like opening apps (even with an SSD). I bought an HP DM1Z with the E350 shortly after it came out and just recently sold it. I also have a Mini-ITX Biostar E350 board, so I've got plenty of experience with Brazos. And I'm not someone who thinks everyone needs an i7-4770K just to surf the web and check Facebook. I have built several cheap SB Celeron systems in the past 2 years that are more than fast enough for general home (or even office) use. I did the same with a cheap Llano build. But Bobcat doesn't cut it. It only looks good compared to Atom which isn't saying much since those have been absolute turkeys to date.signorRossi - Monday, September 9, 2013 - link
I've got a Trinity-based Sapphire Nettop and it gives a decent experience, you just have to use an SSD instead of a normal HDD!signorRossi - Sunday, September 8, 2013 - link
So the Kabini version of the Brix is vaporware?Wanted to get one as a HTPC, might as well now get such a Haswell version as my new desktop and use my current Edge VS8 as HTPC then, I just wanted to spend less money if possible.
willis936 - Sunday, September 8, 2013 - link
The future of grocery checkout*HisDivineOrder - Sunday, September 8, 2013 - link
We need a version of the NUC or BRIX or TURDZ or whatever they call the other brands of this class of product that includes the best Intel integrated GPU. Not the middling GPU's.Sandcat - Sunday, September 8, 2013 - link
The onboard GPU is good enough for an HTPC. I think I'll ditch my mini-ITX build in favor of this.