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  • Srikzquest - Tuesday, September 29, 2020 - link

    I don't see any SD Card slot. Why are manufacturers avoiding such an useful port. :(
  • Lord of the Bored - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    Somethingsomething death of removable media blahblah everything is cloud.

    I agree, it is dumb.
  • close - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    On a mobile device I get how losing expandable storage would be a pain. But for a fixed PC you can easily use an adapter. You most likely have to use one anyway since microSD cards probably outsell full size SD cards.

    Also unlike mobile devices, on a PC you wouldn't use an SD as permanent fixed storage. You'd need it occasionally to copy some files over and that perfectly matches the adapter use case.

    Have you noticed how every time something is missing a feature you want it's "dumb"? You never stop to wonder if that expectation makes sense to enough people.
  • Srikzquest - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    At least for me, SD card is not about extra storage, its one of my highly used port because of my DSLR camera. I believe people still rely on SD Cards and the expectation Intel have set for us, pretty much all Intel NUCs do have this slot (Sometimes microsd card slot) so far.
  • close - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link

    Hence my "you'd need it occasionally to copy some files over and that perfectly matches the adapter use case". If you actually use it on a PC the extra "inconvenience" of having a $2 adapter is basically nothing.
  • 1_rick - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    "You most likely have to use one anyway since microSD cards probably outsell full size SD cards."

    Does anyone sell uSD cards without full-size adapters? Every one I've ever bought in-store or on Amazon (which, admittedly, isn't a huge number) has come with an adapter so it can be used in a full-sized SD slot.
  • close - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link

    So they come with adapters. Which you have to use. So you don't mind using an adapter, you mind that you have to pay $2 to buy one? Buy a USB card reader/adapter and be done with it. It's not the end of the world.
  • Spunjji - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    Nope, it's dumb. Removing longstanding flexible ports that users reasonably expect to find on their devices - and that still serve an ongoing purpose (e.g. reading camera SD cards, reading Micro SD cards with an adaptor) - is anti-consumer and just leads to more e-waste.

    Now you have a wonderful choice: have a stupid dongle sticking out of your PC all the time, or plug it in and out every time you need it and have the adaptor and/or port fail.
  • close - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link

    I want Firewire and serial(s). Do you? If you think a card reader dongle is bad, try a FW or sometimes serial one. So what other longstanding ports should you pay for so I can use? If you don't have a decent answer that doesn't rely on "but I need it" please don't bother.
  • lmcd - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    A well-implemented SD card slot will have far better performance characteristics than anything you'd find for under $30, but costs a couple dollars to implement (/validate/etc).
  • close - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link

    It might be far better, for the relatively few that use it. I can turn your argument on your head and say I have that SD slot on basically every laptop I bought over the past decade and probably only used it a couple of times. Just as solid as the "I need it so it should be there" argument. They're just not as used as you might want to think and for the manufacturer it makes sense to cut it, even when angering you.
  • PixyMisa - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    You can get some tiny microSD to USB adapters that barely extend beyond the USB port.

    A proper card slot would be better, but that will work if you don't need to read a full-sized card.
  • Srikzquest - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    I do have an adapter for these kind of systems but that's the pain (not native and maintaining adapters - making sure they are not lost) and SD Cards are not going the way of Fire wire port anytime soon. Pretty much all DSLR and mirrorless cameras still need SD cards.
  • Spunjji - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    Adaptors dying is also an issue - I've had two of the smaller USB-3 to SD card adaptors die on me, just through normal usage. Both were reputable brands and neither was particularly cheap (~£30).
  • dihartnell - Tuesday, September 29, 2020 - link

    Author should proofread his article. The BSi7-1165G7 doesn't have an AMD CPU.
  • basroil - Tuesday, September 29, 2020 - link

    Yea, I was highly confused when a Ryzen 4300 was paired with integrated Xe....
  • Klimax - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    Bit funny considering name itself contains id of CPU inside.
  • sorten - Tuesday, September 29, 2020 - link

    Weird design choices, other than the AMD CPU :)

    135W power supply for a system running 28W CPU. 4 HDMI ports?

    The form factor interests me. Obviously you could sustain a higher TDP than you'd be able to in a laptop, so it might be a good system to pair with an eGPU for gaming (as pictured).
  • basroil - Tuesday, September 29, 2020 - link

    28W means their thermal design is 28W and chips designed to support 28W continuous... Instantaneous power draw for the GT4 variants is 65A (intel data sheet 631121), and even assuming just 1V input that would put you at 65W with just the CPU. Usually those get filtered out on the motherboard, but if they wanted to cheap out on the MB cap design they could easily just get a massively overpowered PSU to compensate (cheap but large PSU). Add in ~15W peak for each SSD, ~20W for USB+wifi, ~5W+ for memory and things seem a bit more reasonable right?
  • nils_ - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    The thunderbolt / USB4 also factors into the budget there I would think.
  • sorten - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    Of course the CPU can draw more than its TDP. 15W for an SSD? Typical is closer to 5W at peak.
  • Spunjji - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    That's more like peak sustained - this has a PCIe 4.0 4x M.2 slot, too, and those go much higher on peak instantaneous power draw.
  • Lord 666 - Tuesday, September 29, 2020 - link

    Need to know if there is an option for TPM.
  • ganeshts - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    Yes, there is an Infineon TPM on the board.
  • eastcoast_pete - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    Interesting, however, some previous Brix systems have been really noisy (fan noise); these could make for nice HTPCs if they stay quiet enough.
  • yeeeeman - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    Intel is slipping on their timeline more and more each year. Ice lake launched in August last year with actual, but scarce, availability in September. This year, tiger lake launched in September and availability is at best October if not November.
  • Jorgp2 - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    Lol, that's some nice shilling
  • PixyMisa - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    That's quite a large case for a system that can't fit a 2.5" drive. Nice selection of ports though.
  • damianrobertjones - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    "These systems have become an big hit"

    'a' bit hit.
  • ingwe - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    The gaming scenario with an eGPU is something I am very interested in and will likely pursue instead of a true desktop in the future. Seems like a good balance of upgradeability (and power) while keeping a small size.
  • antonkochubey - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    That's dumb; you could make a mini-ITX build in smaller volume, for less money, and with more upgradeability than this+it's power brick+eGPU.
  • MASSAMKULABOX - Saturday, October 3, 2020 - link

    I suspect the price of the egpu enclosure will dispppoint you ... $600+ and it includes a power supply. Better to just game on these IGPu ata alower resolution,,, job done muchos bux saved
  • Spunjji - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    Very interested to see the sort of performance numbers Tiger Lake can put out with a 70W PL2. Judging by the difference between 15W and 28W I'd imagine it's not Earth-shattering, but still, that's a lot of headroom to play with.

    Also interested to see how Xe performs with DDR4 3200.
  • OFelix - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    Why does the spec list show USB 3.2 rather than USB4?
  • ganeshts - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    The only USB4 port is the Thunderbolt 4 port. The rest are all USB 3.2 Gen 2 10 Gbps ports only.
  • OFelix - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link

    Is that likely to be common? I was expecting that Tiger Lake systems would have multiple TB4 and multiple USB-4 ports?

    I don't have anything to plug in to those ports yet, but for future proofing it would be good.

    A single TB4/USB4 port on the entire system is very disappointing :-(
  • ganeshts - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link

    You should brace yourself :) USB4 is not going to be what many people think. Many folks have been led to understand that Thunderbolt 3 = USB4, but the specifications actually have the PCIe component of Thunderbolt 3 as 'optional' - so, you could have a Type-C port in a system that the manufacturer claims to be USB4, but support ONLY USB 3.2 Gen 2 speeds (that is 10Gbps). And, that is just for starters....
  • OFelix - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link

    Thanks again.

    I'll be extra careful to only buy a system with at least two TB4 ports then.
    Maybe a nice AMD processor with a TB add in card.
  • CSMR - Monday, October 5, 2020 - link

    Why would you want 4 hdmi ports? To connect to 4 TVs simultaneously?
  • Kdonovan - Tuesday, February 9, 2021 - link

    Have these units become available for purchase?

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