It was only a matter of time. Intel’s teeny tiny, energy-efficient Broadwell processors always seemed like a perfect fit for Gigabyte’s miniature Brix PCs, and now the fifth-generation Intel Cores have found their way inside the barebones desktops.
Once again “designed to fit in the palm of your hand,” the rehashed Brix and Brix S are considerably faster than their predecessors, and deliver 20 percent crisper graphics thanks to integrated Intel’s new HD 5500 graphics.
The absence of any kind of backing for dedicated discrete graphics solutions from Nvidia is clearly a major flaw, but as long as Gigabyte made the sacrifice in the name of affordability, we’re fine with it.
Measuring 1.8 x 4.2 x 4.5 inches, these classically designed yet stylish mini-PCs pose a real danger of misplacement and loss when carried around. So it’s probably best to just leave them in the living room, where they can be connected to two monitors at once via HDMI.
A mini DisplayPort with native 4K support is also thrown in the mix, alongside Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, and no less than four USB 3.0 ports.
Exact pricing is a huge question mark at the moment, and there’s no clear word on ETAs either. What we do know is at least six Broadwell-powered configurations are on deck, starting with a 2.1GHz Core i3-5010U and going all the way up to a 2.4GHz Core i7-5500U capable of Turbo Boost as high as 3GHz.
Every new Gigabyte Brix flavor is VESA mountable for better office space management, and there’s room for solid state drives on standard, compact versions, or hard disks on larger Brix S models. Last but not least, the Core i7 configurations offer NFC support as a bonus. Welcome aboard the Broadwell train, Gigabyte. Hopefully we’re all in for the ride of our lives.
