A TINY PC WITH GREAT POTENTIAL
W
hen INTEL initially previewed
their NUC concept last year,
we weren’t really sure what
to make of it. It was a small computer
essentially and that’s about it. How
small it was perhaps could have been
the focal point, but there have been
many small computers before, so that
by itself was not going to move us to
write any particular editorial about it.
Fortunately and surprisingly, it
looks like one vendor took this idea,
literality ran with it and what we have
is the GIGABYTE Brix computer. Once
again, not having read any literature
about this prior to its arrival, we knew
nothing about it other than that it was
once again, “a small computer” built
around INTEL’s latest platform or
technology if you prefer.
That in itself doesn’t say much to
you, but what should speak volumes
to you is that this little PC is good. It’s
actually very good. Mind you, it’s not
a perfect product by any means, but
as far as these kinds of computers go,
there isn’t a single one better than the
GIGABYTE Brix Pro and what follows
is our experience with it, detailing how
we came about this conclusion.
12 The OverClocker Issue 29 | 2014
PRESENTATION
The Brix Pro is small, measuring
just 2.4” in height, 4.5” in length and
a little under that in breadth. It fits
in the average adults hand just fine.
In pictures it’s rather hard to tell
just how compact it is, but imagine
a chassis that’s no bigger than a CD
sleeve.
The finish on the Brix Pro is great
and it does feel very much like the
$650 USD (at least for this model)
PC it is. The top of the Brix Pro has
a highly reflective gloss finish which
makes it look classy (especially in
black), however it is a finger print
magnet. Over and above that, since the
power button is located at the top of
the chassis you’re guaranteed to end
up with prints on it. That is the plight
of virtually all products however that
use such materials.
As result of the diminutive
dimensions, the Brix Pro needs air
vents just about every save for the
top. All other faces of the unit have
ventilation slots but they do not
detract from the overall look and
especially on the face of the chassis.
The mesh looks particularly good,
serving both as aesthetics and
functionality. We tested the 4770R
based model and thus, which has no
other colors on the chassis save for
the blue USB 3.0 ports at the front and
rear.
There are a total of four USB3.0
ports, two located in the front and
two at the rear. This may seem more
than enough at first, but if you plug in
a mouse and keyboard you’ve used
up half of them. We would have liked
to see at least one or two more ports
even if they were USB2.0 where one
may plug in these basic peripherals
and save the 3.0 slots for storage
devices and the like which can take
advantage of or at least better use the
3.0 ports.
To be found at the rear of the unit
as well, is a GIGABIT Ethernet port, a
full HDMI, Mini DisplayPort and power
adapter port. Where display support is
concerned, digital output is obviously
the only two methods supported, but
with that you can use both outputs
simultaneously. The HDMI port
supports a maximum 4096x2304
resolution but that is only at 24Hz, so
it is unlikely you’ll ever want to use