though as the system is still running
at what we would consider a high
temperature. There will be no damage
to the system caused by this heat and
we experienced no instabilities, but
the noise level was still bothersome
somewhat. If the BIOS had a multiplier
option available we would have
probably dropped the CPU clock
down to 2.6 or even2.4GHz. Another
option sorely missed is the iGPU clock
multiplier which we would have used
to lock the GPU clock at 1300MHz
or even higher given that we had
significantly reduced the CPU speed.
Yes PCMark8 would report a
lower score and so would virtually
all synthetic benchmarks, but the
game performance of the Brix Pro
can be increased as we found by
using XTU, especially when you factor
overclocking into it. With just the two
options we could further reduce the
noise generated while maintaining
the graphics power which is one of
the best aspects about the 4770R and
hence the Brix Pro. With these two
options we would have at our disposal
the ability to preserve graphics
performance while reducing the noise
produced by the system. Not all is lost
however, because all of this is can be
implemented in software in quite a
number of ways.
At the time of writing there was
a performance and quiet mode
introduced in the latest BIOS which is
somewhat addressing some of these
issues. It is very likely that future
updates will further add options which
may completely alleviate all concerns
of this nature entirely.
THE 5200 SURPRISE
Unexpected from the BRIX PRO was
just how efficient it is at graphics
processing. We are mainly talking
gaming here, where in a very real
sense, INTEL’s Iris Pro 5200 is
faster than what AMD can offer on
their fastest integrated solution.
The assumption is that with such a
heavy silicon investment AMD made
with Kaveri, it would be far ahead
of anything INTEL would be able to
produce at present. Yes, the HD 4000
series as present in desktop Haswell
CPUs was a marked improvement
in performance, but to dramatically
improve upon that in one or within the
same generation is nothing short of
remarkable.
Intel’s Iris Pro 5200 and thus by
extension the BRIX PRO offers better
gaming performance than any system
built around any APU can. This is
not to be glossed over because it is
a milestone for INTEL, which has
traditionally been synonymous with
the worst graphics processors on the
PC landscape. How much faster the
5200 is over AMD’s solution varies
and in some tests it’s slower by a very
small fraction. However for the most
part the 5200 is faster and as a result
game capable which is largely the
reason why the BRIX PRO is a valid
candidate for a Steam Box. In fact, it
was one of the machines revealed at
CES by none other than Gabe Newell
himself as a possible or plausible
concept of the Steam Box. The Brix
Pro actually plays games.
It may not allow you to play every
title at 1080P, in fact most games
will be limited to 720P but the point
is they are playable at fairly decent
graphics settings, something that was
previously unheard of on any INTEL
graphics processor. There are many
contexts which make the BRIX PRO
appealing, but we here are largely
concerned about its performance and
it delivers where it counts. In a very
odd way it vindicates what AMD had
been saying all along about graphics
3DMark Cloud Gate
3DMark Firestrike
Catzilla 1.3 720p
Resident Evil 6
720p
PCMark8 Creativity
Suite
CineBen
GIGABYTE Brix Pro
(Turbo Mode)
11253
Graphics: 13693
1482
Graphics: 1557
3624
Hardware: 3531
4023
4195
706
GIGABYTE Brix Pro
(Performance mode)
10466
Graphics: 12750
1335
Graphics: 1421
3288
Hardware: 3211
3521
3993
647
4115
4053
364
4053
3770
319
AMD A10 7850K @ 4.4GHz
7972
1621
2766
960MHz GPU / 2400MHz
Memory
Graphics: 12081
Graphics: 1805
Hardware: 2743
AMD A10 7850K
7035
Graphics: 10814
1575
Graphics: 1714
2581
Hardware: 2559
720MHz GPU/ 2400MHz
Memory
14 The OverClocker Issue 29 | 2014