Gigabyte BRIX i7-4500 Barebones Mini-PC Review (w/ G.Skill Ripjaws 1600MHz 16GB)

Gigabyte's BRIX is a high-quality, well-engineered mini-PC that manages to squeeze competent performance into a miniature form factor. Utilising Intel's Core i7-4500U CPU and HD 4400 graphics configuration, the BRIX i7-4500 provides the foundation for a solid and versatile all-round system.

Performance of the BRIX i7-4500U is pleasantly surprising. Using an ultra-low voltage Intel processor, the mini system is able to offer solid general usage performance.

Combine that performance with good numbers in more demanding tasks, such as low-quality gaming and file archival, and the BRIX starts to look more like a proficient office or general usage system foundation.

If you're looking to regularly run demanding processes such as video conversion, the BRIX isn't for you. But for users wanting a more general usage approach, performance restraints are unlikely to cause major issues.

Versatility is perhaps the biggest strength for Gigabyte's BRIX, alongside its size. With a surface area of little more than 110cm² , the BRIX is easy to carry from one location to another. And given its hardware configuration, the system has the versatility to perform a number of different tasks – from desktop PC use, to media playback, to file streaming.

Needless to say with a system of this size, expansion is fairly limited. Components that can be added to the barebones bundle are an mSATA SSD and SO-DIMM memory modules. There is an additional SATA connector mounted on the board, but this can't be used in a particularly meaningful way. If Gigabyte was able to find a way of squeezing a 2.5″ hard drive mount into the BRIX, its potential as a HTPC or portable system would be greatly increased. As it stands, with only the mSATA connection available (and the cost per GB of SSDs), the BRIX is heavily reliant upon external or network storage.

The BRIX's ability to accept up to 16GB of 1600MHz memory enforces its potential as a general usage system. We had no issues using G.Skill's 16GB DDR3-1600 Ripjaws kit with the BRIX – it was as simple as plug and play.

Judging by the circa-£450 price tag of Gigabyte's previous flagship BRIX model and the dollar price of the current variant, it is fair to assume that the Haswell-ULT-based system will retail at a similar point. Factor in the cost of a mid-range (8GB) set of memory and an mSATA SSD and the system price rapidly approaches the £600 mark. And that's without the cost of an OS.

This sort of price is a tough swallow for consumers who were hoping for a cheap mini-PC. In light of this fact, Gigabyte does offer cheaper versions based around slower processors. But comparing the price of the BRIX i7-4500 to that of other similarly-powerful mini-PCs or even a comparable laptop shows that price-wise, the BRIX i7-4500 isn't overly expensive (comparatively).

For around £450 you get the foundations for a powerful mini-PC housed inside an elegant, well-designed chassis. Connectivity limitations (such as the lack of USB ports) existing on former BRIX iterations have been fixed and thermal and acoustic issues seem to be non-existent.

If you're looking to drastically downsize to a system which offers versatility and increased portability, but doesn't sacrifice too much in the way of performance, Gigabyte's BRIX i7-4500 is a solid option. While Gigabyte's BRIX has clear potential as a mini-PC and for office usage, if the smallest of the small isn't absolutely necessary, better value options which compromise size in favour of cost are available. Intel's very own NUC also provides the BRIX with stiff competition in the mini-PC market.

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Pros:

• Solid performance for general and some more-demanding applications.
• Tiny dimensions.
• Well-designed chassis.
• Enough USB 3.0 ports for a variety of scenarios.
• Mini DisplayPort connection for high-resolution monitors.
• Very low power consumption.
• Mountable on the back of a monitor.

Cons:

• Limited to external or network-based storage, other than a boot mSATA SSD.
• A faster wireless adapter would have been welcomed.
• No SD card reader.
• A noticeable price premium for the miniature dimensions.

KitGuru says: A versatile mini-PC with solid performance in a variety of scenarios. Just don't expect it to come cheap and be ready to rely upon external storage.

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