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

To test the Gigabyte BRIX i7-4500, we partnered it with 16GB of 1600MHz DDR3 SO-DIMM memory from G.Skill's Ripjaws series and a 128GB Plextor M5M mSATA SSD.

While the 22nm Intel Core i7-4500U CPU is technically a 1.8GHz part, the chip will turbo up to a maximum frequency of 3.0GHz when a single core is loaded, or 2.7GHz when two cores are tasked.

We will be outlining the performance of our BRIX i7-4500-based system in a variety of realistic usage scenarios, which include media playback, video conversion, light gaming, and general usage tasks.

Our CPU-Z screenshot taken at an arbitrary time shows the Core i7-4500U processor hovering around the 2.7GHz mark. We had no issues running sixteen gigabytes of G.Skill's Ripjaws memory at 1600MHz CL11.

The system's CPU-Z validation (taken at a different time to the above screenshot) can be viewed here.

Gigabyte BRIX i7-4500 System:

• Barebones System: Gigabyte BRIX i7-4500.
• Memory: 16GB (2x 8GB) G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3 Low Voltage SO-DIMM 1600MHz.
• System Drive: Plextor M5M 128GB mSATA.
• Operating System: Windows 7 Professional w/ SP1 64-bit.

Settings:

• Intel 9.18.10.3220 HD graphics drivers.
• Intel 9.4.0.1016 chipset drivers.
• Intel 9.5.0.1428 management engine.

Software Suite:

• PCMark 8
• SiSoft Sandra 2013 SP4
• Cinebench 11.5 64 bit
• Super Pi
• VLC Media Player 2.0.7
• HandBrake 0.9.9
• WinRAR
• ATTO
• LAN Speed Test
• Dirt Showdown

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