Gigabyte Intros ‘BRIX Gaming’ DIY PC Kit
Are you looking for a gaming rig you can alter yourself but don't want the bulk of a monster PC? Gigabyte may have the solution you seek with the launch of its BRIX Gaming DIY kit. This boxy gaming device is available now here in the United States, packing an Intel Core i5-4200H and Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 discreet graphics, all packed into a 59.6 x 128 x 115.4 mm enclosure.
The specs show that the Intel Core i5 processor is clocked at 2.8 GHz (3.4 GHz turbo). There are also two SO-DIMM DDR3L slots for adding up to 16 GB of memory, one mSATA slot for adding SSD storage and a SATA slot for adding a 2.5-inch HDD/SSD drive. There's even a half-size mini-PCIe slot that's occupied by the 802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.0 combo half mini card.
The specs also show that the BRIX Gaming unit includes support for three external displays using the two mini-HDMI ports (3840 x 2160 @ 30 Hz) and the mini-DisplayPort jack (3840 x 2160 @ 30 Hz). Additional ports include two USB 3.0 ports, one Gigabit Ethernet port, and a Kensington lock slot on the back, and two USB 3.0 ports and a headphone/microphone combo jack on the front.
"The Gigabyte BRIX Gaming is the perfect showcase for Intel and Nvidia's exceptional technologies," commented Henry Kao, VP of Gigabyte Motherboard Business Unit. "The BRIX Gaming packs a high-performance, desktop-class processor and GPU that is highly suited to processor-intensive creative applications and 3D gaming titles. It is a great example of the type of innovation Gigabyte is delivering for the desktop PC space."
Launching in July will be a version of the BRIX Gaming kit that uses an Intel i7 processor. Gigabyte doesn't provide any additional details, nor does it state when and where the current BRIX Gaming model will be sold. Online retailers include Amazon, AVA Direct, Adorama and more.
As a comparison, ZOTAC released something similar back in May: the ZBOX EN760 series. This model packs an Intel i5-4200U dual-core processor clocked at 1.6 GHz (2.6 GHz turbo), Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M graphics, and two slots for DDR3L memory up to 16 GB. There are also slots for a 2.5-inch SSD/HDD, a slot for an mSATA SSD, a 4-in-1 card reader, two Gigabyte Ethernet ports, four USB 3.0 ports and more. The "Plus" model includes 8 GB of RAM and a 1 TB hard drive.

The word is "BRIX"
Always something to criticize right? maybe try make one yourself? first they use all notebook components, the first thing we criticize is the gpu. Now they made it happen with desktop gpu. After that the memory is targeted being a SO-DIMM. Then what? Processor? Go to Alienware X51 page then, all desktop components. simple. Not that it is as compact and as small as this BRIX here tho.
Yes it's small but you can make a mini itx system that is still relatively small to most gaming pc's and have a cheaper, quieter higher performing gaming PC than this BRIX. And if u can stand to go a little larger micro atx systems are currently the cheapest to build. Still a lot of price premiums for mini itx sized components. You will get the most performance for your dollar building a micro atx gaming system.
Yes it's small but you can make a mini itx system that is still relatively small to most gaming pc's and have a cheaper, quieter higher performing gaming PC than this BRIX. And if u can stand to go a little larger micro atx systems are currently the cheapest to build. Still a lot of price premiums for mini itx sized components. You will get the most performance for your dollar building a micro atx gaming system.
Actually they are using an undervolted and under clocked desktop gtx 760 according to Hexus
http://hexus.net/tech/news/systems/71457-gigabyte-announces-brix-gaming-diy-pc-kit/
this is probably the slim gtx 760 that MSI sells currently that is under clocked and undervolted. And yes even if it is undervolted and under clocked at worst it would perform around the 650 ti boost level of performance witch is just slightly less than a gtx 660. Having owned both the ti boost and the 660, I can say they are both completely competent gaming cards in their own right.
As for the CPU, the i5 4200u is just a hair slower than the i3 3220 which my older sister currently owns, and can recommend to any gamer with a budget, as the B word (bottleneck) is true in synthetic benchmarks, she has not found a game she cannot play on her 660 and i3 at high without dipping below 30fps including Metro Last Iight and crysis on high settings at 1080p
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-4200H-vs-Intel-Core-i3-3220
The only real downfall I see here is that the two small fans could get very loud when playing games as you said, I personally don't care too much for a noisy pc as I like to know that my computer is working (one of my silent fans on my coolermaster 212 evo went out about 7 months ago, and made my pc do an emergency shutdown to avoid frying my cpu, temp log showed it reached 115C before it shut down) but these could reach mini RC helicopter noise levels which could be annoying if you are not wearing a headset. Then the price point, if Gigabyte manages to keep this thing below $450 (it wont be) then they have a capable gaming bare bones system to sell. After buying the OS, and HDD, and 8gb of SODIMMS and maybe an ssd if budget is no concern, it comes out to be around $650-$700. It will have a price premium to be sure, but ill wait and see what the i7 version costs