Gigabyte BRIX Gaming VR Barebones Mini PC Review

Gaming Benchmarks

For this particular review, we excluded 2560 x 1440 test results. We did this because the mobile GPU would not run this resolution in full screen mode (although we could have run the tests with windowed resolutions), and these systems are meant for the living room, where 1080p and 4K TVs are more common.

Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation

The Gigabyte Brix Gaming VR starts the gaming benchmarks at the bottom of the heap, trailing the MSI G25 Vortex 8RD in average framerates by about 14% in the Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation tests at 1920 x 1080 and 3840 x 2160. This benchmark is known to stress the CPU more than the GPU, but the results indicate that the Brix Gaming VR is behind the pack on both fronts.

Bioshock Infinite

The Bioshock Infinite results are less damning, with the Brix Gaming VR coming in behind the G25 Vortex in average framerate by 4% at 1920 x 1080 and by 3% at 3840 x 2160. Bioshock is also acceptable to play at 4K, with all of the GTX 1060-equipped systems netting above a 30 FPS average with all the settings at maximum.

DiRT Rally

Image 1 of 2

Again, the Gigabyte Brix Gaming VR performs just slightly behind the G25 Vortex in the DiRT Rally benchmarks, highlighted by lower minimum framerates at 1920 x 1080 and 3840 x 2160. The desktop CPUs inside the competition simply achieve better peak clock rates, and the Brix Gaming VR is more on par with a similarly equipped laptop (which still isn't too shabby).

Grand Theft Auto V

Image 1 of 2

The slight CPU disadvantage of the Brix Gaming VR once again places it at the bottom of the chart. GTAV is especially taxing with the detail settings at maximum, and all of the GTX 1060-equipped PCs struggle to achieve above a 30 FPS average at 1920 x 1080. It's unreasonable to expect playable framerates at 4K without drastically reducing the eye candy.

Hitman

Image 1 of 2

Similar to Bioshock Infinite, the Gigabyte Brix Gaming VR fares better at 1920 x 1080 in the Hitman benchmarks, achieving an average framerate above a desirable 60 FPS (65.6 FPS to be exact). Turning up the resolution to 3840 x 2160 doesn't do any favors for the mobile GPU-equipped PCs in the field. Whereas the desktop samples are able to achieve just under a playable 30 FPS average at 4K with all the settings at maximum, the Vortex and Brix Gaming VR trail them by a few FPS. The Brix only falls behind the Vortex by less than 1 FPS, but both systems require less demanding settings for playable framerates at 4K.

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider is another hardware-heavy title that brings all of the GTX 1060-equipped systems to single-digit framerates at 4K. However, at 1920 x 1080, the Gigabyte Brix Gaming VR is able to average above a playable 30 FPS with all the details and AA and their highest settings. Once again we see the Brix trail the Vortex, but with the GPU clearly being the bottleneck, this disadvantage is much smaller than we've seen in other games.

The Division

We see more of the same results in The Division, with the Brix achieving a 47.2 FPS average framerate at 1920 x 1080 with the highest settings. It again falls behind the Vortex (by 3.5 FPS), and although we see better average framerates in this game at 4K than some of the others we've tested, it's still highly recommended that you turn the detail and AA dials way down if you want to play at 3840 x 2160.

Middle Earth: Shadows of War

Our newest game in the test suite gives a great indication of GPU performance (both of our test rigs with different CPUs achieve the same average framerate), and the Brix Gaming VR again falls behind the Vortex in Middle Earth: Shadows of War. The difference between Gigabyte and MSI's MXM GTX 1060 is small, but the slight GPU memory overclock of the MSI G25 Vortex (along with better observed thermals) puts the Gigabyte a few FPS behind it in the majority of our GPU-intensive tests.

MORE: Best PC Builds

MORE: How To Build A PC

MORE: All PC Builds Content