Gigabyte Brix GB-BXi3H-5010: A PC in your palm

The concept of the personal computer has, in recent times, undergone a massive change. Those big boxes that take up space on your desk, or get inadvertently kicked as they sit under your table? No more. The PC today is slick--very often integrated into a widescreen monitor itself--and is gradually disappearing from view, as we know it.

On the one hand, we’re now seeing devices as small as wireless dongles that pack a completely functional computer capable of running Windows 8 or your choice of Linux. On the other, there are slightly-larger-than-small form factors that have started cropping up: for example, this unit from Gigabyte based on a coaster-sized footprint. Adequately named the Brix lineup, these are tiny barebones computers based on a 12cm x 12cm nano ITX motherboard, and are aimed squarely at the DIY and enthusiast crowd. They are not sold with a hard disk or RAM, but you can add a 2.5-inch hard disk or SSD drive and the same kind of RAM you’ll generally find in laptops.

Given that they can be configured with a choice of storage and memory, it makes these little boxes ideal for users who like building their own computers: all that needs to be done is to remove four screws, pop off the base and you have immediate access to the tiny motherboard inside. There are two memory slots that can accept a maximum of 2 x 8GB of DDR3 memory, and a 2.5-inch hard disk bracket fix to the inner side of the base. Power supply is external, much like a laptop. For this rig, we used a single 4GB stick of Kingston memory and a 256GB Adata SP900 SSD drive. It literally took us 5 minutes to set up these components and put the system together.

Despite its Lilliputian size, the unit offers a fair number of connectivity options: 4 x USB 3.0 ports, a standard HDMI port, a mini DisplayPort, Gigabit Ethernet and a headphone/microphone jack. There is also built-in 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC. Graphics is handled by a reasonably capable Intel HD Graphics 5500 (part of their current-gen Broadwell platform), which is sufficient for playing back 4K video but only barely suited to current-day games.

We installed Linux Mint 17.1 on the system (it took us all of 8 minutes, thanks to the zippy SSD drive used), with all of the system components detected and working without a hitch. We plugged in a standard wired USB keyboard and mouse to the system, although this little box begs to be used with a wireless set given the propensity to tuck it out of the way behind a desk or living room shelf. Its diminutive size makes enables it to disappear from view while powering the rest of the computing show.

The Brix is literally built for applications such as a PC-based home theater, or a file server that shares a bunch of USB hard disks, or even an excuse to convert any television to a computer. The unit we reviewed is based on the current 5th generation Intel Core i3-5010, which makes it more than suited to general everyday computing, but the Brix lineup also features more powerful processors and graphics for applications that are more demanding.