Benchmarks: System and Gaming
PCMark 8 is used to examine overall system performance, and though the Brix Pro scores well, it falls short of matching the PC Specialist machine. We're putting this down to the latter having discrete graphics at its disposal, which as we're about to see, pays dividends in certain scenarios.
Here's where micro PCs begin to show their limits. CPU performance isn't a problem for the Brix Pro, yet in the graphics department the i7-4770R's integrated Iris Pro is no match for a discrete GPU. Though, for a system of this size, a 3DMark score of 1,488 is impressive nonetheless - it's almost double what's on offer from the NUC's HD 5000 IGP. That begs the question: can the Iris Pro 5200 realistically be used to play demanding games?
Our default gaming benchmark for PC systems is Aliens vs. Predator at a 1080p resolution with 2xAA, 4xAF and medium-quality settings. This simple test tends to separate the men from the boys, and it puts the Brix Pro in a bit of a middle ground. The game is almost playable - which is more than can be said of other systems of this size - and the near-20-fps average suggests that gaming may be possible.
1080p Gaming Performance (Average FPS) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Quality Settings | Gigabyte Brix Pro |
|
(Intel Iris Pro 5200) |
(Palit GeForce GTX 660) |
||
| BioShock Infinite | Very Low Quality | 51.0 |
- |
| Low Quality | 34.5 |
- |
|
| Medium Quality | 27.0 |
98.8 |
|
| High Quality | 23.4 |
89.5 |
|
| Max Quality | 11.0 |
54.4 |
|
| GRID 2 | CMAA, Ultra Low Quality | 77.0 |
- |
| 2xMSAA, Low Quality | 53.0 |
- |
|
| 4xMSAA, Medium Quality | 36.4 |
115.7 |
|
| 4xMSAA, High Quality | 31.0 |
103.5 |
|
| 4xMSAA, Ultra Quality | 17.4 |
57.5 |
|
| Total War: Rome II | Low | 44.9 |
- |
| Medium Quality | 42.8 |
124.2 |
|
| Very High Quality | 22.5 |
56.1 |
|
| Extreme Quality | 16.0 |
25.3 |
|
Investigating further, we've run a trio of games at a standard 1080p resolution with varying degrees of image quality. What we can deduce from the table above is that, yes, the Brix Pro does have gaming potential. Medium settings are often a stretch, but knock things down to low and smooth, playable frame rates are achievable.
