Conclusion

The ultimate LAN-going gaming rig? Not quite, but the foundations are being laid for next-generation hardware.

An Intel Core i5 processor and dedicated Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 graphics in a PC that's barely bigger than a box of Maltesers? It all sounded too good to be true, and though our minds were quick to cast doubt, our hearts were hoping that Gigabyte would somehow manage to pull it off without any major shortcomings.

Wishful thinking on our part, perhaps, as today's high-performance components don't take kindly to being shoehorned into ultra-small mini-PCs. Case in point, the Brix Gaming's GTX 760 GPU sounds mighty powerful on paper, but in practise tends to run at less than half the advertised speed in an effort to keep soaring temperatures under control.

As you might have expected, Gigabyte's latest gamer-orientated mini-PC is as loud as it is powerful, and as hot as it is ambitious. As a consequence, this is a double-edged sword whose appeal is limited to enthusiast users willing to accept the trade-offs associated with cramming so much power into an impossibly-small form factor.

The ultimate LAN-going gaming rig? Not quite, but the foundations are being laid for next-generation hardware. Keep hold of these chassis, Gigabyte, as we're looking forward to seeing this particular frame outfitted with an Intel Broadwell chip and Nvidia Maxwell/Pascal graphics.

The Good

Fast 3.4GHz Intel Core i5 processor
Dedicated Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 graphics
Impossibly small for a gaming rig
Wireless AC and Bluetooth 4.0
Can drive three displays
Dual storage option

The Bad

GPU throttles significantly
Gets very hot when gaming
Fan noise is bothersome

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The Gigabyte Brix Gaming barebone mini-PC is expected to become available August 2014.

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At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.

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Seems such a waste putting the 760 in there. They really should have gone with a 750 Ti although i can presume when they started development for this the 750 Ti wasn't out yet.

Lets be honest guys, a full sized desktop GPU is not going to fit into the form factor for another couple generations. These products are just DAFT for what they claim they are.

I would prefer a more constant gaming experienced at slightly lower image quality or a slower (but reliable FPS).

If only Nvidia and AMD made chips designed for tight power and thermal constraints. Well, if they ever do they should really single this chips out with an “M” beside the product number…

If they made it just a bit bigger, they could sort out the cooling issues. Or they could use the ‘M’ chips. Will be interesting to see who does one of these things first.

Was intrigued and genuinely excited until I read about the throttling. Pairing that CPU and GPU would make a perfect mid level gaming PC to be plugged into a TV, but that much throttling is just unforgivable.

Simple fact is that much power can't work in such a small box - Should have made it slightly bigger and put 120mm fans in on a push pull config.