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.
