With two Intel Gigabit Ethernet ports, this might just make the perfect router. Except that it’s noisy, the i7 is probably overkill, and it’s not that cheap (why, oh why, can’t there be a dual LAN i3 “NUC”?). Ultra-compact form factor (UCFF) PCs have become quite popular after Intel introduced the NUCs. They have become powerful enough to be the […]
Read moreI reviewed the Iris Pro Brix so I have more than a passing familiarity with the platform. While it was a nice system, it was simply too much CPU in such a tiny box (read loud). So in concept, I can kind of see where GIGABYTE is going with the double length BRIX concept AnandTech is showing off, but on […]
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With m.2, 2x Intel NIC the GIGABYTE GA-Z170N-WIFI looks like a really solid foundation for a HTPC or mini server, it is a bit disappointing that DisplayPort didn’t make the cut… Our review unit of the Gigabyte GA-Z170N-WIFI arrived in a medium sized, brown corrugated cardboard box from the company’s American headquarters in City of Industry, California, USA. It arrived […]
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For home theater PC (HTPC) “small” is another word for “compromise”. Thankfully, the amount required by our miniscule content consumption devices has decreased exponentially over the last few years. There is still a price demanded however, tiny systems require slower mobile integrated processor graphics (IPG) to drive them. We have to choose between size and performance; it is simply not […]
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Gigabyte was focused mainly at the PC high-end, but there were a few tidbits for HTPC enthusiasts as well. The BRIX was probably the most interesting thing in the bunch though with several different options either just out, or coming soon. Gigabyte had two Thin ITX systems at the show, which was great to see. Unfortunately neither has the […]
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As we march towards more efficient CPUs it is great to see OEMs taking advantage of the inherent capabilities to deliver smaller form factors. We saw it with Intel’s NUC, where they provided a very cabable bare-bones HTPC, and now GIGABYTE has come out with something similar. I’m really happy to see more vendors/competition in this space. Full PR after […]
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We are currently about halfway through the release cycle of the most recent Intel processor family. Ivy Bridge has now been with us for several months and we are still several months from the release of Haswell, Ivy Bridge’s successor. For processor afficionados, these might be the doldrums, but for anyone looking to go Mini-ITX for a new HTPC or […]
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For a while there we couldn’t cruise the Internet without stumbling across a review of the AMD E-350 processor and motherboard platform. The Gigabyte E350N-USB3 couples the E-350 with a mini-ITX motherboard making for a promising base upon which to build a small low-power HTPC. The folks over at PC Perspective have given the Gigabyte E350N-USB3 their usual thorough work over. […]
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Another day, another E350 review. This time Gigabyte is representing the Brazos platform with the E350N-USB3. The inclusion of USB 3.0 support is certainly a nice touch, though I would prefer to see more SATA connections if I was looking to use the board in a low-power server build. The inclusion of a CPU fan for use in partcularly demanding builds […]
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New platforms are particularly interesting to us as home theater PC (HTPC) enthusiasts because it gives us a chance to clearly see how a generation of progress can be transformed into tangible benefits. Not long ago, integrated graphics processors (IGP) were strictly the choice of budget-minded consumers, but the recent relocation of the graphics processing unit (GPU) from the chipset […]
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