GIGABYTE BRIX Gaming UHD GB-BNi7HG4-950 mini-PC Review
by Ganesh T S on October 28, 2016 7:30 AM ESTBenchmarking the GPU
The GB-BNi7HG4-950 sports a GTX 950, but, it is very obvious from the size of the system as well as internal layout that we are not looking at the traditional desktop GTX 950. Our first task after setting up the system was to check out what GPU-Z thought of the GPU. At first glance, it did appear to be a standard desktop GTX 950.
However, a closer look revealed a few discrepancies. The first was the number of shaders - 1024 in the report, compared to the 768 in the standard desktop GTX 950. The second was the base/boost clocks (935/1150 MHz vs. 1024/1188 MHz), and, finally, the 4GB memory configuration (compared to the standard 2GB in the desktop version). A little more sleuthing into the AIDA64 report (that revealed a GM206M HD audio controller) led us to the GeForce GTX 965M. In effect, the 'GTX 950' in the GB-BNi7HG4-950 is nothing but a rebadged GTX 965M that can stay closer to the boost clocks for longer durations compared to notebook implementations. This is in part due to the form factor and thermal design of the system.
The GPU benchmark numbers are divided into two sections - in the first one, we will look at the gaming numbers compared to other mini-PCs that we have discussed in the previous sections. In the second, we will take a look at how the system compares to the various gaming notebooks in some selected benchmarks.
In the first section, we chose four different games (Sleeping Dogs, Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite and DiRT Showdown) at three different quality levels. Note that the main aim here is not to show that the 'GTX 950' can play the latest and greatest games at 1080p with high-quality settings (which it can do). Rather, it is to compare against other gaming-focused mini-PCs that we have evaluated before.
Sleeping Dogs
Tomb Raider
Bioshock Infinite
DiRT Showdown
The Talos Principle
GRID Autosport
The GTX 980-equipped Zotac ZBOX MAGNUS EN980 easily wins all the benchmarks. The 'GTX 950' / 'GTX 965M' comes second in most benches, except a few where the GTX 970M-equipped Zotac ZBOX MAGNUS EN970 comes out in front. That ZBOX is hobbled on the CPU-side by a U-series processor, which is probably the reason why the 965M-based BRIX is able to surpass its performance in most games.
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BrokenCrayons - Monday, October 31, 2016 - link
Presumably it's in the hopper with the RX 470 and RX 460. AT already struck an Polaris deep dive off the list due to a lack of information, but there should be a GPU review or two coming in the future. Until then, a lot of other sites have already posted their 1050 review. AT's parent compay, Purch, also owns Tom's Hardware Guide and they have a pretty good review of the 1050 and the Ti variant.powerarmour - Friday, October 28, 2016 - link
$1000?, what a complete rip off.1_rick - Saturday, October 29, 2016 - link
Nonsense. Miniaturization always costs more, and if for some reason you don't want a big tower case on your desk, this fits the bill quite nicely. The small size makes it portable too, if you feel the need to bring it places.powerarmour - Saturday, October 29, 2016 - link
Seriously, I could build a much more powerful Mini-ITX system for way less money.It's a complete joke.
Notmyusualid - Sunday, October 30, 2016 - link
Miniaturization is a joke? Or costs no extra money, which is it?"I could build, I could build." Yeah well, get building, hand it over the Anand, and let us see how your review compares.
Otherwise its just pipe dreams.
1_rick - Sunday, October 30, 2016 - link
Exactly. I bought a Skull Canyon NUC, and dropped a 500GB SSD and 16GB of RAM. It kicks butt at anything but high-res gaming. It's a huge step up over my work PC, so I even carry it in to the office most days and work on it instead of my work PC.With this Brix, I could game at lunch, too.
powerarmour - Monday, October 31, 2016 - link
Well good for you and your underpowered soap box. For an extra 1cl, you can save half the price and have something that isn't out of MacWorld masturbation weekly.1_rick - Tuesday, November 1, 2016 - link
If you think the Skull Canyon's underpowered, you're quite simply delusional.I can run two separate 6GB VMs with MSSQL apps simultaneously and still game. I mean, I'm not sure why I'd want to, but I can. Oh, but I don't meet Rando Calrissian's use case, so I'm an idiot.
Sure thing, buddy, you've devastated me. I'll console myself with my paycheck.
powerarmour - Wednesday, November 2, 2016 - link
Your definition of 'gaming' on an Intel IGP (even the Iris Pro) and mine live on completely different planets.1_rick - Thursday, November 3, 2016 - link
I get that your entire "argument" such as it is, is "this doesn't meet *my* use case, therefore it's useless," but that's a stupid "argument".