Gigabyte equips Brix mini PCs with Intel Kaby Lake, but scraps thunderbolt

Gigabyte has upgraded its Brix line of mini PCs. The manufacturer supplies the models with Intel’s Kaby Lake processors and now places the USB 3.1 type-c connector on the front instead of the back. Thunderbolt support is no more.

As with the previous line of Brix systems, the new barebones come in two different sizes: a compact 0.46-litre body measuring 34.4×112.6×119.4mm and a larger 0.6-litre version measuring 46.8×112.6×119 ,4mm. Gigabyte will release three versions of both models, with a Core i3-7100U, Core i5-7200U and Core i7-7500U, Liliputing discovered.

Compared to the Skylake-Brix systems announced at the beginning of this year, Gigabyte has adjusted the layout of the interfaces. At the front, the microphone connection has disappeared and a USB 3.1 type-c port has replaced a USB 3.0 type-a version. In addition, the second port is a type-a variant of usb 3.1, which is red, instead of the blue 3.0 version in the previous Brix generation.

There are now two USB 3.0 type-a ports on the back, which were on the side of the Skylake-Brix systems. Furthermore, HDMI, mini display port and the gigabit ethernet port can be found on the back. A card reader is no longer there and, surprisingly enough, thunderbolt support has also disappeared. However, there is still room for an m2-2280 SSD and there are two slots for DDR4 memory strips. In the high version of the Brix there is still room for a 2.5″ HDD or SSD.