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.