Gigabyte CES 2014 - BRIX and BRIX PRO plus GPU extender

**The Bricks: A Compact and Versatile PC Solution**

The Bricks is a series of compact PCs that have gained popularity among users who want a small, yet powerful computing device for various applications. These devices are designed to be ultra-small, making them perfect for hiding behind a monitor or using as a media center in a living room.

**Tiny but Mighty: All-in-One Integrated Options**

One of the most exciting aspects of the Bricks is its tiny all-in-one integrated options, which pack powerful CPUs and other components into an extremely small form factor. Some of these devices even have well-equipped CPUs, making them suitable for basic web browsing, internet usage, and media consumption. Additionally, some of the Bricks' mini PCs are upgradeable, allowing users to easily swap out RAM or storage components.

**Fanless Cooling: A Game-Changer**

Two of the Bricks devices on display at the Gigabyte overclocking event are completely fanless, relying on passive cooling instead of traditional fans. This means that these devices operate quietly and without generating heat, making them perfect for use in quiet environments such as living rooms or home offices.

**Gigabyte's Booth: A Hub for Overclocking Enthusiasts**

During the Gigabyte overclocking event, we had the opportunity to visit their booth and speak with some of the company's professional overclockers. When asked about the purpose of applying liquid tape to certain components on one of the Bricks devices, our guide explained that it was used to insulate the board from water, preventing moisture from entering any of the sensitive contacts.

**A New Era in External GPU Expanding**

One of the most exciting developments showcased at the event is an external GPU expander solution. This early prototype uses a mini SAS HD connector port and can be connected to a Bricks gaming system via two cables. The ultimate goal is to use this device with Thunderbolt or USB-3 in the future, providing faster data transfer rates and enabling users to harness the power of high-end GPUs.

**Bricks Mat: A Network Storage Solution**

Another intriguing product on display is the Bricks Mat, a compact network storage solution that can be used as a media center. This device features four 2.5in drive bays, allowing users to store substantial amounts of data. With Western Digital and Seagate offering one TB drives with built-in SSDs, this device has the potential to become a powerful storage solution for homes or small businesses.

**A Note from the Author**

As we concluded our visit to Gigabyte's booth, I couldn't help but think about the many possibilities that these compact PCs offer. From media centers to home servers, the Bricks is an incredibly versatile device that can be used in a variety of settings. Whether you're looking for a tiny gaming PC or a compact storage solution, the Bricks has something to offer everyone.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enyour hyro conu CS 2014 coverage is brought to you by nc.com technology connected all right guys so we're here with gigabyte and we're going to be taking a look at this guy right here this is the bricks Pro so this is an incredibly small form factor for what is actually a pretty decent budget or entry level gaming device so what we're looking at right here is actually BF4 playing on a bricks Pro and it actually does come up with a couple different trim levels and stuff it actually does this one right here is actually going to be running the amd8 Apu but one of the cool things about this is that it does have the ability that it can push out decent graphics performance we were just looking and I was actually just playing a little bit at uh 720p resolution so it does have the ability that it can push out standard and pretty decent gaming Graphics at medium levels so it wasn't that low as that actually at medium it's not going to play high so it's not going to be like a a mid-range gaming device it's actually for somebody who's on the budget that wants actually a whole integrated solution rather than actually putting something together for themselves but one of the cool things about these devices that they are upgradeable you can just unscrew four screws and you can actually update the uh the ram if you want to and you can upgrade a couple other different things like the storage so this is a pretty neat little device for those of you who do want gaming on a budget price so now taking a look at the back of the device it's got multiple different connectivity uh ports so I mean it doesn't skimp on what you can connect to the uh bricks Pro so you're going to have multiple different USB ports as well some of the models will come up with at least two HDMI ports you can connect multiple monitors to it if you want taking a look at the front if I can flip it over without dropping it this specific model is going to have two USB 3 ports as well as a audio out or headphone outport so this does actually have quite a bit of good connection options if you decide that you want to use this type of device for your gaming experience also it makes a pretty cool device if you want to just attach it to the back of the monitor using the included Vasa mounting bracket now one really cool thing that forgot to mention a little while ago is that one of these devices is actually powering this Seiki 4k monitor so it does have the ability that can push out 4K resolutions as well too if you guys want to have something on the back of your PC that can operate a little bit as an hdpc so that's another really good use all right guys so taking a look now at some of the little brothers to the bricks Pro is the brics itself now this actually comes in multiple different flavors and different formats we're taking a look right now at some really really tiny all-in-one integrated options which some of them actually has well CPUs now what type of U use case would actually with this fit and it actually makes a lot of sense for those who just want like a little htpc without the actual gaming performance so if you just want to use it as like a little media box um it actually does have quite a few uses if you just want something that's really Ultra small that you can hide behind a monitor for just doing basic web browsing and internet options and stuff like that as well too and some of the devices are upgradeable as well so you can actually just pop off the top like I said with the bricks Pro with a couple of screws you can upgrade the RAM as well as upgrade the um well the storage space some of them actually have space for a 2 and 1 half in hard drive so as you can see these are all really cool options but another really cool thing is that these two devices right here are completely fanless so they're all passively cooled all right you know what now that we're uh here at the gigabyte overclocking event and their a little booth here set up let's actually go and Bug see if we can bug some of the uh professional overclockers let's go and Bug them can I ask you a question about this it looks like paint what the hell are you putting on it uh it's liquid tape liquid tape electrical tape so what would be the purpose of putting this on there uh to insulate the board from water so you don't have like if you have water build up it doesn't get into any of the contacts or anything like that so what type of uh clocks you hoping to get out of this then uh depends I'm going to do four-way benching so it's a pain just to get that set up running at all so we'll see probably most likely heaven or a couple different benchmarks maybe like 03 stuff like that are you expecting any world records be broken today uh you'll definitely see some over all right cool thanks a lot for your time man it smells like paint oh yeah it definitely makes you a little uh laded and one of the coolest things that we've seen here today is basically an external GPU expander solution now this is very very very early prototype and it's actually connected to a bricks gaming system using a mini SAS HD connector Port now this actually uses two cables and like I said this is very early prototype the actual goal is to be able to use Thunderbolt or USB or USB 3 uh in the future so that you can have that throughput and everything but the coolest thing is is that inside this box that has a 600 W power supply is a GTX Titan so the greatest thing about this little box and like I said early prototype little box is the fact that it actually has the ability that you can put a high-end GPU and attach it to something as small as the bricks or May even an Ultra Book later down the road if you want that extra horsepower to play some games one of the other cool bricks devices that we found here at a gigabytes booth and the overclocking event is the bricks mat now one of the really cool things about this specific Compact and I want to state that it's a very compact device is the fact that it's a network uh solution or a network storage solution it's a media center solution it's a entertainment solution for lack of a better word it's basically that one little device that you want to have in your living room that'll connect all of your media it'll act as a um as like a a cloud so you can actually stream your content to your Android devices you can control it with this awesome little remote here that actually does have a keyboard on the back so basically all you have to do is you just swivel the uh keyboard around and it controls the mouse on the screen itself now this specific device has four 2 and 1/2 in Drive Bay options so you could actually have quite a bit of storage especially if you consider that Western Digital and seate have these awesome little one tbte 2 and2 in drives with I built-in SSD as well too so this means you could actually have a pretty powerful and a pretty substantial amount of storage in such a compact device sitting in your living room specifically for your storage and your media consumption man why did I even bother snapping why did I even bother snapping okay hey guys oh hey look it's l lus look it's lonusyour hyro conu CS 2014 coverage is brought to you by nc.com technology connected all right guys so we're here with gigabyte and we're going to be taking a look at this guy right here this is the bricks Pro so this is an incredibly small form factor for what is actually a pretty decent budget or entry level gaming device so what we're looking at right here is actually BF4 playing on a bricks Pro and it actually does come up with a couple different trim levels and stuff it actually does this one right here is actually going to be running the amd8 Apu but one of the cool things about this is that it does have the ability that it can push out decent graphics performance we were just looking and I was actually just playing a little bit at uh 720p resolution so it does have the ability that it can push out standard and pretty decent gaming Graphics at medium levels so it wasn't that low as that actually at medium it's not going to play high so it's not going to be like a a mid-range gaming device it's actually for somebody who's on the budget that wants actually a whole integrated solution rather than actually putting something together for themselves but one of the cool things about these devices that they are upgradeable you can just unscrew four screws and you can actually update the uh the ram if you want to and you can upgrade a couple other different things like the storage so this is a pretty neat little device for those of you who do want gaming on a budget price so now taking a look at the back of the device it's got multiple different connectivity uh ports so I mean it doesn't skimp on what you can connect to the uh bricks Pro so you're going to have multiple different USB ports as well some of the models will come up with at least two HDMI ports you can connect multiple monitors to it if you want taking a look at the front if I can flip it over without dropping it this specific model is going to have two USB 3 ports as well as a audio out or headphone outport so this does actually have quite a bit of good connection options if you decide that you want to use this type of device for your gaming experience also it makes a pretty cool device if you want to just attach it to the back of the monitor using the included Vasa mounting bracket now one really cool thing that forgot to mention a little while ago is that one of these devices is actually powering this Seiki 4k monitor so it does have the ability that can push out 4K resolutions as well too if you guys want to have something on the back of your PC that can operate a little bit as an hdpc so that's another really good use all right guys so taking a look now at some of the little brothers to the bricks Pro is the brics itself now this actually comes in multiple different flavors and different formats we're taking a look right now at some really really tiny all-in-one integrated options which some of them actually has well CPUs now what type of U use case would actually with this fit and it actually makes a lot of sense for those who just want like a little htpc without the actual gaming performance so if you just want to use it as like a little media box um it actually does have quite a few uses if you just want something that's really Ultra small that you can hide behind a monitor for just doing basic web browsing and internet options and stuff like that as well too and some of the devices are upgradeable as well so you can actually just pop off the top like I said with the bricks Pro with a couple of screws you can upgrade the RAM as well as upgrade the um well the storage space some of them actually have space for a 2 and 1 half in hard drive so as you can see these are all really cool options but another really cool thing is that these two devices right here are completely fanless so they're all passively cooled all right you know what now that we're uh here at the gigabyte overclocking event and their a little booth here set up let's actually go and Bug see if we can bug some of the uh professional overclockers let's go and Bug them can I ask you a question about this it looks like paint what the hell are you putting on it uh it's liquid tape liquid tape electrical tape so what would be the purpose of putting this on there uh to insulate the board from water so you don't have like if you have water build up it doesn't get into any of the contacts or anything like that so what type of uh clocks you hoping to get out of this then uh depends I'm going to do four-way benching so it's a pain just to get that set up running at all so we'll see probably most likely heaven or a couple different benchmarks maybe like 03 stuff like that are you expecting any world records be broken today uh you'll definitely see some over all right cool thanks a lot for your time man it smells like paint oh yeah it definitely makes you a little uh laded and one of the coolest things that we've seen here today is basically an external GPU expander solution now this is very very very early prototype and it's actually connected to a bricks gaming system using a mini SAS HD connector Port now this actually uses two cables and like I said this is very early prototype the actual goal is to be able to use Thunderbolt or USB or USB 3 uh in the future so that you can have that throughput and everything but the coolest thing is is that inside this box that has a 600 W power supply is a GTX Titan so the greatest thing about this little box and like I said early prototype little box is the fact that it actually has the ability that you can put a high-end GPU and attach it to something as small as the bricks or May even an Ultra Book later down the road if you want that extra horsepower to play some games one of the other cool bricks devices that we found here at a gigabytes booth and the overclocking event is the bricks mat now one of the really cool things about this specific Compact and I want to state that it's a very compact device is the fact that it's a network uh solution or a network storage solution it's a media center solution it's a entertainment solution for lack of a better word it's basically that one little device that you want to have in your living room that'll connect all of your media it'll act as a um as like a a cloud so you can actually stream your content to your Android devices you can control it with this awesome little remote here that actually does have a keyboard on the back so basically all you have to do is you just swivel the uh keyboard around and it controls the mouse on the screen itself now this specific device has four 2 and 1/2 in Drive Bay options so you could actually have quite a bit of storage especially if you consider that Western Digital and seate have these awesome little one tbte 2 and2 in drives with I built-in SSD as well too so this means you could actually have a pretty powerful and a pretty substantial amount of storage in such a compact device sitting in your living room specifically for your storage and your media consumption man why did I even bother snapping why did I even bother snapping okay hey guys oh hey look it's l lus look it's lonus\n"