Test – Gigabyte Brix S GB-BSi7HAL-6500 |Specs | CPU | Hashrate

Hi all !

Back to Gigabyte today with their latest Brix. After the Haswell (tested here) and Broadwell (tested here) version it is around the latest generation of Skylake processor from Intel to be tested, under the sweet name of GB-BSi7HT-6500. Under this name hides a Brix S equipped with an Intel Core i7 6500U processor, which however has a price, 630 € at the time of this writing, let’s see what it has in the belly.

As for the other models, the main strength of the Brix is ​​their size, indeed with 11.3 cm on one side and 12 cm on the other for 4.7 cm in height it is clear that it will be of a really minimal space, cram all the components of a PC in there doesn’t have to be an easy task.
Gigabyte has decided to install the latest Skylake mobile processor, the Core i7 6500U, clocked at 2.5 GHz base but able to climb to 3.1 GHz in turbo mode, it is not the most powerful mobile Core i7 because unlike them it only has 2 physical cores with hyperthreading (therefore 4 logical cores). The question of consumption is certainly taken into account in the choice of the processor, given the size of the machine. The performance should therefore be closer to what is found on a desktop Core i3, even if the latter have a higher frequency. The graphics part is entrusted to the Intel HD 520, which can go up to a maximum of 1050 MHz.
In terms of memory and Skylake processor requires there are 2 DDR4 SODIMM 2133 MHz slots, which can accommodate a maximum of 32 GB, therefore very much enough for any use.
The storage part is composed of a Sata port for the installation of an SSD (or 2.5 ″ hard drive, even if I do not recommend it) of 7 or 9.5 mm thick, in addition to that an M. 2 2280 PCIe / Sata is there in case the user wants to add an SSD.
The network part has been particularly taken care of by Gigabyte, there is 1 Intel ethernet chip which is a good improvement over the Realtek present on the old models. Of course, Wifi is there with an Intel AC 3165 chip that can reach a speed of 433 Mb / s.
Connectivity side there is really a nice combo, a USB 3.1 Type-C port, a USB 3.1 port, two USB 3.0 ports as well as of course an HDMI 1.4a and a mini DP 1.2, we can not really ask for much more than such a small case.

All this has of course a price, 630 €! It is clear that this is not given for the pure performance that the beast will bring. Do not forget that in addition to that, you need to get an SSD, memory and Windows so the score can climb quite quickly.