Gigabyte BRIX Pro And Intel Iris Pro Graphics Review

Mini PCs are big business these days, whether you consider devices like Valve's Steambox initiative, ASUS' Chromebox, Zotac's ZBox line or Intel's own NUC (Next Unit of Computing) mini PC. In fact, Intel has gone on record, projecting mini PCs like this have shipped over a million units in 2013 and are projected for strong growth this year as well.  So what's the attraction?

Obviously there are a number of use cases for this class of device, whether it be as a home theater PC, a strategically placed and aesthetically pleasing family or office PC or even as an arguably (or not) more versatile alternative to console gaming.  Regardless, the form factor itself has taken the market by storm with newcomers and veteran manufacturers designing offerings with various levels of horsepower and capabilities. 

To date, many of these smaller devices haven't offered much in the way of gaming and multimedia oomph, with only integrated graphics or low-end mobile discrete GPUs on board at best.  However, Intel's Haswell 4th generation Core series processors with Iris Pro Graphics (formerly known by the code name Crystal Well) offered the promise of more robust integrated graphics performance, since we first laid eyes on the Gigabyte-built device, we're showcasing here today, back at CES 2014 in Las Vegas earlier this year.
The Gigabyte BRIX Pro is a tiny 4.5-inch square "brick" of technology, if you will, and it's powered by an Intel Core i7-4770R quad-core processor with integrated Intel Iris Pro 5200 Graphics.  This CPU actually boast the fastest, most powerful Intel graphics engine we have tested to date, so this should be an interesting ride to say the least.  Let's have a look...