Gigabyte Brix

[NH1]

Has anyone tried one of these yet as a HTPC

http://uk.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?...



I have just purchased on but am having a couple of problems with it. You have to buy a SSD and memory separate and I just got the cheap components to see if it actually worked or not. When I did check (too late I know) the compatibility list is very limited, the memory I got was just the normal 1.5V stuff but it seems it needs to be 1.35 volts instead, what are the chances of any 4GB 1.35v stick working in it.

Until I get the memory working it wont boot up, I just get a blank screen, this is an issue I believe or it could just be faulty, I have tried it in the mini port and normal HDMI.

Secondly I just bought a chrap 64GB mSSD drive but its not listed on the com charts although others of the same make are, its a plextor one, this one I think.

http://www.amazon.com/Plextor-M5M-PX-64M5M-64GB-mS...

again, what are the chances of it being compatible.

On the plus side, its nice to look at.

[skelters]

16GB kit (8GBx2)
DDR3 PC3-12800 • CL=11 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1600 • 1.35V • 1024Meg x 64

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listparts.aspx?mod...

[mikef]

Thanks for the post - this is really interesting (to me at least)

i7 Brix, 16GB RAM, 256 GB mSATA M500 SSD and maybe a 960GB M500 SSD for first-level backup and this finally looks like a Mac-mini-beater. I could definitely run a development database on that.

[abbotsmike]

RAM Voltages are one of the things you do have to be picky on. Without RAM or without the correct RAM, no PC will boot.

The hard drive should work, mSATA is fairly standard.

Why did you choose this over the intel NUC? Out of curiosity.

Have you got an OS sorted for it?

[NH1]

skelters said:

16GB kit (8GBx2)
DDR3 PC3-12800 • CL=11 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1600 • 1.35V • 1024Meg x 64

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listparts.aspx?mod...

Got this working today with a 4GB stick from the above site, cheers.

Its a nice little PC, I have put a copy of windows 7 on it, I had a couple of issues getting the boot loader to work but its now working fine. Speed is ok on it for web browsing and watching media etc and its got to be more economical than running a 400W tower with an overclocked i5 in it just for films.

[abbotsmike]

You'd be surprised, my tower with an overclocked sandybridge i5, many fans, 2 gpu's and generally charging something over usb only draws 95w from the plug when song light tasks.

[anonymous-user]

These are the same internals as the Intel NUC, the NUC is a brilliant but expensive bit of kit if you just want something small with limited built in storage. They really cut costs by not including a mains lead of all things.

I have 2 of the original NUC's, an i3 and a Celeron, the main difficulty I had was getting Win7 in the right format to install it due to needing an ISO image.

As someone earlier stated, memory voltage is very specific so unlikely it will work, memory for these boxes is expensive probably due to the level of integration in the box.

Something to note, the latest versions of the Intel NUC won't boot if they don't have a monitor attached, very weird problem.

[Murph7355]

As an HTPC with limited onboard storage they're very expensive IMO. Raspberry Pi's are now available with the majority of the nerdy stuff done for you. Under £80 will get you one with an IR detector, XBMC preloaded onto an SD card, a nice case etc. You plug it in, let it do its thing and away you go.

And having tried a few different bits of software over the last 10yrs, XBMC pretty good these days - passes the mother in law test with ease.