Test Methodology
Comparison Systems |
| System Name |
Gigabyte Brix Pro |
Intel NUC D54250WYK |
PC Specialist Vanquish Mini 130 |
Zotac Zbox EI750 Plus |
Zotac Zbox Nano ID69 Plus |
| Overclocked |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Processor |
Intel Core i7-4770R @ up to 3.9GHz |
Intel Core i5-4250U @ up to 2.6GHz |
Intel Core i3-4130 @ 3.4GHz |
Intel Core i7-4770R @ up to 3.9GHz |
Intel Core i7-4500U @ up to 3.0GHz |
| Cooler |
Gigabyte Brix Pro Reference |
Intel NUC Reference |
Intel Reference |
Zotac Zbox Reference |
Zotac Zbox Nano Reference |
| Motherboard |
Gigabyte M4HM87P |
NUC QS87 reference |
Asus H81I-Plus |
Zotac reference |
Zotac reference |
| Memory |
G.Skill 8GB DDR3 (2x4GB) (added) |
Corsair 8GB DDR3 (2x4GB) (added) |
Kingston Hyper-X Genesis 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 |
Crucial 8GB DDR3 (1x8GB) |
Crucial 4GB DDR3 (1x4GB) |
| Memory Speed |
11-11-11-28 @ 1,600MHz |
11-13-13-30-2T @ 1,600MHz |
11-11-11-28-1T @ 1,600MHz |
11-11-11-28-1T @ 1,600MHz |
11-11-11-28-1T @ 1,600MHz |
| Graphics |
Intel Iris Pro 5200 |
Intel HD 5000 |
Palit GeForce GTX 660 2GB |
Intel Iris Pro 5200 |
Intel HD 4400 |
| Sound Card |
Onboard audio |
Onboard audio |
Onboard audio |
Onboard audio |
Onboard audio |
| Storage |
180GB Intel mSATA SSD (added) |
128GB Plextor M5M mSATA SSD (added) |
1TB Toshiba HDD |
Seagate Momentus ST1000LM024 1TB HDD |
Samsung ST500LM012 500GB HDD |
| Optical Drive |
- |
- |
Lite-On DVD Writer |
- |
- |
| PSU |
Gigabyte (135W, external) |
Intel NUC (65W, external) |
Corsair VS 450 (450W) |
FSP (120W, external) |
Delta Electronics (65W, external) |
| Chassis |
Gigabyte Brix Pro |
Intel NUC |
Cooler Master Elite 130 |
Zotac Zbox |
Zotac Zbox Nano |
| Operating System |
Windows 8.1 (64-bit, added) |
Windows 8.1 (64-bit, added) |
Windows 8.1 (64-bit) |
Windows 8.1 (64-bit, added) |
Windows 8.1 (64-bit, added) |
| Standard Warranty |
Two years |
Two years |
Three years (one-year collect-and-return, one-year parts, three-year labour) |
Two years |
Two years |
| Approx. System Cost |
£750 |
£450 |
£549 |
£720 |
£520 |
CPU Benchmarks |
| HEXUS PiFast |
Our number-crunching PiFast test is used to benchmark the computational power of each system's CPU. |
| Cinebench |
Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses as many cores as possible. |
| HandBrake |
Free-to-use video encoder that stresses all CPU cores. |
Memory and Storage Benchmarks |
| AIDA64 |
Benchmark that analyses memory bandwidth and latency. |
| CrystalDiskMark |
Popular free-to-use storage benchmark, used to gauge sequential performance and aggregated 4K QD32 speeds. |
System and Gaming Benchmarks |
| PCMark 8 |
System-wide examination that uses the Home preset, run with OpenCL acceleration. |
| 3DMark |
DX11, run at the Firestrike default test. |
| Aliens vs. Predator |
1,920x1,080 resolution, 2xAA, 4xAF, medium quality. |
| Miscellaneous Benchmarks |
| Power Consumption |
Noted for system idling, under HandBrake video-transcoding load, and for GPU playing Aliens vs. Predator. |
| Temperature |
Noted for CPU idling, under HandBrake video-transcoding load, and for GPU playing Aliens vs. Predator. |
Notes
Gigabyte's Brix Pro and Zotac's Zbox EI750 make for an interesting head-to-head comparison. We already know that the former struggled to keep temperatures and noise levels in check, so we're hoping to see the larger Zbox offer similar performance levels and a cooler operating environment.
