Test Methodology
Comparison Systems |
| System Name |
ASRock BeeBox |
DinoPC Primal GT2 |
Gigabyte Brix Gaming UHD |
Gigabyte Brix |
Gigabyte Brix S |
Intel Compute Stick |
Intel NUC Kit |
| Model |
N300 |
Primal GT2 |
GB-BNi7HG4-950 |
GB-BSi5T-6200 |
GB-BXi5H-5200 |
STCK1A32WFC |
NUC5i5RYH |
| CPU |
Intel Celeron N3000 |
Intel Core i5-6500 |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ |
Intel Core i5-6200U |
Intel Core i5-5200U |
Intel Atom Z3735F |
Intel Core i5-5250U |
| CPU Base Clock |
1.04GHz |
3.2GHz |
2.6GHz |
2.3GHz |
2.2GHz |
1.33GHz |
1.6GHz |
| CPU Turbo Clock |
2.08GHz |
3.6GHz |
3.5GHz |
2.8GHz |
2.7GHz |
1.83GHz |
2.7GHz |
| CPU Cores / Threads |
2 / 2 |
4 / 4 |
4 / 8 |
2 / 4 |
2 / 4 |
4 / 4 |
2 / 4 |
| CPU TDP / SDP |
4W / 3W |
65W |
45W |
15W |
15W |
- / 2.2W |
15W |
| Motherboard |
ASRock N3000-NUC |
Gigabyte Z170N-WiFi |
Gigabyte MKHM17P |
Gigabyte MKLP5BP |
Gigabyte MQLP5AP |
Intel Compute Stick reference |
Intel NUC5i5RYB |
| Memory |
Team Group 4GB DDR3 (2x2GB) |
Crucial 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) |
Crucial 16GB (2x8GB) |
Samsung 32GB (2x16GB) |
Adata 8GB (2x4GB) |
Soldered 2GB DDR3 (1x2GB) |
Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 (2x8GB) (added) |
| Memory Speed |
1,600MHz |
2,133MHz |
2,400MHz |
2,133MHz |
1,600MHz |
1,333MHz |
1,600MHz |
| Graphics |
Intel HD Graphics |
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 ITX 4GB |
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 950 4GB |
Intel HD 520 |
Intel HD 5500 |
Intel HD Graphics |
Intel HD 6000 |
| Primary Storage |
Team Group 128GB mSATA SSD |
240GB Kingston SSDNow V300 SSD |
512GB Samsung 950 Pro NVMe M.2 SSD |
256GB Toshiba NVMe M.2 SSD |
120GB Kingston SSDNow mSATA SSD |
32GB eMMC |
240GB Crucial M500 SSD (added) |
| Secondary Storage |
- |
1TB Seagate SSHD |
- |
- |
1TB Seagate Momentus HDD |
- |
- |
| PSU |
Asian Power Devices (36W, external) |
FSP FSP500-60HHN (500W, internal) |
Delta Electronics (180W, external) |
FSP Group (90W, external) |
Asian Power Devices (65W, external) |
Asian Power Devices (10W, external) |
Intel NUC (65W, external) |
| Chassis |
ASRock BeeBox |
Fractal Design Core 500 |
Gigabyte Brix Gaming UHD |
Gigabyte Brix |
Gigabyte Brix S |
Intel Compute Stick |
Intel NUC |
| Operating System |
Windows 10 (64-bit) |
Windows 10 (64-bit) |
Windows 10 (64-bit) |
Windows 10 (64-bit) |
Windows 8.1 (64-bit) |
Windows 8.1 (32-bit) |
Windows 8.1 (64-bit) |
| Date Reviewed |
January 2016 |
October 2015 |
October 2016 |
March 2016 |
March 2015 |
May 2015 |
April 2015 |
| Cost As Reviewed |
£270 |
£899 |
£1,300 |
£665 |
£665 |
£130 |
£535 |
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, Storage and System Benchmarks |
| AIDA64 |
Benchmark that analyses memory bandwidth and latency. |
| CrystalDiskMark |
Popular free-to-use storage benchmark, used to gauge sequential performance. |
| Gaming Benchmarks |
| 3DMark |
DX11, run at the Firestrike default test. |
| Gaming |
A selection of modern titles are tested at various resolutions. |
Miscellaneous Benchmarks |
| Power Consumption |
Noted for system idling and under HandBrake video-transcoding load. |
| Temperature |
Noted for CPU idling and under HandBrake video-transcoding load. |
Notes
We have a selection of form factors in our line-up, ranging from the itty-bitty Intel Compute Stick to a small-form-factor DinoPC desktop. The Gigabyte Brix Gaming UHD should be looking to challenge the latter, and do note that our review configuration - with 16GB of Crucial memory, a 512GB M.2 SSD and Windows 10 - takes total build cost up to around the £1,300 mark.
