Gigabyte Mini PC Barebone GB-BXI3-4010 Intel Core i3-4010U 1.7GHz/ Intel HM87/ A&V&GbE

This thing is pretty boss. It's so small, runs absolutely quiet, and only gets mildly warm at decent utilization. No issues. I do wish it supported 4K @ 60Hz, but the best I could get it to run at over HDMI or DisplayPort is 30Hz due to the video chipset. It sounds like the Brix Pro has a video chipset that handles 4K @ 60Hz, but I don't need all that power. Yet. :)My choice was between this and a few others listed on Amazon. I was worried the i3 wouldn't be enough for my needs but it absolutely is. Considering 99% of the work I do is on remote servers, and do almost nothing locally, it's way more than enough with 8GB RAM and a 60GB mSSD (all content I have is on a NAS, so no need for a lot of local storage). Works really well.I just wish monitors had a separate VESA mount on the side you could use for small form factor PCs like this. Since my monitor is on an arm, I had to use the VESA mount for the arm. However, the stand itself used the same VESA mount, so it was lose-lose with this monitor. Monitor manufacturers should start adding a second mount offset from the main one so you can not only use an arm (or the built-in monitor stand) but also mount a separate device like a NUC, Brix, Raspberry Pi, etc.

I've purchased 4 of these now. 2 of them have died. One came DOA, so I returned it for a new one. The other died 2 days outside of the return window with Amazon... These are nice boxes when they work, but over $200 to rent a machine for a month is a terrible deal.

Pros:- Smaller than other brands of mini full-featured x86 computers- Easy VESA mount- Fast Haswell based chip- Very easy to pop open and install components- Plenty of USB 3.0 ports to play with- Both HDMI and mini displayport, dual monitor possible- Silent- Looks great, no-nonsense minimalistic miracle box- Included 802.11n adapter (competitive models sometimes do not include wireless)Cons:- Memory support not as broad as other brands- Runs quite hot, life of mSATA drive and mainboard components questionableSummary:Overall a great full-featured computer that will run everything a biga** tower will, however I was disappointed that it does not have any kind of failsafe for memory that most desktop mainboards feature. For example they will, upon failure to POST, run safe settings that 99% of CPU's and RAM will run (even defective) just to POST so that you can change settings in the BIOS. This thing flat out will not POST with anything but DDR3L. While waiting for such RAM to be delivered, I tried a few variants of 1.5v DDR3 which have worked perfectly in the Intel NUC and Zotac Z-box units I have tried them in. While 1.35v RAM only saves 1W at idle and 3-4W at load, perhaps that kind of thermal output would push this thing over the edge as it runs very hot. That is the only gripe I have about this and was enough to dock a star because if you order 1.5v RAM thinking you can at least POST and maybe loosen timings to run at 1.35v, nope. Strictly SPD timings and if that SPD does not have a 1.35v profile, no POST for you.

I bought this one from another site, I already own the previous model gb-xm12-3227 which has a 3rd generation intel i3 3227 with 1.9 ghz and decided to buy a newer second unit, the GB BXI2-4010 which has an "updated" 4th generation Haswell 4010 rated at 1.7 ghz, but has now a dedicated audio output, 4 x USB3 and intel graphics 4400.To be clear, I do not use it for gaming at most I edit pictures or convert audio files. Even though clock rates cannot be compared since they have different architectures, in most CPU benchmark websites the i3 3227 ranks consistently faster, but I thought I'd give it a chance since it might not be noticeable for everyday use... I WAS SO WRONG! For starters, it took the 3227 10.4 seconds to load windows 8.1 vs. 15 seconds with this newer model. The overall performance seemed noticeably slower on this new model.To be fair, this newer model has a more quiet fan, better aluminium feel enclosure, extra USB ports, optical/analogue audio output and that's pretty much it. It comes with a Wifi / Bluetooth card, but it's performance is terrible! when downloading a file, my BT mouse will start to slow down.Bottom line, get the older gb-xm12-3227, it clearly beats the GB-BXI3-4010, plus it's cheaper!

It's really fast! Operating system starts in 8 seconds! Working with browser or office applications is very comfortable. And it's very quiet.. until you run 3D application or 3D game. Then you will hear a noise of cooler. But it's not so loud. Volume of noise like from mac book pro retina with gf650m.If you want to improve 3D graphic performance, you should to install fast RAM on both memory slots. Fast memory in dual channel mode can increase graphic performance up to 2 times!

gigabyte is taking cosiderable time to resolve the issue. the issue as of today is unresolved.. the macmini on the other hand appears to be rugged and smooth in its operation.