Brix Pro GB-BXi5-4570R

[funtasticguy]

Theron, have you gotten your Brix yet? If so, what is the verdict on playing Dolphin on it? In addition, what's the noise and heat issues like? I'm wanting to buy that same Brix model for the same reasons that you have indicated but have been wanting more feedback before I take the plunge.

[TheLastCat]

The brix 's pretty cool. Maybe if I bought one and colored it purple plus install dolphin on it Icould say it's a gamecube.

[Theron]

(02-16-2014, 04:36 AM)funtasticguy Wrote: Theron, have you gotten your Brix yet? If so, what is the verdict on playing Dolphin on it? In addition, what's the noise and heat issues like? I'm wanting to buy that same Brix model for the same reasons that you have indicated but have been wanting more feedback before I take the plunge.

I had to double ship it, so I don't expect to get it until next week. I'll report back when I can.

Some YouTube users report the fan noise is identical, but I'm not sure about temps. I'm sure both CPUs will be screaming for me paired with the SSD. My last small build was an Atom 330 with a slow 512GB HDD.

[Theron]

A Newegg user reports the i7 version fan ramps up even while browsing while the i5 version stays quiet. Gaming performance is identical in every comparison I've read, maybe a 0.6 FPS difference. Emulation performance may be different since it is more CPU dependent, but I doubt it is much different. If you won't benefit from hyper threading, you can use the difference in price for a bigger SSD or a 2TB HDD IMO.

[NaturalViolence]

I question the validity of this users test since he does not have a controlled environment and the TDP values are exactly the same.

If HT was the only difference between them I would be inclined to agree with your conclusion. But there is also a big difference in clock rate between the two that will noticeably impact dolphins performance (23% difference between the two).

[Theron]

You are right from a performance perspective for sure. I was looking more at playability. I assume most people are playing on 1080/60p televisions where both CPUs should maintain 60FPS from my understanding. For those using 4K screens, it may make a big difference in playability though.

[NaturalViolence]

Resolution has no impact on how fast your cpu needs to be to run the game at fullspeed.

A slow cpu will run games equally poorly at any resolution. A fast cpu will run games equally well at any resolution. CPU performance always significantly impacts playability in dolphin.

[Theron]

Thanks for improving my understanding of how Dolphin works. I can't wait to start testing it out.

[funtasticguy]

(02-20-2014, 09:54 AM)Theron Wrote: Thanks for improving my understanding of how Dolphin works. I can't wait to start testing it out.

Looking forward to your testing.

[Theron]

2xIR, 2xAA, 2xAF, v-sync enabled runs the games I've tried at 60FPS.
Maybe I could use a higher IR by reducing the other settings, but it looks great as is on my 42" 1080p monitor.

EDIT - 3xIR plays fine after turning off v-sync, and 4xIR didn't seem to improve quality. I didn't see any noticeable tearing without v-sync enabled. I think I can bump up the AA and AF a little more as well.

CPU temps are around 70C during HTPC duties and 90C running dolphin.

Contrary to some reviews, I can't ever hear the fan unless I put my ear next to the case. Very quiet, even during emulation or doing Windows updates.

Boot time with a Samsung EVO mSATA SSD is about seven second from the Brix Pro logo to a loaded desktop.

Had I known it would be this quiet, I may have gone with the i7-4770R, but for HTPC and occasional Dolphin use, the i5-4570R is going to be fine. I have a feeling the Skylake versions of these packages are going to be awesome for SSF systems.

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Next to the Wii U and Xbox 360.