Gigabyte is expanding its BRIX line of mini PCs with several new models sporting AMD Ryzen 7000 series mobile processors. Unfortunately the company is opting for some of AMD’s least interesting 7000 series chips.
The new Gigabyte BRIX GB-BRR systems feature AMD Ryzen 7030U processors based on Barcelo-R architecture. In other words, they’re not much different from the Ryzen 5025U “Barcelo” chips that launched in early 2022… or the Ryzen 5000U “Cezanne” chips that came out a year earlier.
All of those chips combine Zen 3 CPU cores with Radeon Vega integrated graphics, although the new Barcelo-R chips do at least offer slightly higher frequencies.
Perhaps more importantly, they’re still some of the most powerful AMD chips available in a Gigabyte BRIX-branded mini PC, even if a new model with a Ryzen 7 7730U processor isn’t much faster than an older system with a Ryzen 5 5800U chip.
Anyway, while it’d be nice if Gigabyte had opted for Ryzen 7035U (Zen 3+ CPU and RDNA 2 GPU) or Ryzen 7040U (Zen 4 and RDNA 3), that didn’t happen. So let’s take a look at what the company is offering:
| Model | GB-BRR7H-7730 | GB-BRR5H-7530 | GB-BRR3H-7330 | GB-BRR7HS-7730 | GB-BRR5HS-7530 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU / Freq | AMD 7730U, 8C, 16T, up to 4.5GHz, 15W | AMD 7530U, 6C, 12T, up to 4.5GHz, 15W | AMD 7330U, 4C, 8T, up to 4.3GHz, 15W | AMD 7730U, 8C, 16T, up to 4.5GHz, 15W | AMD 7530U, 6C, 12T, up to 4.5GHz, 15W |
| Storage | 1 x M.2 2280 – PCIe x4 / SATA 1 x 2.5″ HDD/SSD | 1 x M.2 2280 – PCIe x4 / SATA 2 x M.2 2280 – PCIe x1 / SATA 1 x 2.5″ HDD/SSD | |||
| Graphic | AMD Radeon Vega Graphics | ||||
| DDR Support/Max. | 2 x SO-DIMM DDR4 3200MHz, 32GB Max | ||||
| Networking / Wireless | 2.5G LAN (Realtek RTL8125) Wi-Fi 6 / BT | ||||
| Graphic Output | 2 x HDMI 2.0 2 x DP 1.4 | ||||
| USB | 2 x USB 3.2 gen2 Type A 2 x USB 3.2 gen2 Type C with DisplayPort Alt Mode 2 x USB 2.0 Type A | ||||
While some models have extra PCIe slots, Gigabyte says all models are the same size, at 124 x 120 x 49.7mm (4.9″ x 4.7″ x 2″), and all have the same set of ports as well as the same AMD RZ608 wireless card with support for WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2.
The computers support a VESA mount bracket if you want to connect them to the back of a display, and they come with a 135W power supply.
I wonder how much they’ll be charging for these mini PCs with their “newer” processors.
The gigabye mini pc always seem to be hugely overpriced.