About 4 years ago, I purchased from a thrift store a mini-pc from Gigabyte. It is a bit on the older side, as it’s released in 2014, but it’s still a very decent computer. I’ve used it every now and then with my projector, because it runs Youtube and shit fairly nice and it’s also a good hardware on which VLC to run on.

In terms of software, I could have gone for any Linux distribution, but I didn’t want to fiddle too much with the thing, mostly because 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate worked fine out of the box. I did need to go fishing for drivers, as with all Windows computers, but the task was a simple one, as all drivers are still provided by Gigabyte on the Official Support page. Otherwise, the experience is just fine and since I don’t use it that much anyway, it doesn’t need a super fancy setup. I could also have installed Windows 10 on it, as the 8 GB of RAM are more than enough, but I’d rather stay away from the newer, shittier, versions of Windows.

In terms of software, I didn’t add too much on the computer: Winamp works great, so does VLC with 1080p videos and while I tried playing some games, I did hit some snags here and there, as most of the old games I play are way older than 2014 and have compatibility issues with Windows 7. I did manage to play some Need For Speed: Porsche 2000 so that’s a huge win. On the contrary, when I tried to launch Re-volt, the computer restarted, lol.

Other games that I played without any issues were Warcraft 3, Half-Life (with Counter-Strike, of course!) and Lemonade Tycoon. I’m sure others could work just fine, but I previously wrote a ton of articles of gaming on older Windows machines and I don’t want to repeat myself too much, so if you’re interested in these games check out the articles on OCC24 and RC2024/10.

I really liked its small footprint with a volume of 0.69L (56.1x 107.6 x 114.4mm), meaning that I can hide it under my desk and keep it connected to my main Samsung SE790C monitor, as it has Picture-in-picture mode.

Hardware-wise, this is definitely not a powerhouse, but it is an x64 computer, and at some times it’s all that you need. The CPU is a 22nm Intel® Celeron N2807 running at 1.58GHz, with Intel HD Graphics, a 2.5” HDD/SSD (3Gbps SATA2) and 1x SO-DIMM DDR3L 1.35V Slots (1333 MHz). My unit came with 2GB, but I replaced it with an 8GB memory module.

Even if it’s a very small computer, it comes with a preinstalled b/g/n Wi-Fi card, that also doubles as a Bluetooth 4.0 card, fit in a Mini-PCIe slot. The fun part of this is that is supports dual displays via a VGA and an HDMI port, which makes it great for small space setups, or a retro gaming device. Gigabit LAN is also present on the board and while the computer doesn’t have a built-in speaker, it does come with a 3.5mm Audio jack (Headphone/MIC) to connect it to your home audio setup or sound bar. The VESA mounting bracket (75x75mm and 100x100mm) helps you in mounting it in a hidden space behind the monitor and it’s very quiet, as it’s passively cooled, this is pretty much the scenario for which Fan-less design was invented.

I didn’t run any benchmarks on the system, but I’m sure many can be found online. It remains a trusty mini companion to use in time of need or when the space is limited, and if you don’t need top of the line gaming, or intense multimedia tasks, then this computer is still very usable on a day-to-day basis. And for the 40 Euro I paid, it’s definitely worth it.

More info about the unit can be found on the official Gigabyte Brix page.