Performance Metrics - I

The GIGABYTE GB-BNi7HG4-950 was evaluated using our standard test suite for mini-PCs targeting the gaming market. Not all benchmarks were processed on all the machines due to updates in our testing procedures. Therefore, the list of PCs in each graph might not be the same. In the first section, we will be looking at SYSmark 2014, as well as some of the Futuremark benchmarks.

BAPCo SYSmark 2014

BAPCo's SYSmark 2014 is an application-based benchmark that uses real-world applications to replay usage patterns of business users in the areas of office productivity, media creation and data/financial analysis. Scores are meant to be compared against a reference desktop (HP ProDesk 600 G1 with a Core i3-4130, 4GB RAM and a 500GB hard drive) that scores 1000 in each of the scenarios. A score of, say, 2000, would imply that the system under test is twice as fast as the reference system.

SYSmark 2014 - Office Productivity

SYSmark 2014 - Media Creation

SYSmark 2014 - Data / Financial Analysis

SYSmark 2014 - Overall Score

SYSark 2014 is mostly a test of CPU capabilities. Even though the Core i7-6700HQ in the BRIX Gaming UHD and the Core i7-6770HQ in the Skull Canyon NUC are clocked similarly, the latter is equipped with eDRAM, which represents an additional caching level for compute workloads also. The BRIX also utilizes only one memory slot out of the available two (due to the way our review unit came pre-configured). The use of a SATA drive in the BRIX compare to a PCIe NVMe SSD in the NUC also has some effect on the scores.

Futuremark PCMark 8

PCMark 8 provides various usage scenarios (home, creative and work) and offers ways to benchmark both baseline (CPU-only) as well as OpenCL accelerated (CPU + GPU) performance. We benchmarked select PCs for the OpenCL accelerated performance in all three usage scenarios. These scores are heavily influenced by the CPU and GPU in the system. In these workloads, the BRIX and the NUC are much closer. However, the extremely powerful GPU (GTX 980) in the Zotac ZBOX MAGNUS EN980 earns it top honors in all the tests.

Futuremark PCMark 8 - Home OpenCL

Futuremark PCMark 8 - Creative OpenCL

Futuremark PCMark 8 - Work OpenCL

Miscellaneous Futuremark Benchmarks

Futuremark PCMark 7 - PCMark Suite Score

Futuremark 3DMark 11 - Extreme Score

Futuremark 3DMark 11 - Entry Score

Futuremark 3DMark 2013 - Ice Storm Score

Futuremark 3DMark 2013 - Cloud Gate Score

3D Rendering - CINEBENCH R15

CINEBENCH R15 provides three benchmark modes for evaluation of 3D rendering capabilities - OpenGL, single threaded and multi-threaded. Evaluation of select PCs in all three modes provided us the following results.

3D Rendering - CINEBENCH R15 - Single Thread

3D Rendering - CINEBENCH R15 - Multiple Threads

3D Rendering - CINEBENCH R15 - OpenGL

As expected, the GTX 980-equipped ZBOX handily wins the OpenGL bench. For the CPU modes, the Skull Canyon NUC outscores the BRIX slightly in the multi-threaded case, likely due to the presence of eDRAM in the former, and the absence of dual-channel memory in the BRIX. The single-threaded scores for the two PCs are similar.

Introduction and Platform Analysis Performance Metrics - II
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  • powerarmour - Thursday, November 3, 2016 - link

    No, wrong again my dear letch-worthy friend, it's not useless, just overpriced for what it is, and it's size above common sense.

    I'd guess neither of which you're entirely comfortable with.
  • aj654987 - Wednesday, November 2, 2016 - link

    Still overpriced compared to the alienware alpha r2 which was released a few months ago.
  • Duto - Sunday, October 30, 2016 - link

    Beautiful!, Another awesome Gigabyte product.
  • powerarmour - Tuesday, November 1, 2016 - link

    Cool story bro, do you work for them too?
  • Ranger1065 - Monday, October 31, 2016 - link

    Nobody really cares about reviews of mini pcs as evidenced by the comments section, but Anandtech just keep churning them out. Good job guys another step towards oblivion.
    How long before you suffer the same fate as Daily tech I wonder?
  • powerarmour - Monday, October 31, 2016 - link

    It's already done for, there is literally nothing here worth reading any more, and nothing like how it used to be.

    I don't know why I even bother to comment really, often it's in the vain hope that someone is reading that feels that same way, but hey, no-one seems to care.
  • milkod2001 - Tuesday, November 1, 2016 - link

    From time to time they post some many paged in depth reviews worth to read(even if they are a few months behind to other tech sites:) but yeah, this site got super average since Anand and others have left :(.
  • Findecanor - Friday, November 4, 2016 - link

    You don't speak for me.
  • zodiacfml - Monday, October 31, 2016 - link

    Price fails it again. Beaten by an ASUS $995 gaming laptop.
  • Sailor23M - Tuesday, November 15, 2016 - link

    Skull Canyon is the way to go for me, light gaming with awesome general everyday performance. Anybody see those on sale? Cheapest I can get is $575.

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