Question 1

What is the maximum resolution this CPU can support? We need 1920x1080.

Accepted Answer

Using a Thunderbolt to DisplayPort adapter, it will handle 2560x1440.  The small video output port, sometimes called a Mini DisplayPort, is the same what Apple calls a ThunderBolt port.  There is also a ThunderBolt (or Mini DisplayPort) to dual-DVI cable that will support higher resolutions. (A standard DVI-D will NOT provide more than 1920x1200).  I haven't tried the dual-dvi adapter yet - but it should work.  The common HDMI output will only support up to 1920x1200.

Question 2

I just got this unit, put in the ram and msata drive, plugged it in to power and hdmi and I am getting no output to the TV.  Does something else have to be done before using this?

Accepted Answer

It should work right out of the box, once you've installed RAM and the mSATA drive. It could be you've got some bad RAM or a bad HDMI cable. If you've got 2 sticks of RAM, take the second one out and see if the Brix boots. If it doesn't, take out the first stick and replace it with the other stick.

The easiest thing to try is another HDMI cable.

You might also want to see if it will boot to BIOS with the drive removed.

Question 3

What is the chipset for the wifi?
What is the chipset for the wired ethernet gigabit?
Is the wifi 802.11n only or does it do b and g too?
Any success running Linux 32bit? 64bit? Which distro and what min kernel version has full driver support?

Accepted Answer

I'm using Manjaro linux 64bit (desktop fork of Arch) just fine with the unit. The wired/wireless components are Realtek and it does connect to 802.11G networks.

[user@manjaro ~]$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller (rev 09)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev c4)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev c4)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev c4)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series Chipset Family LPC Controller (rev 04)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 04)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 04)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 06)
03:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter (rev 01)

Question 4

How Is it for playing games like minecraft for my son?

Accepted Answer

the truth is i havent used it for playing games ..what i can say is that it has blown away everything i throw at it and it stays quiet and cool i put a 120gb micro sdd in and 4gb 1333 ram and its flys ..running windows 7

Question 5

is the USB 2.0 port high speed or USB 2.0 compatible?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the usb ports are compatible with USB 2.0 peripherals.  I have a small 4 port unpowered usb 2.0 hub in the rear to run a keyboard and mouse, along with a usb spdif dd5.1 sound adapter.  I use the front for a usb hard  (usb 3.0) that works just fine, though at usb 2.0 speed ( about 40-45 MB/s write speed.

Question 6

Does this the included wireless adapter support bluetooth?

Accepted Answer

I can confirm that there's no internal BT on my system. The easiest way to add BT support would be with an external USB BT adapter, although you could also swap out the default mPCIe wifi card w/ a wifi/BT combo card like an Intel 6235 card.

Question 7

Is this passively cooled? The video seems to imply there is no fan.

Accepted Answer

No there is a fan integrated to the CPU heatsink. However, it is very quiet.

Question 8

This thing does not come with a CPU installed correct?

Accepted Answer

Already has cpu installed. All you need is at least one stick of ram and an msata ssd and an os and your ready to go.

Question 9

What do you use for an operating system?  How do you load it?

Accepted Answer

I use Centos 6.4 and load it via thumb drive that I create using the unetbootin tool.

You can also load ubuntu pretty easily on these devices using a similar approach. Dual display works and everything - pretty hassle-free.

I love these things - I have three of them; two of these and one of the i7 models for running virtualized windows.

Question 10

Is the included wireless N card Intel or is it Realtek, Commview, Atheros?

Accepted Answer

Intel Centrino 6235 IEEE 802.11n Mini PCI Express Bluetooth 4.0 - Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Combo Adapter - OEM bought this 31.00 dollars . Brings lesser quality 2.4 ghz only

Questions & Answers