Chimera 4.1 Injects Intel HD 5500 Graphics on Broadwell BRIX

[tonymacx86]

The BCM94352Z/BCM94356Z have been out for a while now.

You can find it as the Dell DW1560 NGFF on eBay.

Thanks for the info.

 

[kintox]

Looking into building broadwell brix in the near future. -- Will the EW-7711MAC (AC450) USB Wi-fi adapter work for this in the mean time while we wait for the broadcom m.2 card?

 

[trs96]

Looking into building broadwell brix in the near future. -- Will the EW-7711MAC (AC450) USB Wi-fi adapter work for this in the mean time while we wait for the broadcom m.2 card?

As PJALM mentioned you can get the Dell DW-1560 Wifi/BT card right now and use that in
the M.2 slot. That will leave a USB port or 2 open for other peripherals.

 

[kintox]

As PJALM mentioned you can get the Dell DW-1560 Wifi/BT card right now and use that in
the M.2 slot. That will leave a USB port or 2 open for other peripherals.

Yes you're correct, they are in fact available -- but extremely rare to find! Just need an alternative solution in the time being until its more readily available.

 

[minhi]

the BRIX is interesting but has anyone done a price comparison against a DIY build from parts or even against a mac mini? It seems like the BRIX will cost quite a bit once you get it all together.

 

[trs96]

the BRIX is interesting but has anyone done a price comparison against a DIY build from parts or even against a mac mini? It seems like the BRIX will cost quite a bit once you get it all together.

In contrast to a larger mini-itx desktop system, with the Brix you are paying more for the novelty
of smaller size and portability. You can throw it in a suitcase and travel with it. You can connect it to the back of a TV set. It just sips a little bit of electricity and is quiet. Those are the features you're paying extra for. Even then I think that they are fairly priced in comparison to other ultra small PCs.

If you look at Intel's retail prices for the Broadwell chips used in them, you'll see that the retail prices are anywhere from $280 to over $340 just for the CPU. The Gigabyte I3 Brix sells for 279.99 and the cost of just the I3 cpu in it is 281 dollars. Don't think Gigabyte has a very high profit margin on these. If you don't need the ultra small FF then yes, it's probably better to build the Customac mini and save some money over one of the Brix models. The desktop Intel CPUs perform better and cost less but also require
a larger case and more cooling fans, which create more noise etc.

 

[kintox]

Is audio working ?

 

[shhhhh]

Is audio working ?

I can get it working on the Broadwell i3 Brix but there's a constant, annoying buzzing sound... Not sure how to fix it.

 

[trs96]

The M.2 Wifi BT card (DW-1560) is included in Dell's new XPS 13" laptop. I checked with Dell
and they do not sell it from their website. So if you can't wait long enough for Broadcom to
sell them to the general public the only way to get one is from a pull of one from a new
XPS 13 laptop. They may show up from time to time on Ebay or Amazon or if a friend buys
an XPS 13 buy him an Intel M.2 card and do a trade. Only other option is USB wifi for now.

Here's a few pics of the DW-1560 Wifi/BT card I found in an ifixit teardown article online.



You can see the difference from the M.2 DW-1560 compared to half mini pci-e, they are not interchangeable as anyone can see.

 

[JHM]

I wonder if the new Intel NUCs would also be a good choice, like the NUC5i5RYK:

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/nuc-kit-nuc5i3ryk.html

It uses Intel wireless AC 7265 M.2 and bluetooth

J