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Intel Celeron G5900

Intel Celeron G5900: Budget Processor for Basic Tasks in 2025

Updated: April 2025

1. Key Specifications: Architecture, Process Technology, Performance

Comet Lake Architecture: The Legacy of 14 nm

The Intel Celeron G5900, released in 2020, is based on the Comet Lake microarchitecture—the latest version of Intel's 14-nanometer process technology. Despite being an outdated technology (in 2025, 7-nm and 5-nm chips dominate), the G5900 remains relevant in the budget segment due to its low price (~$40–45 for new units) and energy efficiency.

Key Features:

- 2 cores / 2 threads without Hyper-Threading support.

- Base frequency: 3.4 GHz (no turbo mode).

- L3 cache: 2 MB — the minimum for third-level cache.

- Integrated graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 610 with a base frequency of 350 MHz.

Performance: Modest Capabilities

According to Geekbench 6 tests (2025):

- Single-core result: 739 points — adequate for basic tasks.

- Multi-core result: 1271 points — a weak point due to the lack of multithreading.

Real-World Example:

- Office applications (Word, Excel) run smoothly.

- 1080p/4K video playback (with hardware decoding via GPU) — seamless.

- Browser with 10+ tabs — slowdowns possible due to insufficient threads.

2. Compatible Motherboards: Sockets and Chipsets

LGA 1200 Socket: Limited Choices

The Celeron G5900 uses the LGA 1200 socket, compatible with the 400 and 500 series chipsets (H410, B460, H470, Z490, H510, B560).

Recommended Boards in 2025:

- Budget option: ASRock H410M-HDV ($55–65) — minimal ports, but stable operation.

- Future-proof option: Gigabyte B560M DS3H ($80–90) — supports PCIe 4.0 and DDR4-3200.

Important!

- Some new LGA 1200 motherboards require a BIOS update to work with Comet Lake. Check compatibility before purchasing.

3. Supported Memory: DDR4 and Its Features

The Celeron G5900 works only with DDR4. Maximum specifications:

- Capacity: Up to 128 GB (theoretically), but practically, 8–16 GB is sufficient.

- Frequency: Up to 2666 MHz (on H410/B460 chipsets) or 2933 MHz (on Z490/B560).

Tip:

- Choose 2 modules of 4 GB DDR4-2666 (e.g., Kingston ValueRAM, ~$25 for the set) to enable dual-channel mode.

4. Power Supply: Minimum Cost

With a TDP of 58 W, the processor does not require a powerful power supply.

Recommendations:

- For a system without a discrete graphics card: A 300–400 W PSU (e.g., EVGA 400 W, ~$35).

- With a graphics card like the NVIDIA GTX 1650: A 450–500 W PSU (Be Quiet! System Power 9, ~$55).

Warning:

Avoid cheap noname power supplies — they may operate unstably even under low load.

5. Pros and Cons of the Celeron G5900

Advantages:

- Price: One of the cheapest new processors in 2025.

- Energy efficiency: Suitable for compact PCs and office builds.

- Integrated graphics: No need for a separate graphics card for basic tasks.

Disadvantages:

- Weak multithreading: Not suitable for rendering, streaming, or heavy IDEs.

- Outdated process technology: 14 nm vs. 7 nm in competitors (e.g., AMD Ryzen 3 5300U).

- Limited upgrade potential: No top-end processors of future generations are available for LGA 1200.

6. Use Cases: What is G5900 Suitable For?

Office and Study

- Working with documents, video conferences, and email.

- Example: A system based on G5900 + 8 GB DDR4 + 256 GB SSD — ideal for remote work.

Multimedia

- Watching 4K videos via YouTube or local files (thanks to VP9 and HEVC decoding).

- Limitation: Video editing in DaVinci Resolve will be extremely slow.

Light Gaming

- Intel UHD 610 can handle:

- Minecraft (60 FPS on low settings).

- Dota 2 (30–40 FPS at 720p).

- Tip: Add a graphics card like the NVIDIA GT 1030 ($80–90) for 1080p gaming.

7. Comparison with Competitors

AMD Athlon 3000G (Zen, 14 nm)

- Price: ~$50.

- Pros: 2 cores / 4 threads, Vega 3 GPU (stronger than UHD 610).

- Cons: Lower single-core performance (Geekbench 6: ~680 points).

Intel Pentium Gold G6400 (Comet Lake)

- Price: ~$60.

- Pros: 2 cores / 4 threads, frequency 4.0 GHz.

- Cons: Higher price with similar architecture.

Conclusion: The Celeron G5900 only wins in price. For multithreaded tasks, the Athlon 3000G is better.

8. Practical Assembly Tips

1. SSD is a must! Even a cheap Kingston A400 (240 GB, ~$20) will eliminate system "lags."

2. Don’t skimp on the case: A Micro-ATX case with ventilation (e.g., Deepcool MATREXX 30, ~$40).

3. Upgrade: If you plan to improve the PC, choose a motherboard with the B560 chipset — it supports PCIe 4.0.

9. Final Conclusion: Who is the Celeron G5900 Suitable For?

This processor is the choice for those who:

- Are building a cheap PC for office or study.

- Need a basic media center for watching movies.

- Plan to use a system with an entry-level discrete graphics card.

Why choose G5900 in 2025?

Despite its age, it remains the most affordable option for simple tasks. However, if your budget allows for an additional $20–30, consider the AMD Athlon 3000G or a used Core i3 — they will offer more capabilities for multitasking.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

April 2020

Model Name

The Intel processor number is just one of several factors - along with processor brand, system configurations, and system-level benchmarks - to be considered when choosing the right processor for your computing needs.

G5900

Code Name

Comet Lake

CPU Specifications

Total Cores

Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).

Total Threads

Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.

Basic Frequency

3.40 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology dynamically increases the processor's frequency as needed by taking advantage of thermal and power headroom to give you a burst of speed when you need it, and increased energy efficiency when you don’t.

Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) delivers two processing threads per physical core. Highly threaded applications can get more work done in parallel, completing tasks sooner.

Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0

Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 identifies the best performing core(s) on a processor and provides increased performance on those cores through increasing frequency as needed by taking advantage of power and thermal headroom.

L3 Cache

2 MB

CPU Socket

The socket is the component that provides the mechanical and electrical connections between the processor and motherboard.

FCLGA1200

Technology

Lithography refers to the semiconductor technology used to manufacture an integrated circuit, and is reported in nanometer (nm), indicative of the size of features built on the semiconductor.

14 nm

TDP

58 W

Max. Operating Temperature

Junction Temperature is the maximum temperature allowed at the processor die.

100°C

PCI Express Version

PCI Express Revision is the supported version of the PCI Express standard. Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (or PCIe) is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard for attaching hardware devices to a computer. The different PCI Express versions support different data rates.

3.0

Number of PCI Express Lanes

A PCI Express (PCIe) lane consists of two differential signaling pairs, one for receiving data, one for transmitting data, and is the basic unit of the PCIe bus. Max # of PCI Express Lanes is the total number of supported lanes.

Intel 64

Intel® 64 architecture delivers 64-bit computing on server, workstation, desktop and mobile platforms when combined with supporting software.¹ Intel 64 architecture improves performance by allowing systems to address more than 4 GB of both virtual and physical memory.

Yes

Instruction Set

The instruction set is a hard program stored inside the CPU that guides and optimizes CPU operations. With these instruction sets, the CPU can run more efficiently. There are many manufacturers that design CPUs, which results in different instruction sets, such as the 8086 instruction set for the Intel camp and the RISC instruction set for the ARM camp. x86, ARM v8, and MIPS are all codes for instruction sets. Instruction sets can be extended; for example, x86 added 64-bit support to create x86-64. Manufacturers developing CPUs that are compatible with a certain instruction set need authorization from the instruction set patent holder. A typical example is Intel authorizing AMD, enabling the latter to develop CPUs compatible with the x86 instruction set.

64-bit

PCI Express Configurations

PCI Express (PCIe) Configurations describe the available PCIe lane configurations that can be used to link to PCIe devices.

Up to 1x16 | 2x8 | 1x8+2x4

Memory Specifications

Memory Type

Intel® processors come in four different types: Single Channel, Dual Channel, Triple Channel, and Flex Mode. Maximum supported memory speed may be lower when populating multiple DIMMs per channel on products that support multiple memory channels.

DDR4-2666

Max Memory Size

Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.

128 GB

Memory Channels

The number of memory channels refers to the bandwidth operation for real world application.

Bus Speed

8 GT/s

Max Memory Bandwidth

Max Memory bandwidth is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored into a semiconductor memory by the processor (in GB/s).

41.6 GB/s

GPU Specifications

Integrated Graphics Model

An integrated GPU refers to the graphics core that is integrated into the CPU processor. Leveraging the processor's powerful computational capabilities and intelligent power efficiency management, it delivers outstanding graphics performance and a smooth application experience at a lower power consumption.

Intel® UHD Graphics 610

Graphics Base Frequency

Graphics Base frequency refers to the rated/guaranteed graphics render clock frequency in MHz.

350 MHz

Graphics Frequency

Graphics max dynamic frequency refers to the maximum opportunistic graphics render clock frequency (in MHz) that can be supported using Intel® HD Graphics with Dynamic Frequency feature.

1.05 GHz

Graphics Video Max Memory

64 GB

4K Support

Yes | at 60Hz

DirectX Support

DirectX* Support indicates support for a specific version of Microsoft’s collection of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for handling multimedia compute tasks.

Max Resolution (HDMI)

Max Resolution (HDMI) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor via the HDMI interface (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your system.

4096x2160@30Hz

Max Resolution (DP)

Max Resolution (DP) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor via the DP interface (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your system.

4096x2304@60Hz

Max Resolution (eDP - Integrated Flat Panel)

Max Resolution (Integrated Flat Panel) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor for a device with an integrated flat panel (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your device.

4096x2304@60Hz

Number of Displays Supported

Miscellaneous

Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)

Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) allows one hardware platform to function as multiple “virtual” platforms. It offers improved manageability by limiting downtime and maintaining productivity by isolating computing activities into separate partitions.

Yes

Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)

Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) continues from the existing support for IA-32 (VT-x) and Itanium® processor (VT-i) virtualization adding new support for I/O-device virtualization. Intel VT-d can help end users improve security and reliability of the systems and also improve performance of I/O devices in virtualized environments.

Yes

Intel Standard Manageability (ISM)

Intel® Standard Manageability is the manageability solution for Intel vPro® Essentials platforms and is a subset of Intel® AMT with out-of-band management over Ethernet and Wi-Fi, but no KVM or new life cycle management features.

Intel® SSE4.1 | Intel® SSE4.2

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology is an advanced means of enabling high performance while meeting the power-conservation needs of mobile systems. Conventional Intel SpeedStep® Technology switches both voltage and frequency in tandem between high and low levels in response to processor load. Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology builds upon that architecture using design strategies such as Separation between Voltage and Frequency Changes, and Clock Partitioning and Recovery.

Yes

Execute Disable Bit

Execute Disable Bit is a hardware-based security feature that can reduce exposure to viruses and malicious-code attacks and prevent harmful software from executing and propagating on the server or network.

Yes

Cache

CPU Cache is an area of fast memory located on the processor. Intel® Smart Cache refers to the architecture that allows all cores to dynamically share access to the last level cache.

2 MB Intel® Smart Cache

Intel AES New Instructions

Intel® AES New Instructions (Intel® AES-NI) are a set of instructions that enable fast and secure data encryption and decryption. AES-NI are valuable for a wide range of cryptographic applications, for example: applications that perform bulk encryption/decryption, authentication, random number generation, and authenticated encryption.

Yes

Intel Boot Guard

Intel® Device Protection Technology with Boot Guard helps protect the system’s pre-OS environment from viruses and malicious software attacks.

Yes

Intel Clear Video HD Technology

Intel® Clear Video HD Technology, like its predecessor, Intel® Clear Video Technology, is a suite of image decode and processing technologies built into the integrated processor graphics that improve video playback, delivering cleaner, sharper images, more natural, accurate, and vivid colors, and a clear and stable video picture. Intel® Clear Video HD Technology adds video quality enhancements for richer color and more realistic skin tones.

Yes

Intel Clear Video Technology

Yes

Intel VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)

Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT), also known as Second Level Address Translation (SLAT), provides acceleration for memory intensive virtualized applications. Extended Page Tables in Intel® Virtualization Technology platforms reduces the memory and power overhead costs and increases battery life through hardware optimization of page table management.

Yes

Intel InTru 3D Technology

Yes

Intel OS Guard

Yes

OpenGL Support

OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-language, multi-platform API (Application Programming Interface) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics.

4.5

Intel Quick Sync Video

Intel® Quick Sync Video delivers fast conversion of video for portable media players, online sharing, and video editing and authoring.

Yes

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6

Single Core Score

739

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

1271

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

816

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

1472

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

2107

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

2643

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Ryzen 3 PRO 2300U

865 +17.1%

Pentium Gold G6400

807 +9.2%

Celeron G5900

739

Core i5-2500K

684 -7.4%

PRO A12-9800E

643 -13%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Core i7-6600U

1589 +25%

Pentium Gold G5620

1456 +14.6%

Celeron G5900

1271

Core M-5Y71

1125 -11.5%

Pentium G3260T

1020 -19.7%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Ryzen 5 3580U Microsoft Surface Edition

852 +4.4%

Core i3-8130U

833 +2.1%

Celeron G5900

816

Athlon PRO 200GE

800 -2%

Core i3-8140U

782 -4.2%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Celeron N5100

1644 +11.7%

Xeon E5-2620 v3

1557 +5.8%

Celeron G5900

1472

Core i5-7Y54

1398 -5%

Core i5-3210M

1342 -8.8%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Xeon E3-1585L v5

2154 +2.2%

Core i3-6098P

2127 +0.9%

Celeron G5900

2107

Core i7-4960X

2081 -1.2%

Ryzen 3 PRO 2200GE with Radeon Vega 8 Graphics

2051 -2.7%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Core i5-4308U

2983 +12.9%

A8-5600K

2832 +7.2%

Celeron G5900

2643

Celeron G4900

2440 -7.7%

Core i3-6006U

2283 -13.6%