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Intel Pentium G2030

Intel Pentium G2030 in 2025: Is it Worth Picking Up a Decade-Old Budget Processor?

Key Features: A Modest Foundation for Undemanding Tasks

The Intel Pentium G2030, released in 2013, belongs to the Ivy Bridge architecture (3rd generation Core) and is manufactured using a 22-nm process. This dual-core chip lacks Hyper-Threading support (2 threads), has a base frequency of 3.0 GHz, and includes a 3 MB L3 cache. Its TDP is 55 W, making it one of the most energy-efficient solutions of its time.

Performance by modern standards is modest:

- Geekbench 6 Single-Core: 490;

- Geekbench 6 Multi-Core: 787.

In comparison, even the budget Intel Celeron G6900 (2023) scores around 1200/2300 points. However, for basic tasks, the G2030 remains relevant due to its low power consumption and stability.

Key Features:

- Support for SSE4.1/4.2, AES-NI instructions;

- Integrated Intel HD Graphics (6 Execution Units, 1050 MHz);

- Limited overclocking options: the multiplier is locked, but slight Boost is possible via BCLK on compatible motherboards.

Compatible Motherboards: A Hunt for Rarities

The processor uses the LGA1155 socket, which has long been discontinued. Suitable chipsets include:

- H61 (basic functionality, no USB 3.0);

- B75/H77 (supports SATA III and USB 3.0);

- Z75/Z77 (overclocking and additional ports).

Examples:

- ASUS P8B75-M;

- Gigabyte GA-H77-DS3H;

- MSI Z77A-G43.

Important:

- New motherboards have not been produced since 2014-2015. In 2025, they can only be found in the secondary market or from rare sellers with stocks priced at $30-50 (no warranty).

- When purchasing, check the BIOS version—some motherboards require an update to work with Ivy Bridge.

Supported Memory: DDR3 as a Historical Artifact

The Pentium G2030 only works with DDR3-1333/1600 MHz in dual-channel mode. The maximum capacity is theoretically 32 GB, but in practice, most motherboards are limited to 16-24 GB.

Features:

- No support for DDR4/DDR5—which is critical for upgrades;

- 8 GB (2×4 GB) is sufficient for comfortable operation. For example, a Kingston HyperX Fury DDR3-1600 (8 GB) is priced at about $25-30 (new).

Power Supply Recommendations: Minimum Expense

Given a TDP of 55 W and the low power demands of integrated graphics, a system based on the G2030 can suffice with a 300-400 W power supply. However, if a discrete graphics card (e.g., GTX 1650) is to be installed, select a PSU rated at 450-500 W.

Examples:

- Be Quiet! System Power 10 450W ($45) — a quiet and reliable option;

- EVGA 500 BR ($40) — a budget solution with an 80 Plus Bronze certification.

Advice: Avoid using old PSUs from unknown brands—their components (like capacitors) may have degraded, which can be dangerous for other components.

Pros and Cons: Balancing Price and Capabilities

Advantages:

1. Energy Efficiency: ideal for builds with passive cooling or mini-PCs.

2. Low Cost: a new processor (if found) costs $40-60.

3. Reliability: heat-free operation allows for an almost limitless lifespan.

Disadvantages:

1. Outdated Architecture: does not support AVX2, PCIe 3.0 (only 2.0), DirectX 12.

2. Weak Multi-Core Potential: 2 cores are insufficient for video editing or streaming.

3. Limited Compatibility: challenges finding new components.

Use Cases: Where the G2030 Still Holds Relevance

1. Office Tasks: working with documents, browsing (up to 10 tabs), video conferencing.

2. Multimedia: watching Full HD videos (4K not supported via HDMI), music, photo editing with Lightroom 5.

3. Retro Gaming: games up to 2015 (e.g., Skyrim, GTA V on low settings) or indie projects (Stardew Valley, Hollow Knight).

4. Home Server: NAS based on OpenMediaVault or simple file hosting.

Real-Life Example: A user from Brazil built a media center on a G2030 with Kodi and a 120 GB SSD. The system consumes less than 100 W at peak and operates silently.

Comparison with Competitors: Battle of Budget Processors

1. AMD Athlon X4 750K (2013):

- 4 cores, 4 threads;

- Geekbench 6 Multi-Core: ~900;

- Cons: 100 W TDP, no integrated graphics.

- Price: $35-50 (used).

2. Intel Core i3-3220:

- 2 cores + Hyper-Threading;

- Geekbench 6 Multi-Core: ~820;

- Pros: better for multi-threaded tasks.

Conclusion: The G2030 excels in energy efficiency but falls short in multitasking.

Practical Assembly Tips

1. SSD is Essential: even a cheap Kingston A400 (240 GB, $20) will eliminate HDD bottlenecks.

2. Graphics Card: choose models without additional power requirements (GTX 1050 Ti, RX 560).

3. Cooling: the standard cooler is sufficient, but for quieter operation, consider an Arctic Alpine 12 ($15).

4. BIOS: Update the motherboard firmware before installing the OS.

Example Build (without GPU):

- Processor: G2030 ($50);

- Motherboard: ASUS P8H61-M ($40);

- Memory: 8 GB DDR3 ($25);

- SSD: 240 GB ($20);

- PSU: 400 W ($45);

- Case: Mini-Tower ($30).

Total: $210.

Final Conclusion: Who Should Consider the Pentium G2030 in 2025?

This processor should be considered only in three scenarios:

1. Ultra-budget build for office or educational use, where low cost is crucial.

2. Upgrading an old PC: if you already have an LGA1155 motherboard and DDR3.

3. Experimental projects: retro computers, media centers, or educational test benches to learn about PC architecture.

Alternatives: If your budget allows $100-150, consider used Core i5-3470s or new Intel N100 (Alder Lake-N) processors, which offer 3-4 times higher performance at similar TDP.

The Pentium G2030 is an archaic yet resilient chip that proves that even 12 years post-launch, Intel's technology can still be useful in niche scenarios.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

April 2013

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.

G2030

Code Name

Ivi Bridge

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

3.00 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.

CPU Socket

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

FCLGA1155

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.

22 nm

TDP

55 W

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.

2.0

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

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

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.

DDR3 1333/1600

Max Memory Size

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

32 GB

Memory Channels

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

Bus Speed

5 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).

21 GB/s

ECC Memory Supported

ECC Memory Supported indicates processor support for Error-Correcting Code memory. ECC memory is a type of system memory that can detect and correct common kinds of internal data corruption. Note that ECC memory support requires both processor and chipset support.

Yes

GPU Specifications

GPU Name

Intel® HD Graphics for 3rd Generation Intel® Processors

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 Base Frequency

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

650 MHz

Number of Displays Supported

Miscellaneous

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.

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

Instruction Set Extensions

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.

3 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.

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.

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

Intel Quick Sync Video

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

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6

Single Core Score

490

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

787

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

507

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

921

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

1612

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

1742

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Xeon E7-4880 v2

563 +14.9%

Core i7-3667U

526 +7.3%

Pentium G2030

490

Core i5-2415M

456 -6.9%

Athlon X4 740

421 -14.1%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

A8-5600K

1024 +30.1%

Core i5-2450M

927 +17.8%

Pentium G2030

787

A6-3500

669 -15%

Core i3-2348M

574 -27.1%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Core i3-6100U

538 +6.1%

Pentium G2100T

522 +3%

Pentium G2030

507

A8-7670K

493 -2.8%

FX-4320

476 -6.1%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Xeon D-2141I

1087 +18%

Core i3-3120M

1022 +11%

Pentium G2030

921

Xeon E5-2660 v3

846 -8.1%

Celeron 2950M

780 -15.3%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Xeon E5-1410 v2

1680 +4.2%

Core i5-2500S

1637 +1.6%

Pentium G2030

1612

Ryzen Embedded R1305G

1577 -2.2%

Celeron G1630

1553 -3.7%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Core i3-5005U

2016 +15.7%

Core M-5Y10c

1906 +9.4%

Pentium G2030

1742

A8-5545M

1575 -9.6%

A8-3500M

1412 -18.9%