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Intel Pentium G2030T

Intel Pentium G2030T in 2025: A Budget Chip for Undemanding Tasks

A current overview for those seeking minimalism and savings

1. Key Characteristics: An Outdated but Resilient Architecture

The Intel Pentium G2030T processor, released in 2013, is still found in budget builds due to its low power consumption and availability.

- Architecture: Ivy Bridge (3rd generation Core).

- Process Technology: 22 nm — archaic for 2025, but provides low heat.

- Performance: Geekbench 6 - 424 (Single-Core), 750 (Multi-Core). For comparison, the modern Celeron G6900 (2023) scores around 1500/2800.

- Key Features: TDP of 35 W (passive cooling is possible), integrated Intel HD graphics (DirectX 11, 4K output via DisplayPort).

Practical Example: In 2024, a user built a media center with the G2030T on a Mini-ITX board — the chip handles 1080p streaming video adequately, but 4K HDR causes lag.

2. Compatible Motherboards: Hunting for Rarities

The processor uses the LGA 1155 socket, which is no longer in production.

- Chipsets: H61, B75, H77, Z77.

- Selection Features: New boards are not produced. As of April 2025, prices for remaining stock start from $60 (ASRock H61M-DGS) to $120 for top-tier Z77.

- Recommendation: Look for boards with HDMI/DVI and SATA III — this will simplify connecting SSDs and monitors.

Important: Many boards’ BIOS do not support UEFI, which can complicate the installation of Windows 11.

3. Supported Memory: Only DDR3

The Pentium G2030T exclusively works with DDR3:

- Frequencies: Up to 1333 MHz (officially), but some boards allow overclocking to 1600 MHz.

- Capacity: Maximum 32 GB (theoretically), but in practice, 8-16 GB is optimal.

Tip: Use dual-channel mode (2×4 GB instead of 1×8 GB) for a 10-15% performance boost.

4. Power Supply: Minimal Requirements

With a TDP of 35 W, the processor puts minimal load on the system:

- Recommended PSU: 300-400 W (for example, be quiet! Pure Power 11 400W, $45).

- Details: If adding a discrete graphics card (for example, GT 1030), a 450 W PSU will suffice.

Real Case: A build with the G2030T + SSD + 8 GB DDR3 consumes around 50 W at idle and up to 90 W under load.

5. Pros and Cons: Who Is It Suitable For?

Pros:

- Price: New processor (from remaining stock) — $25-30.

- Energy Efficiency: Ideal for 24/7 operation (home server).

- Quiet Operation: Passive cooler or compact active cooler.

Cons:

- No AVX, NVMe, USB 3.1 support.

- Weak IPC: Inferior to even budget AMD Athlon 3000G (2019).

6. Use Cases: Where Is the G2030T Still Relevant?

- Office Tasks: Word, Excel, browser with 5-10 tabs.

- Multimedia: Watching Full HD videos, streaming (via LAN).

- Retro Gaming: Games up to 2012 (e.g., Skyrim on low settings).

- Servers: NAS based on OpenMediaVault or a home router (pfSense).

Limitation: Running Chrome with 20+ tabs will cause noticeable stuttering.

7. Comparison with Competitors

- Intel Celeron G5900 (2020): 2 cores, 2 threads, Geekbench 6 - 800/1450. Price: $40. Pros: DDR4 support, LGA 1200 socket.

- AMD Athlon 3000G (2019): 2 cores/4 threads, Vega 3 GPU, Geekbench 6 - 950/1800. Price: $55. Pros: Unlocked multiplier.

Conclusion: The G2030T falls behind in performance but wins in price and availability on the secondary market.

8. Practical Assembly Tips

1. Motherboard: Choose models with USB 3.0 (ASUS P8B75-M) for fast flash drives.

2. Storage: An SSD is a must (Kingston A400 240 GB, $20) — an HDD will "kill" responsiveness.

3. Cooling: A stock cooler or even a passive one is sufficient (Noctua NH-P1, but that’s overkill).

4. Upgrade: Don’t consider the G2030T as a long-term solution — it’s a temporary option for a super-budget build.

Example Configuration:

- Processor: G2030T ($30).

- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H61M-S1 ($65).

- Memory: 8 GB DDR3 ($15).

- SSD: 240 GB ($20).

- PSU: 400 W ($45).

Total: $175 without a case.

9. Final Conclusion: Who Is the Pentium G2030T Suitable For?

This processor is worth considering only in three cases:

1. Super Budget Build: When you need to stay under $200 for an office PC.

2. Upgrading an Old System: If you already have a motherboard on LGA 1155.

3. Energy-Efficient Projects: Media center or server running 24/7.

Alternative for 2025: For $50-70, you can find used Intel Core i5-4xxx or AMD Ryzen 3 1200, which offer 2-3 times higher performance. But if your priority is minimal investment and low power consumption, the G2030T is still valid.

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.

G2030T

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

2.60 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

35 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

424

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

750

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

453

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

741

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

1442

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

1581

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Celeron G1840T

495 +16.7%

Athlon X4 840

458 +8%

Pentium G2030T

424

Opteron 6376

394 -7.1%

Celeron 2950M

360 -15.1%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Celeron J4105

978 +30.4%

A8-6500B

896 +19.5%

Pentium G2030T

750

PRO A4-8350B

654 -12.8%

Opteron X2150

541 -27.9%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

PRO A8-9600

490 +8.2%

Pentium Gold 5405U

472 +4.2%

Pentium G2030T

453

Xeon Bronze 3104

436 -3.8%

Athlon II X2 270

414 -8.6%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Celeron J4025

888 +19.8%

A6-3420M

831 +12.1%

Pentium G2030T

741

A6-6400B

640 -13.6%

Core i3-3229Y

529 -28.6%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Xeon X5675

1494 +3.6%

Core i7-8500Y

1475 +2.3%

Pentium G2030T

1442

PRO A4-8350B

1418 -1.7%

Xeon X5647

1382 -4.2%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Opteron X2170

1911 +20.9%

A6-9500E

1756 +11.1%

Pentium G2030T

1581

Pentium G2020T

1430 -9.6%

Athlon X2 340

1301 -17.7%