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Intel Pentium G3258

Intel Pentium G3258: The Budget Wind of Haswell in 2025

Introduction

Even 12 years after its release (2014), the Intel Pentium G3258 remains iconic among enthusiasts and budget build lovers. Its legendary overclocking potential and low cost make it an interesting option for specific tasks. But how relevant is it in 2025? Let's investigate the details.

1. Key Specifications: Haswell Legacy

Architecture and Manufacturing Process

The Pentium G3258 is built on the Haswell microarchitecture (22 nm). It is a dual-core CPU without Hyper-Threading support (2 cores / 2 threads), with a base frequency of 3.2 GHz. A key feature is its unlocked multiplier, allowing for overclocking even on budget motherboards.

- L3 Cache: 3 MB (sufficient for simple tasks).

- TDP: 53 W (energy efficiency is a major advantage).

- Integrated Graphics: Intel HD Graphics (4th Gen) — basic performance (e.g., 30 FPS in Dota 2 on low settings at 720p).

Performance

- Geekbench 6: 617 (Single-Core), 1078 (Multi-Core). For comparison: the modern Celeron G6900 (2023) scores around ~1800/3500.

- Real-life Experience:

- Office applications (Word, Excel) — runs smoothly.

- RetroArch emulation (PS1, N64) — stable.

- Modern browsers (Chrome with 10+ tabs) — potential stutters.

2. Compatible Motherboards: The Hunt for LGA 1150 Socket

Socket and Chipsets

- Socket: LGA 1150 (outdated, new boards have not been produced since 2017).

- Chipsets: H81, B85, H87, Z87, Z97.

- For overclocking, Z87/Z97 are essential (e.g., ASUS Z97-A).

- Budget H81/B85 boards can support overclocking through BIOS updates (unofficially).

Recommendations in 2025

- New Boards: Rare, prices range from $80 (ASRock H81M-HDS) to $150+ (MSI Z97 Gaming 5).

- Used Market: The main source, but there are significant risks of component failures.

- Advice: Look for boards with USB 3.0 and SATA III for SSD support.

3. Memory: Only DDR3

- Support: DDR3-1333/1600 (officially), but on Z97 can be overclocked to 2400 MHz.

- Maximum Capacity: 32 GB (rare boards with 4 slots).

- Compatibility in 2025: DDR3 is cheap ($20 for 8 GB), but new modules are almost not produced.

Example Configuration: 2x4 GB DDR3-1600 (Team Elite) — optimal for Windows 10/11.

4. Power Supply: Minimum Watts, Maximum Reliability

- Base Consumption: 53 W, but with overclocking to 4.5 GHz — up to 80 W.

- Recommendations:

- Without a Discrete GPU: PSU of 300 W (Be Quiet! SFX Power 3 300W, $40).

- With GPU (e.g., GTX 1650): 450 W (EVGA 500 BQ, $55).

- Important: Units with 80 Plus Bronze certification and short-circuit protection.

5. Pros and Cons: Who is it for?

Pros:

- Price: New processors — from $50 (rare), used — $20-30.

- Overclocking: Up to 4.5-4.7 GHz on air cooling (Cooler Master Hyper 212, $35).

- Energy Efficiency: Ideal for media centers or routers.

Cons:

- 2 Cores: Multitasking is limited (streaming + gaming — impossible).

- Outdated Platform: No support for NVMe, USB 3.1, Wi-Fi 6.

- Graphics: Only for basic tasks.

6. Use Cases

- Office PC: Document work, Zoom conferences.

- Retro Gaming: Emulators, indie games (Hollow Knight, Stardew Valley).

- Home Server: NAS based on Linux (OpenMediaVault).

- Learning: A first PC for builds and overclocking experiments.

Example Build:

- CPU: G3258 ($50) + Motherboard ASRock H81M-HDS ($80) + 8 GB DDR3 ($20) + 240 GB SSD ($30). Total: ~$180.

7. Comparison with Competitors

AMD Athlon 3000G (2020):

- Pros: 2 cores/4 threads, Vega 3 graphics, DDR4 support.

- Cons: Weaker in single-threaded tasks (Geekbench 6 Single-Core: ~550).

- Price: $70 (new).

Intel Celeron G5920 (2020):

- Pros: Modern socket LGA 1200, DDR4 support.

- Cons: No overclocking, higher price ($60).

Conclusion: The G3258 only wins in price (used) and overclocking.

8. Practical Assembly Tips

1. SSD is Essential: Kingston A400 240 GB ($30) will eliminate HDD bottlenecks.

2. Cooling: Even with overclocking, the stock cooler will suffice.

3. BIOS: Update to the latest version for compatibility with Windows 11.

4. OS: Windows 10 LTSC or Linux (Ubuntu LTS) for minimal load.

9. Final Conclusion: Who is the G3258 for in 2025?

- Enthusiasts: For experimenting with overclocking and building "retro PCs".

- Budget Builds: If you need a $200 PC for the internet and office work.

- Special Tasks: Media server, router, programming terminal.

Why not? For gaming, video editing, or AI work — it's outdated. But as a "digital artifact" and educational tool — it's invaluable.

If you find an old G3258 in your garage, don't rush to throw it away. Build a budget PC around it, overclock it, and see for yourself: the technology of 2014 can still amaze!

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

June 2014

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.

G3258

Code Name

Haswell

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

3.20 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.

L3 Cache

3 MB

CPU Socket

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

FCLGA1150

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

53 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.

Up to 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.

DDR3-1333 | DDR3L-1333 @ 1.5V

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).

21.3 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

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® HD Graphics for 4th Generation Intel® Processors

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.

1.10 GHz

Graphics Video Max Memory

1.7 GB

DirectX Support

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

11.1/12

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.

1920x1080@60Hz

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.

2560x1600@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.

2560x1600@60Hz

Max Resolution (VGA)

1920x1200@60Hz

Number of Displays Supported

Graphics Output

Graphics Output defines the interfaces available to communicate with display devices.

eDP/DP/HDMI/DVI/VGA

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.

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.

3 MB

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

OpenGL Support

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

4.3

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

617

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

1078

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

833

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

1466

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

1857

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

2075

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Pentium Gold G5420T

695 +12.6%

A12-9800E

651 +5.5%

Pentium G3258

617

Core i5-3470T

573 -7.1%

Core i7-2640M

539 -12.6%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Core i5-6440EQ

1376 +27.6%

A10-7850K

1217 +12.9%

Pentium G3258

1078

Core i3-2105

959 -11%

Core i3-3220

867 -19.6%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Core i7-8706G

869 +4.3%

Xeon E5-2696 v3

852 +2.3%

Pentium G3258

833

Core i5-6500TE

815 -2.2%

Xeon E5-2623 v3

800 -4%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Core i5-4570T

1635 +11.5%

Core i7-2635QM

1547 +5.5%

Pentium G3258

1466

Pentium G3460

1390 -5.2%

Core m7-6Y75

1331 -9.2%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Xeon X5698

1922 +3.5%

Core i5-3470S

1892 +1.9%

Pentium G3258

1857

Core i5-3470T

1812 -2.4%

EPYC 7551P

1787 -3.8%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Phenom II X4 850

2361 +13.8%

Celeron G3930

2233 +7.6%

Pentium G3258

2075

A10-4600M

1922 -7.4%

A6-7470K

1799 -13.3%