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Intel Pentium G645T

Intel Pentium G645T: A Comprehensive Review of an Obsolete Processor in 2025

Relevant as of April 2025

Introduction: Why is the Pentium G645T Still Mentioned?

Despite being released in 2012, the Intel Pentium G645T continues to garner attention due to its low power consumption (TDP 35W) and availability in the secondhand market. However, by 2025, this processor is more of a relic, suitable for niche tasks. Let’s explore who might still find it useful and what pitfalls users should be aware of.

1. Key Specifications: Architecture and Performance

Sandy Bridge Architecture

The processor is based on the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture (2011), manufactured using a 32nm process. This is the second generation of Intel Core, which brought a 10-15% improvement in IPC (instructions per cycle) compared to its predecessors. However, these metrics appear archaic in 2025:

- 2 cores / 2 threads — multitasking is limited.

- Base clock: 2.5 GHz — no turbo mode.

- L3 Cache: 3 MB — minimal capacity for the era.

Performance in Numbers

- Geekbench 6: 381 (Single-Core), 656 (Multi-Core).

For comparison, a modern budget Intel Celeron G6900 (2023) scores around ~1500/2500 points.

Key Features

- Integrated Intel HD Graphics — supports DirectX 10.1, suitable for video output and basic video work.

- Energy efficiency — TDP of 35W allows for passive cooling.

- VT-x support — virtualization for running lightweight virtual machines.

2. Compatible Motherboards: Searching the Edge of Impossibility

Socket LGA 1155

The processor requires motherboards with the LGA 1155 socket. Suitable chipsets include:

- H61, B65, Q67 — basic models without overclocking.

- Z68, P67 — for enthusiasts (although overclocking the G645T is locked).

Issues in 2025

New motherboards have not been produced since 2015. The market is dominated by used options (price: $20-40) or leftover new ones (rare, $60-80). Example: ASUS P8H61-M LX3 motherboard (used — $25).

Tip: Check the condition of capacitors and BIOS. Many old motherboards do not support UEFI, complicating the installation of modern operating systems.

3. Supported Memory: Only DDR3

- Memory Type: DDR3 (not compatible with DDR4/DDR5).

- Frequencies: Up to 1066/1333 MHz (officially), but some motherboards allow overclocking to 1600 MHz.

- Modes: Dual-channel — to increase bandwidth.

Recommendations:

- Use 2 modules of 4 GB (total 8 GB) — the maximum for stable operation.

- Avoid high-frequency memory (e.g., 1866 MHz) — errors may occur.

Prices for new DDR3 (2025): 8 GB kit — $30-40 (e.g., Kingston HyperX Fury).

4. Power Supplies: Minimum Energy

The processor itself consumes up to 35W, but the complete system requires:

- Integrated graphics: 150-200W (e.g., FSP Hyper 300W — $35).

- Discrete graphics card: 350-400W (e.g., for GTX 1050 Ti).

Important: Power supplies older than 10 years often lose capacity. Choose newer models with an 80+ Bronze certification.

5. Pros and Cons of the Pentium G645T

Pros

- Energy efficiency — ideal for NAS or media centers.

- Low cost — new processor (if found) — $50-70.

- Simple cooling — even an old PC cooler is enough.

Cons

- Outdated architecture — does not support AVX, PCIe 3.0, USB 3.0 (only through the chipset).

- Limited multitasking — 2 cores struggle with modern browsers and applications.

- Risk of compatibility — older drivers and OS updates.

6. Use Cases

Office Tasks

- Working with documents, email, lightweight CRM systems.

- Example: LibreOffice, Google Workspace (with 8 GB of RAM).

Multimedia

- Video playback at 1080p via VLC or Kodi.

- Limitation: H.265 and 4K are not supported.

Gaming

- Only older titles: Half-Life 2, Minecraft (without shaders).

- Tip: Add a GT 1030-level graphics card ($90 new) for 2010s gaming.

7. Comparison with Competitors

AMD Athlon 3000G (2019)

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

- Cons: TDP 35W, price $70 (used).

- Conclusion: Better performance for the same money.

Intel Celeron G5905 (2020)

- Pros: 2 cores, DDR4 support, PCIe 3.0.

- Cons: Higher price ($80 new), requires LGA 1200 motherboard.

Summary: The G645T falls short compared to even budget modern counterparts but is cheaper in setup.

8. Practical Assembly Tips

- SSD is essential: A 240 GB SATA SSD (e.g., Kingston A400 — $25) will speed up the system.

- Operating System: Linux (Lubuntu) or Windows 10 LTSC (minimum background processes).

- Avoid upgrading: Don’t invest in the LGA 1155 platform — it's a dead end.

Example build:

- Processor: G645T (used — $20).

- Motherboard: H61 (used — $25).

- Memory: 8 GB DDR3 (new — $35).

- Storage: 240 GB SSD ($25).

- PSU: 300W ($35).

- Total: ~$140.

9. Final Conclusion: Who is the Pentium G645T Suitable For?

This processor is relevant for:

1. Retro computing enthusiasts — building a PC for old games.

2. Office terminals — running 1-2 programs simultaneously.

3. Media centers — watching HD video on TV.

Reasons to avoid the G645T in 2025:

- Even budget Raspberry Pi 5 (ARM) offer comparable performance with lower power consumption.

- Risk of failure of outdated components.

Conclusion: Nostalgia vs. Practicality

The Intel Pentium G645T is an example of a "survivor" processor that can still serve in specific conditions. However, its purchase is justified only under a tight budget or for niche tasks. In other cases, it’s better to look toward modern solutions, even from the secondhand market.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

July 2012

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.

G645T

Code Name

Sandy 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

2.50 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.

32 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

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.

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

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 1066

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).

17 GB/s

GPU Specifications

GPU Name

Intel® HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel® Processors

Graphics Base Frequency

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

650 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

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 Flex Memory Access

Yes

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

381

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

656

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

449

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

807

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

1117

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

1228

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Xeon E5-2609 v2

447 +17.3%

Celeron G540

414 +8.7%

Pentium G645T

381

Celeron J4105

346 -9.2%

Pentium 3825U

296 -22.3%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Celeron G3900TE

903 +37.7%

Celeron G5900T

750 +14.3%

Pentium G645T

656

A8-3500M

544 -17.1%

Celeron 2961Y

420 -36%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Opteron 4334

485 +8%

Athlon II X3 460

468 +4.2%

Pentium G645T

449

Athlon X2 340

426 -5.1%

Phenom II X4 850

403 -10.2%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Xeon E5-2680 v3

966 +19.7%

Atom x7-E3950

875 +8.4%

Pentium G645T

807

A6-6400K

715 -11.4%

Pentium 2117U

619 -23.3%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Celeron 1020E

1224 +9.6%

A4-4000

1172 +4.9%

Pentium G645T

1117

A8-3800

1072 -4%

Core i3-5015U

1018 -8.9%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Pentium G860

1466 +19.4%

Pentium G640

1348 +9.8%

Pentium G645T

1228

Celeron 1000M

1074 -12.5%

Core i3-2377M

834 -32.1%