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Intel Pentium G860T

Intel Pentium G860T: Budget Processor for Office and Basic Tasks in 2025

Updated: April 2025

Introduction

The Intel Pentium G860T processor, released in 2012, is still found in budget builds and office PCs. Despite its age, its low power consumption and availability make it an interesting option for specific tasks. Let's examine whether it is still relevant in 2025 and who it is suitable for.

Key Specifications

Architecture and Process Technology

The Pentium G860T is built on the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture with a 32 nm process technology. It is a dual-core processor without support for Hyper-Threading (2 cores / 2 threads). The base frequency is 2.6 GHz, the multiplier is locked, and overclocking is not possible. It has an L3 cache of 3 MB and an integrated graphics core — Intel HD Graphics (6 Execution Units, frequency up to 1100 MHz).

Key Features:

- TDP of only 35 W — perfect for compact systems.

- Support for virtualization (Intel VT-x).

- Integrated GPU for basic graphics.

Performance:

In Cinebench R23 tests, the processor scores around 500 points (single-threaded — ~120). For comparison, the modern Pentium Gold G7400 (Alder Lake) scores 1800 points. The G860T is suitable only for light tasks: office work, browsing, and watching HD videos.

Compatible Motherboards

Socket and Chipsets

The processor uses the LGA 1155 socket. Compatible chipsets include:

- H61, B75 — budget options with basic features.

- H67, P67, Z68 — support for overclocking (but G860T cannot be overclocked).

Selection Notes:

- New LGA 1155 boards are no longer produced. In 2025, they can only be found on the secondary market (for example, used ASUS P8H61-M LX — $15–25).

- Ensure that the motherboard's BIOS supports Sandy Bridge.

Model Examples:

- Gigabyte GA-H61M-S1 (price in 2025 on remaining stock — $30–40).

- ASRock B75 Pro3-M (supports SATA III and USB 3.0).

Supported Memory

The Pentium G860T operates with DDR3-1066/1333 MHz in dual-channel mode. The maximum capacity is 32 GB (theoretically), but in practice, most H61 boards are limited to 16 GB.

Important:

- DDR4/DDR5 are not supported.

- For everyday tasks, 4–8 GB is sufficient (for example, Kingston ValueRAM DDR3-1333 8GB — $20–25 for a new module).

Power Supply Recommendations

With a TDP of 35 W, the processor places minimal load on the system. Even considering other components, a power supply of 300–400 W is sufficient.

Examples:

- Be Quiet! System Power 10 350W ($45) — quiet and reliable.

- For systems with a discrete graphics card (e.g., GT 1030), the EVGA 450 BR ($55) is suitable.

Tip: Don't skimp on the PSU for older builds — low-quality units can damage components.

Pros and Cons

Advantages

- Energy Efficiency — suitable for passive cooling.

- Low Price — the processor costs $5–10 on the secondary market.

- Compactness — ideal for small cases (for example, Dell OptiPlex 7010).

Disadvantages

- Outdated Architecture — lags behind even budget Celerons from 2025.

- No Support for Modern Standards — PCIe 2.0, USB 3.0 (only through B75 chipset).

- Weak GPU — unable to handle even light games in 2025.

Use Cases

1. Office Tasks

- Working with documents, email, and browsing (up to 5–10 tabs).

- Example: A system with G860T, 8 GB DDR3, and Kingston A400 SSD (240 GB) boots Windows 10 in 15–20 seconds.

2. Multimedia

- Watching videos in Full HD (YouTube, Netflix).

- Limitation: 4K is not supported.

3. Home Server or NAS

- Low power consumption allows for 24/7 use.

4. Light Gaming

- Older titles: Half-Life 2, CS:GO (on low settings — 30–40 FPS).

Comparison with Competitors

1. AMD Athlon II X2 270 (2011)

- Pros: Cheaper ($3–5), slightly higher frequency (3.4 GHz).

- Cons: Higher TDP (65 W), no integrated graphics.

2. Intel Celeron G5900 (2020)

- Pros: Supports DDR4, PCIe 3.0, and has double the performance.

- Cons: A new G5900 costs $50–60 (in 2025).

Conclusion: The G860T wins only in price and energy consumption.

Practical Assembly Tips

1. Memory Selection: Use two DDR3 modules for dual-channel mode (for example, 2x4 GB).

2. Storage: Be sure to install an SSD — even SATA II will speed up the system.

3. Cooling: A cooler with TDP of 35–50 W will be sufficient (e.g., Arctic Alpine 11 Passive).

4. Graphics Card: For gaming, add a GT 1030 or RX 550 (but check compatibility with PSU).

5. OS: Windows 10 LTSC or Linux (Ubuntu) for resource optimization.

Final Verdict: Who is the Pentium G860T Suitable For?

This processor should only be considered in extreme cases:

- Budget Office PCs — if you need a computer for $50–100.

- Upgrading Old Systems — replacing a failed CPU in a Dell OptiPlex.

- Experimental Builds — for example, a retro computer for Windows XP.

Who It's Not Suitable For:

- Gamers — even Minecraft will lag.

- Professional Tasks — rendering, video editing.

In 2025, the Pentium G860T is a "workhorse" for minimalistic tasks. Its main advantages are price and reliability, but for modern requirements, it is outdated.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

April 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.

G860T

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

2.60 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.

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

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 1066/1333

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

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.