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Intel Pentium Gold G5500

Intel Pentium Gold G5500: A Budget Processor for Basic Tasks

April 2025

1. Key Specifications: Architecture, Process Technology, and Key Features

The Intel Pentium Gold G5500 processor, released in 2018, remains a popular choice for budget PCs due to its balance of price and performance.

Architecture and Process Technology

- Codename: Coffee Lake (14 nm).

- Cores/Threads: 2 cores, 4 threads (Hyper-Threading).

- Cache: 4 MB L3.

- Base Frequency: 3.8 GHz (without Turbo Boost).

Despite its outdated 14nm process technology, this processor demonstrates stable performance for simple tasks. Hyper-Threading allows for more efficient load distribution, which is critical for a dual-core system.

Integrated Graphics

- Intel UHD Graphics 630: Supports 4K@60 Hz via HDMI/DisplayPort, hardware video decoding (H.265, VP9).

- Gaming Performance: In games like CS:GO or Dota 2, it delivers 30-40 FPS on low settings in Full HD.

Benchmarks

- Geekbench 6: 755 (single-core), 1496 (multi-core).

For comparison, the AMD Athlon 3000G scores approximately ~650 and ~1250, respectively.

2. Compatible Motherboards: Sockets and Chipsets

Socket: LGA 1151-v2 (not compatible with motherboards for 6th and 7th generation Intel processors).

Recommended Chipsets:

- H310/B365: Budget option (ASRock H310CM-HDV, ~$60).

- B360/B365: Supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 and more PCIe lanes (ASUS Prime B360M-A, ~$80).

- Z390: For enthusiasts, but redundant for Pentium (Gigabyte Z390 UD, ~$120).

Important:

- Update the BIOS before installation if the motherboard was released before 2018.

- Avoid H310 series chipsets with limited VRM power — they may not fully utilize the processor's potential.

3. Memory Support: DDR4 and Dual-Channel Mode

- Memory Type: DDR4-2400 (officially), but many boards allow for overclocking to 2666 MHz.

- Maximum Capacity: 64 GB (8-16 GB is practically sufficient).

- Mode: Be sure to use two modules for dual-channel mode (e.g., 2x4 GB).

Example: A Crucial DDR4-2400 8 GB kit (2x4 GB) costs around ~$35.

4. Power Supply: Power Calculation

With a TDP of 54 W and no discrete GPU, a power supply of 300-400 W is sufficient.

Recommendations:

- For Basic Builds: EVGA 400 W3 (80+ Bronze, ~$40).

- With Upgrade Headroom: Corsair CX450 (450 W, ~$55).

Tip: Don’t skimp on the power supply — low-quality models (like those from Apevia) can damage components.

5. Pros and Cons of the Pentium Gold G5500

Pros:

- Price: ~$60-80 (new).

- Energy Efficiency: Suitable for compact cases.

- UHD 630 Graphics: Great for replacing a graphics card in office PCs.

Cons:

- 2 Cores: Multitasking is limited (e.g., streaming + gaming – not an option).

- 14 nm: Higher heat output compared to 10 nm counterparts.

6. Use Case Scenarios

Office and Multimedia:

- Document work, browsing (20+ tabs), Zoom conferences.

- Playing 4K video via VLC or Kodi.

Light Gaming:

- Minecraft, Among Us, Stardew Valley — comfortable gameplay at medium settings.

Servers:

- NAS or home media server (e.g., based on TrueNAS).

Limitations:

- Video editing (DaVinci Resolve) or 3D rendering (Blender) will be extremely slow.

7. Comparison with Competitors

AMD Athlon 3000G:

- Pros: Cheaper (~$50), Vega 3 graphics.

- Cons: Weaker in single-core tests (~15%).

Intel Celeron G5905:

- Pros: Price ~$45.

- Cons: No Hyper-Threading, 3.5 GHz frequency.

Conclusion: The Pentium Gold G5500 is optimal if you need a balance of price and support for modern technologies (4K, DDR4).

8. Build Tips

- Cooler: The boxed cooler is sufficient, but for quiet operation, consider the DeepCool GAMMAXX 400 (~$20).

- Storage: SSD is a must (Kingston A400 240 GB, ~$25).

- Case: Micro-ATX (Fractal Design Core 1100, ~$50).

Example Build:

- Motherboard: ASRock H310CM-HDV ($60).

- Memory: 8 GB DDR4 ($35).

- PSU: EVGA 400 W3 ($40).

- Total: ~$250 excluding storage and case.

9. Final Conclusion: Who Should Consider the Pentium Gold G5500?

This processor is a choice for:

1. Office PCs: Reliability and low power consumption.

2. Home Media Centers: 4K video, streaming.

3. Budget Builds for Study: Text work, browsing, light applications.

Why You Shouldn't Choose It:

- If you plan to play AAA graphics games.

- For professional tasks (programming, editing).

Alternative for 2025: Consider the Intel Processor N100 (newer, 7 nm, but costlier at ~$120).

The Pentium Gold G5500 is an example of a successful budget solution that, despite its age, remains relevant for less demanding users. Its strengths lie in simplicity, stability, and minimalism.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

April 2018

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.

G5500

Code Name

Coffee Lake

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

3.80 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.

Yes

L3 Cache

4 MB

CPU Socket

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

FCLGA1151

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.

14 nm

TDP

54 W

Max. Operating Temperature

Junction Temperature is the maximum temperature allowed at the processor die.

100°C

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.

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.

DDR4-2400

Max Memory Size

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

64 GB

Memory Channels

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

Bus Speed

8 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).

37.5 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® UHD Graphics 630

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

64 GB

4K Support

Yes | at 60Hz

DirectX Support

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

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.

4096x2304@24Hz

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.

4096x2304@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.

4096x2304@60Hz

Number of Displays Supported

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.

Yes

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.

4 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.

Yes

Intel Boot Guard

Intel® Device Protection Technology with Boot Guard helps protect the system’s pre-OS environment from viruses and malicious software attacks.

Yes

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.

Yes

Intel Clear Video Technology

Yes

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

Yes

Intel OS Guard

Yes

OpenGL Support

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

4.5

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

755

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

1496

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

757

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

1521

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

2243

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

3821

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Ryzen 5 3450U

880 +16.6%

Xeon E5-1650

819 +8.5%

Pentium Gold G5500

755

Athlon Silver 3050e

697 -7.7%

Core i3-5010U

652 -13.6%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Xeon E3-1225 v2

1786 +19.4%

Athlon X4 950

1637 +9.4%

Pentium Gold G5500

1496

Celeron 7305E

1328 -11.2%

Core i7-3540M

1168 -21.9%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

EPYC Embedded 3151

796 +5.2%

Ryzen Embedded R2514

778 +2.8%

Pentium Gold G5500

757

Xeon Gold 6240R

740 -2.2%

Core i7-2600

723 -4.5%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Core i7-7560U

1732 +13.9%

FX-6330

1622 +6.6%

Pentium Gold G5500

1521

Celeron G5900T

1456 -4.3%

Core i3-6100TE

1380 -9.3%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Ryzen 5 3400GE

2303 +2.7%

Pentium Gold G6505T

2271 +1.2%

Pentium Gold G5500

2243

Xeon Gold 6314U

2217 -1.2%

Celeron G5905

2192 -2.3%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Core i5-3350P

4268 +11.7%

FX-8100

4046 +5.9%

Pentium Gold G5500

3821

Core i5-2310

3644 -4.6%

Pentium Gold G5420T

3452 -9.7%