Intel G3258

kristera

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Sep 4, 2015
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1
looking to build my first pc.
i was wondering, is this good for gaming and applications?
ive seen some stuff on youtube and it says its ok for gaming.
and its ok for photoshop.
i just want to know if this will be okay playing fallout 4?
and if not whats another cpu in this price range that youd recommend? .
thanks!
 
If you are going to overclock it, the G3258 is great.

If you have no intention of overclocking, get the G3450. It supports DDR3 1600 (instead of only 1333) and has a decent clock speed of 3.4Ghz.

If you are on a very tight budget I would not hesitate to use either one of those, any cheap pair of fast 4GB DDR3 1600, and then spend every penny you have left in the budget on the best video card you can.
 
If you're very tight on budget, it's the best choice, but only because this is an unlocked CPU. So if you don't plan to overclocking then it has no benefit over other Pentium branded cpus.

But its days as a good budget gaming CPU are numbered. As more and more games will demand at least 4 threads to even run. AFAIK FarCry 4 already requires 4 threads as a minimum, so it won't run on this CPU.

You might be better off with an AMD cpu for the price as they offer more cores for cheaper. Of course with much lower per core performance, which would set you back in games only using 2 cores.

Sadly the reality is that you need to buy at least a HT capable I3, to be safe. But then you need to put more money on the table. But if you really don't want to be CPU limited you need to get an I5, with 4 physical cores.
 
I think the Core i3 is the best value intel gaming core you can buy. The Pentium is nice, but you get a whole lot more from the i3. You also don't get compatibility issues.

The i5 is only a good bargain if you're an established gamer looking to game for many years. If you're just wanting to get your feet wet in PC gaming, the i3 is all you need.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9483/intel-skylake-review-6700k-6600k-ddr4-ddr3-ipc-6th-generation/22

If you were going to overclock, I'd say Pentium all the way. But you're probably not.

Big discounts on this 3.7 GHz Core i3 make it an even easier sale:

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-i3-4170-Dual-core-Processor/dp/B00VDWJZ7I

http://www.microcenter.com/product/446260/core_i3-4170_37_ghz_lga_1150_boxed_processor

This is clocked 400 MHz faster than the one in the review.

If the previous two games using the same game engine as Fallout 4 (Skyrim, Fallout 3) are any indication, you'll see more benefit from, higher clock speeds than more than two cores. The Core i3 has you covered here, clocked almost as high as the i5 can turbo to!

http://techreport.com/review/23750/amd-fx-8350-processor-reviewed/5

And the Core i3 I linked is again clocked the same ass the Core i5s in that review.
 
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Some newer games have issues with less than 4 cores (Farcry 4 won't even run). Personally, I'd look at a lower end i5 over the i3, for the extra $20 or so, but that's just me.
 
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My suggestion still stands.

You can always get a newer CPU later as money allows.

You can't have the cheapest gaming machine possible AND performance AND compatibility with every single new AAA game all at once.

There are oinly a handful of games so far that won't run on 2 cores. Worry about tomorrows problems, tomorrow. Especially when the budget is the main issue.

I bet you get 1-2 years before you think about changing the CPU.
 
Funny that people are mentioning overclocking the G3258.

Just make sure you get a Z97 based board and not the H97 like so many vendors liked to put in combos with the G3258. Intel released a new microcode update a couple of months ago that effectively disables Windows 7, 8, or 10 from running on a machine with an overclocked G3258 - and in a few cases kept it from working entirely stock or overclocked. (BIOS updates have been released to remedy the latter problem) Microsoft pushed this microcode update out as via Windows Update to Windows 7 and 8 users, and it was ROLLED INTO the Windows 10 final builds (which interestingly enough makes booting the Windows 10 installer impossible on affected systems without various workarounds)

Yes, there are kludgy ways around the overclocking problem on H97M boards.... but I won't get into that here.

Just get a Z97 board.


With the above being said the G3258 is simply an a great little CPU even at stock speeds.... but it was literally MADE for overclocking. Seriously. That's pretty much why it was released like it was. Anniversary edition, unlocked multiplier. You can push these to like 4.5ghz with moderate air cooling without even having them break a sweat, 4.7ghz is usually perfectly attainable, and a few lucky people have hit 5ghz.

It's really a perfect solution if you want to build a very solid gaming rig on the cheap. You'll end up spending more money on a video card. :D
 
If they're not going to overclock, then the Pentium is a waste of money. A dual core is a dual core is a dual core, they're clocked so close that you won't notice the difference!

The celeron is only 500 MHz slower, and $25 cheaper. It will still perform within 85% of the faster Pentium:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=haswell_celeron-_-19-117-301-_-Product

Since everyone here has shot down my Core i3 recommendation, let's be sure to recommend the REAL value part. And if you're not overclocking, you can go with any old H81 or B85 motherboard, which should make the total under $100-120.

Had a friend buy a 2.6 GHz Celeron during the Ivy Bridge clearance two years ago.. he has not called me about performance issues ever.
 
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fwiw...you can get the g3258 for $49.99 if you have a microcenter nearby. but personally, my vote is for the i3-4170...which is $99.99 at microcenter, $109.99 at newegg.

or do like i am doing and wait to see what the skylake i3-6100 will be priced for...lol
 
fwiw...you can get the g3258 for $49.99 if you have a microcenter nearby. but personally, my vote is for the i3-4170...which is $99.99 at microcenter, $109.99 at newegg.

or do like i am doing and wait to see what the skylake i3-6100 will be priced for...lol


Yup, just picked up a 3258 for $49.99 today.
 
looking to build my first pc.
i was wondering, is this good for gaming and applications?
ive seen some stuff on youtube and it says its ok for gaming.
and its ok for photoshop.
i just want to know if this will be okay playing fallout 4?
and if not whats another cpu in this price range that youd recommend? .
thanks!

It is ok for everything, and will play almost every game with zero problems. The only exception will probably be Fallout 4 :D. Looking at their track record and recent past games it looks like 4 cores are necessary
 
I don't think fallout 4 will work out with a dual core. Most of these direct x 12 games coming out probably won't be too friendly to dual core. If you can hold out you can get the skylake i3 or pentium that way your motherboard will be compatible with the new cpu's coming out and DDR4. If you want something that can play those games now you need an i5. Going older than skylake will only save you about 50 bucks and your motherboard won't be compatible with new cpu's. When you want to upgrade you will have to get a new motherboard and new ddr4 ram as well.
 
The preliminary specifications that I have seen floating around the Internet recommend at a minimum an old Intel Core i5-760 or an old AMD Phenom II 970. Both are quad cores and I suspect (as well as hope) that Bethesda may be developing the game with multiple threads in mind. Having said that, I can't think of any of their previous games that haven't at least been playable on a reasonably-clocked dual-core CPU yet.

Skyrim could get a little flaky on my G3258 system at times, but it was playable. I have a friend that is running GTA V on his G3258 system and has had no complaints so far. It seems that as long as you get the chip above 4 GHz and the game or game engine doesn't require more than two threads, you should be fine.

As previous posters have mentioned, it is difficult to balance extremely cheap with good all around performance, especially when adding gaming into the mix. The closest you are likely to get is with a budget i3 and something like a 750Ti, which have just dropped in price recently. The benefit of at least getting an i3 is that it will not CPU limit your system in gaming in particular until you get to high-end graphics cards, which are probably out of your budget range anyway, if you are seriously considering the G3258.

As an alternative, I would recommend at least considering something like an Alienware Alpha the next time they run a special on them. I have two in the house now and they are excellent all-around boxes that are really cheap. I picked up the first one for $330 after rebate. Even after buying a cheap 128GB SSD, external HDD enclosure for the built-in 500GB drive, and an additional 4GB of DDR3L for it, I was only just a bit above $400 invested.

It plays everything I have thrown at it (newer titles at 720p) including Skyrim, Alien Isolation, GTA V, Dying Light, etc. with decent performance. With some settings tweaks, GTA V runs at 1080p and generally hovers in the 40 - 50 FPS range. I may sound like an advertisement at this point, but I have seen them hit that price a few times now and you are going to be hard-pressed to build a full system with a legit Windows license for that price.
 
G3258 is a bad choice for gaming, many games wont even boot since its just a dual core, i would buy a core i3 u can start more or less every game with that thing and it even looks like a quad core in windows task manager since it has hyper threading where G3258 has not..
 
G3258 is a bad choice for gaming, many games wont even boot since its just a dual core, i would buy a core i3 u can start more or less every game with that thing and it even looks like a quad core in windows task manager since it has hyper threading where G3258 has not..

I agree especially with the OP looking toward Fallout 4. I'd just spend the money and get an i5 and be done with it.
 
I agree especially with the OP looking toward Fallout 4. I'd just spend the money and get an i5 and be done with it.

Just remember, the Core i5 is not "just a few dollars" more.

Even at magical mystical Microcenter, the cheapest Core i5 is $160, versus $100 for the Core i3 3.7 GHz I linked!

http://www.microcenter.com/product/432161/Core_i5-4590_33GHz_LGA_1150_Boxed_Processor

http://www.microcenter.com/product/446260/core_i3-4170_37_ghz_lga_1150_boxed_processor

The Core i3 I linked has the exact same core speed as the TURBO of that Core i5. In other words, the i5 will not perform any faster on games that have less than four major threads. That's a whole lot of dough to spend for a very small benefit.

For the $60 premium over the Core i3, the Core i5 gets 20-40% higher performance in games that use 4 major threads.

For the $50 extra you spend going from the Pentium to the Core i3, you get:

400 MHz higher clock speed (improves ALL games by 15%)
2 extra threads (improves performance in games that use four cores by 20-40%)
AVX/AVX2 support, which is starting to become more of a factor now. Can add more performance depending on your use case.
Better compatibility (stupid game programmers).

And that's why I think the Core i3 is the best value versus the Core i5. It gets the most multithreaded performance for your dollar, while not sacrificing powerful single-threaded performance :D

See here where in a massively multithreaded game like The Witcher 3, it gets within 15% of the MINIMUM frame rate of it's Haswell Core i5 contemporary. That's a lot better performance that most people give it credit for! And in games that only use a single thread, it will perform exactly the same as the Core i5.

Remember when the entry-level Core i3 was clocked several hundred mhz slower than the entry-level Core i5 turbo? Yeah, those days are gone, so the VALUE of the Core i3 keeps going up!
 
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You forget the fact, that the I3 is still a dualcore. Sure it will run games requiring 4 threads. But they'll be slow. There is not much difference in not running at all, or running painfully slow.

That's why the I3 is a compromise, and a pricey one at that.

The best thing to do on a budget is to buy the G3258 (or if no OCing the best Mhz/price ratio G series Pentium) and upgrade to an I5 when Fallout 4 comes out. If it really will require 4 cores. But since it'll be using the same engine as Skyrim chances are it won't need 4 threads to run.
 
Nobody is debating the value of the i3 (seriously, it has fantastic bang/buck)...but do you really think that a i3 is going to outperform an i5 in Fallout 4 which is what the OP is building for? Obviously it hasn't been released yet, but the trend in newer games tend to do better with more physical cores, especially with a high end video card. HT isn't going to make up for the fact that it's a high clocked dual core part. Looking at 2016 and beyond, I'd value the i5's 4 physical cores over the higher clocked part personally.
 
You forget the fact, that the I3 is still a dualcore. Sure it will run games requiring 4 threads. But they'll be slow. There is not much difference in not running at all, or running painfully slow.

That's why the I3 is a compromise, and a pricey one at that.

The best thing to do on a budget is to buy the G3258 (or if no OCing the best Mhz/price ratio G series Pentium) and upgrade to an I5 when Fallout 4 comes out. If it really will require 4 cores. But since it'll be using the same engine as Skyrim chances are it won't need 4 threads to run.

Nobody is debating the value of the i3 (seriously, it has fantastic bang/buck)...but do you really think that a i3 is going to outperform an i5 in Fallout 4 which is what the OP is building for? Obviously it hasn't been released yet, but the trend in newer games tend to do better with more physical cores, especially with a high end video card. HT isn't going to make up for the fact that it's a high clocked dual core part. Looking at 2016 and beyond, I'd value the i5's 4 physical cores over the higher clocked part personally.


See, I don't understand why you people are going on and on about 4 real cores as being godlike. You acknowledge that the last two games using Bethesda's open-world engine are single-threaded (Fallout 3, Skyrim), but then you go ahead an predict MOAR COARS!!!

Also, I don't know why I fucking link benchmarks if you idiots aren't going to read them. What part of 77 fps MINIMUM in a demanding 4+ major thread title like The Witcher 3 don't you understand? The unlocked Core i5 only gets 87fps MINIMUM with that godlike 4 REAL COARS!

That's not "running painfully slow"

That's less th a a 20% increase for just this title, and that's for the $200 unlocked model. The budget Core i5 at $160 will be less than 10% faster. WHAT PART OF THIS SIMPLE MATH IS SO HARD TO FOLLOW? If Fallout 4 uses 4 major threads, then the Core i3 will still be competitive.
 
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quad cores are the standard and have been for a long time, there are even a few games that will only work if you have 4 cores, which I think is dumb but that is reality.

You are arguing about best value, this is too subjective to the specific needs of the individual. Even for a pure gaming only machine it depends on what games you play, not to mention the more power you have when you start the longer that system might last.

Calling everyone idiots does not make you look smarter or make anyone care more about what you have to say.
 
Calling everyone idiots does not make you look smarter or make anyone care more about what you have to say.

I linked benchmarks of one of the harshest game engines of 2015 getting a minimum framerate of 77 on a Core i3

I got a response saying the Core i3 is "running painfully slow."

How would you respond to such willful ignorance? I figured a little shouting was in order.
 
ill bet my left nut fallout 4 will run happily on an i3...ur gpu choice will determine how well it plays way more than the i3 or i5 choice.

Personally, if ur going i5, then u might as well go skylake...be stupid not too...

The i3 is seen as a quad core by any application that is multi threaded...period
 
I linked benchmarks of one of the harshest game engines of 2015 getting a minimum framerate of 77 on a Core i3

I got a response saying the Core i3 is "running painfully slow."

How would you respond to such willful ignorance? I figured a little shouting was in order.

Willful ignorance? I prefaced my comment that the i3 had good bang/buck but would personally get the i5. Your response? I'm an idiot :rolleyes:. Welcome to the ignore list...
 
Willful ignorance? I prefaced my comment that the i3 had good bang/buck but would personally get the i5. Your response? I'm an idiot :rolleyes:. Welcome to the ignore list...

personally I would get the I7 16gb of ram and the fastest video card I could afford, but I have never been a budget build kind of person
 
Willful ignorance? I prefaced my comment that the i3 had good bang/buck but would personally get the i5. Your response? I'm an idiot :rolleyes:. Welcome to the ignore list...

My apologies, I should have just quoted M76. I got carried away on that response.
 
Man these debates between Dual Cores and Quad Cores brings out worse argument's then politics :D
 
Hard to say with games that come out nowadays (lol batman) but it will probably run it. Depends what you are willing to put up with performance wise. It might be in the 30s-40s fps or end up choking constantly from 60.

I had to rma my 4 core intel a few months back and had to use a pentium as backup. I could barely stand it with all the screen freezing with just multitasking (not gaming.) When I played some older games okay but newer ones like gta5 was funny.
 
my wife is a writer, her laptop was a I3 with 8gb ram and a good SSD. She doesn't play games, just doing basic things it felt so slow I wanted to throw it across the room. She gets nothing but the top of the line CPUs anymore. It isn't a bargain if it makes you angry.

:D
 
Funny that people are mentioning overclocking the G3258.

Just make sure you get a Z97 based board and not the H97 like so many vendors liked to put in combos with the G3258. Intel released a new microcode update a couple of months ago that effectively disables Windows 7, 8, or 10 from running on a machine with an overclocked G3258 - and in a few cases kept it from working entirely stock or overclocked. (BIOS updates have been released to remedy the latter problem) Microsoft pushed this microcode update out as via Windows Update to Windows 7 and 8 users, and it was ROLLED INTO the Windows 10 final builds (which interestingly enough makes booting the Windows 10 installer impossible on affected systems without various workarounds)

Yes, there are kludgy ways around the overclocking problem on H97M boards.... but I won't get into that here.

Just get a Z97 board.


With the above being said the G3258 is simply an a great little CPU even at stock speeds.... but it was literally MADE for overclocking. Seriously. That's pretty much why it was released like it was. Anniversary edition, unlocked multiplier. You can push these to like 4.5ghz with moderate air cooling without even having them break a sweat, 4.7ghz is usually perfectly attainable, and a few lucky people have hit 5ghz.

It's really a perfect solution if you want to build a very solid gaming rig on the cheap. You'll end up spending more money on a video card. :D

Actually, you can overclock with some H81-based motherboards (my MSI H81-E33 for example); the shocker is I haven't felt ANY need to overcrank it yet - and that is despite having some of the slowest DDR3 in it. (The only thing going for the RAM is that its CL9 - and that I bought it back when DDR3 was in glut turf during the beginning of my two year stall; still, it's friggin DDR3-1333 that's been on a shelf for those two years.)

G3258 was indeed designed to be overcranked - even the methodology is very old-school (the unlocked multiplier dates back to Core 2 - and was called the equivalent of the infamous "dial-a-yield" on nuclear warheads); the only minus was that you needed a Z-series motherboard until recently (B85 was the first non-Z chipset to support this method of overclocking; however, it has dropped even further down the price sheet since). While Z97 isn't all that expensive, in some form-factors, the choice is rather sparse at certain price-points.

I bought G3258 as a placeholder; however, it's a scarily-capable placeholder.
 
The Windows 10 upgrade problem wasn't because of the overclocked G3258, it happened when MS pushed a "required CPU" list. Some CPU's didn't make it to the list or some installs would not recognize Haswell CPU's with certain chipsets.

I had the problem initially, I put off upgrading to windows 10 for a few days because I couldn't understand how my CPU wasn't capable of running it. I found the solution when I stopped being lazy, was rather easy.
 
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