Compatible with Intel 8 or 9 series Chipsets
LGA 1150
2 cores
3.2Ghz base frequency
Intel HD Graphics
2 Channel DDR3-1333 memory support
3MB Intel Smart Cache
Intel Quick Sync Video enabled
This wasn't available in India immediately after release. I had to wait few months before it became available in India. It has Intel's 4th generation Haswell architecture. It has 3MB cache. It is made on Intel's 22nm lithography. It has an inbuilt GPU which is suitable for regular activities but not for gaming, you can allocate upto 1.7GB for it's GPU. Intel officially lists it supporting memory speeds of only 1333 but many people were able to make it support memory of higher speeds. More information on this processor can be found here: http://ark.intel.com/products/82723/Intel-Pentium-Processor-G3258-3M-Cache-3_20-GHz
Don't go by the size of the box in pictures on internet, the box is small, if you buy a new sealed one, you'll most likely get a manual sealed at the side with a sticker, a Pentium sticker, an active heat sink with coin sized copper interface with a patch of grey thermal paste and the processor. I haven't used the stock cooler, I'm using TX 3 Evo.
I'm using this in ASRock's H81 Pro BTC motherboard, installing the processor was straightforward and convenient, putting the TX 3 Evo over it was a hassle, it was partly because of the size of the motherboard. Temperatures have been below 50 C on stock speed. I read reports on the net that some motherboards don't even recognize and start with G3258 if their BIOS wasn't updated, so I downloaded the latest BIOS and had it ready in a pen drive but to my surprise it started without the BIOS update, just to be safe I've updated the BIOS.
I didn't really have that much time for manually overclocking the processor as I had been busy with exams. I did use my motherboard's auto-overclocking feature and could easily get 3.8GHz, I could probably take it up further but I don't think my PSU can handle it. My PSU only has 20-pin ATX power connector instead of 24-pin one and 4-pin ATX power connector instead of 8-pin ATX 12V power connector. I'll probably become more experimental with overclocking in the coming days as I'm learning more about my MB's settings. It'll probably reach 4.6 when I get a new PSU.
Main thing I noticed is, lack of lag when I open many tabs simultaneously, pressing the favorite star in FireFox is not making my PC temporarily unresponsive as used to happen with my old processor. Games are also running smoothly and I could enjoy Alien Isolation without any stuttering.
This processor lacks Intel's Hyper Threading and many instructions. Being a dual core and lacking hyper threading, it can only handle 2 threads at a time. Some games like Far Cry 4 don't even start on dual cores without hyper threading. Even though this processor is better and more powerful than a Core2 Quad it is being ostracized by bigoted game developers. Once you overclock this processor, it's performance will be close to i3 4130 but please keep in mind it's power consumption will also increase when overclocked.
P.S: Earlier I rated this at 3 stars but I changed it to 3 and a half stars as this is unlocked compared with other Pentiums.
Pros
Cons
Overclockability and you get a suitable stock cooler
Lack of Hyper Threading and other instructions and increase in power consumption when you overclock.
I am running the 3258 @ 4Ghz with stock cooler, volts are barely increased, with a 350w psu. Haven't reached over +-54'c. IGP is also slightly clocked.
First off love this processor! You have to understand it is dual core with no HT (Hyper threading). Once you get past that, than you'll see this is one of the best bangs for your buck! I currently have one of these powering my spouse's gaming rig. I have overclocked it to 4.6Ghz at 1.38-1.4v. At this OC it beats out my i7 4930k in single core performance. For most games such as Arma 2+3, Titanfall, Sims, Dayz etc this chip crushes them. It's on par with my colleagues i7 4770k and my i7 4930k @ 4.9Ghz for single core performance. Once you pair it with a good GPU, you really can't go wrong. There are some games which will put a strain on the chip. I have yet run into a game I can't play. Although I do hear Sleeping Dogs, Unity, and most likely the new GTA, can barely run, if not at all, on this chip. So keep that in mind. I also don't see this chip being very future proof for gaming as more games become optimized for HT and multiple cores. That being said, I think this chip is perfect for a moderate gaming rig / HTPC.
A super good dual-core, if you don't care about energy usage
review by elektro
I picked up the G3258 after reading the miracle overclocks people were achieving with this chip. I was not let down. After buying one on sale off of Amazon for 55 bucks, and using the Biostar H81MHV3 board to overclock, I managed to get to a suitable 4.6 Ghz @ 1.33v. The only bad thing was the power draw. I know the wattage goes up a lot while overclocking, but I was hitting 88 watts under load. That's more than a stock clock i5 or i7. If you don't care about wattage usage though, this is the perfect chip for a novice overclocker.
Pros
Cons
Unlocked, heavily overclockable, great single-core performance, cheap
That's really nice overclock, considering the pretty much low end board, but it's the z boards that let this little bugger shine. I managed to get mine to 4,9Ghz with 1,47V on air with the chip sitting on MSI z97 pc mate. Under prime it hit 90 celsius in less than 10min, but in everyday use it was stable as hell and never went over 82C(ran it 2 weeks that way now it's 4,8 and 1,42, much cooler). It may due to the board being able to ramp up 130W of power to the cpu.
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