Pentium G3258 is it worth it?

[Tjc222]

I'm looking to build a mini gaming rig and was wondering if the Pentium G3258 is worth it at the $60 value.

Edit: Is it also worth to buy the Pentium G3258 if you're not going to mess around with OCing it? I'm not big into OCing and don't really want to buy a CPU which requires an OC on it.

[TheKDub]

Yes. (Overclock the fuck out of it for best value.)

[Paralectic]

Yes. (Overclock the fuck out of it for best value.)

With a cooler more expensive than the CPU itself

[Kermit]

I have a Pentium G860 and I find it fine for gaming, except for games like Arma 2 and 3. Dual-core will probably get you decent performance for the games you want to play on your machine. 

 

btw - your "mini gaming rig" is probably going to be 5x faster than my gaming PC with 2010 parts -__-

[Vacsol]

it's only really worth it if you're overclocking

 

what parts are you looking at for your build?

[Andi]

not really, get at least a dual core with HT, I3-4130 or if you want a AMD Athlon X4 860K

[failblox]

It's worth it if you're going to OC it. If you really don't want to OC it, then nope.

I'd say to just OC it. OCing isn't that difficult once you understand how the basics work.

[Wingfan]

If your not OC'ing then no, this CPU needs to be pushed

[Tjc222]

it's only really worth it if you're overclocking

 

what parts are you looking at for your build?

I don't have the full part list yet but, I was thinking about adding a R7 265 / 750 Ti, a 500W PSU, 8GB of ram and a 1TB HDD. It was going to be a small gaming pc and nothing fancy but, I want it to be able to play most games on at least medium settings.

[DanielB126]

The over-clock ability is great, but I would prefer something with more cores, but if you're on a tight budget, go for it.

[Tjc222]

I'm on a $550 budget and don't know much about lower end components. I usually only deal with higher end stuff when building rigs for others and myself. I just wanted a mini PC I could just easily take to like a friends house (because they usually give me shitty laptops to play on).

[Kermit]

The thing is, I would over clock it only if you want a ton of performance out of your machine. I haven't ever clocked my G860 because I've never found the need to. Until you start to step into CPU intensive games that require more than dual-core, I think your processor is a good choice. 

[fRodzet]

Overclocking the G3258 is probably the easiest overclocking task i have ever tried.. I bumped up the CPU to 4.8GHz in my brothers computer, tweaked the VCore a little bit and within a few minutes i found a stable OC level without touching any of the other voltages.

 

The G3258 is a beast in gaming when we're talking price/performance ratio, however, note that many games today can and will utilize more than 1 core, typically it's around 2 cores. So if both your cores are being maxed out when gaming, you do not have any headroom left for programs to be running in the background simultaneously with the game. This might cause high FPS drops.

 

Now due to it's low amount of cores, the G3258 heat output is not very immense, a cheap air cooler can easily keep the processor cool enough for a 4.7/4.8GHz OC with decent voltages (that is, if the processor ofcourse allows it). When overclocked, the Pentium processor is comparable to overclocked i7's/i5's in games where more than 2 cores is not necessary, which is roughly 90% of all games today. 

 

If you seek only gaming performance, the G3258 with some overclocking is straight forward the choice for you. However, if you wish to run things in the background while playing, you might be better off with an i3 with HyperThreading or a low-end i5. 

[Wirerat]

It seems as the op is interested in the unlocked pentium as a secondary rig. It is a great value for a rig that can setup for purely gaming.

[Sintezza]

 Basicly NO.

 

Especialy if you play gpu + cpu bound scenario´s.

Those reviewers just need to stop, about the whole Pentium G overclocked gaming voodoo magic BS

The only tests they show, are GPU bound scenario´s, on which the cpu does not make that much sense in the first place.

 

If you play cpu + gpu demending games, then you will see how weak that cpu is.

Trow BF4 on multiplayer 64+ people server on a big map like Chaina, and your pentium G will be rubbish.

Or trow Watchdogs or fully modded skyrim on it

 

Offcourse like i said, if you only play gpu bound scenario´s

then it will be a fine cpu, with a midrange card.

But i would not recommend it for an hardcore allround gamer.

[TacticlTwinkie]

For a secondary rig, such as a lan party/media box, its fantastic. I put one in mine, and it games quite well, especially for the price. Pair it with a mid-level gpu, such as a gtx 760, and you have a pretty sweet budget friendly gaming pc.

[Wingfan]

OP doesnt want to overclock, so he is better off with more cores and preferably a higher base

 

-edit- even tho the G3258 is probably the easiest to OC

Edited September 14, 2014 by Wingfan

[Malcolm]

If you own an rog mobo, you don't need to be an overclocker to get as much performance out of it. In my case, the mobo oc the cpu to 4.2 ghz with just the stock intel cpu cooler and the temps barely changed

 

Otherwise, if you don't want to oc, the cpu is capable for daily tasks, but don't expect to render or anything like that

[Totally-A-Hero]

I agree with @Sintezza . Here is a build, i recommend saving for a 270x though.

 

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LnKnXL) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LnKnXL/by_merchant/)

 

Type|Item|Price

:----|:----|:----

**CPU** | [AMD FX-4300 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd4300wmhkbox) | $99.97 @ OutletPC 

**Motherboard** | [Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-m5a97r20) | $89.78 @ OutletPC 

**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl9d8gbrl) | $72.00 @ Newegg 

**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex) | $56.98 @ OutletPC 

**Video Card** | [Gigabyte Radeon R7 260X 1GB Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvr726xoc1gd) | $99.99 @ Newegg 

**Case** | [Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-case-200r) | $49.99 @ Micro Center 

**Power Supply** | [Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx500) | $49.99 @ Amazon 

 | | **Total**

 | Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $518.70

 | Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-14 14:10 EDT-0400 |

[ComradeHX]

With a cooler more expensive than the CPU itself

Or just stock cooler for 4.5ghz.

 

If you play cpu + gpu demending games, then you will see how weak that cpu is.

Trow BF4 on multiplayer 64+ people server on a big map like Chaina, and your pentium G will be rubbish.

Or trow Watchdogs or fully modded skyrim on it

For me(with R9 280x), BF4 on ultra preset gets about 50-60averages(or higher in locker/metro) depending on map and only drops to 40s when levolution happens in Shanghai.

Planetside 2 also stays at 90fps(ultra again) until I get into epic fights between hundreds of players, then it drops to 30s like more expensive AMD cpu.

[Totally-A-Hero]

Or just stock cooler for 4.5ghz.

 

For me(with R9 280x), BF4 on ultra preset gets about 50-60averages(or higher in locker/metro) depending on map and only drops to 40s when levolution happens in Shanghai.

Planetside 2 also stays at 90fps(ultra again) until I get into epic fights between hundreds of players, then it drops to 30s like more expensive AMD cpu.

Ya the game is still playable for you but you are bottlenecking. Wouldnt happen with a 6300.

[ComradeHX]

Ya the game is still playable for you but you are bottlenecking. Wouldnt happen with a 6300.

6300 is more expensive, has much worse singlecore performance, upgrades to dead FX series cpu, and still need overclock to really get your money's worth.

If I don't want bottlenecking; I could simply buy a weaker gpu(but 280x was a much better deal at $210) or turn up the settings(downsampling from 1440p...etc.).

But I can upgrade to i5/i7 in future if I ever need to.

 

Sacrificing singlecore performance is especially bad if you play SC2...etc.

[Totally-A-Hero]

6300 is more expensive, has much worse singlecore performance, upgrades to dead FX series cpu, and still need overclocked to really get your money's worth.

If I don't want bottlenecking; I could simply buy a weaker gpu.

But I can upgrade to i5/i7 in future if I ever need to.

I agree, but if OP dosent really want to upgrade that soon, (sounds like a side rig so i doubt he would) a 6300 is a better option, all depends on what he wants really.

[ComradeHX]

I agree, but if OP dosent really want to upgrade that soon, (sounds like a side rig so i doubt he would) a 6300 is a better option, all depends on what he wants really.

Well, if it's a backup rig then it really does not need anything more than a pentium g3258 either.

Not to mention a mATX intel board can be quite cheap. 

 

================

I'm not saying Pentium G3258 is magical cpu that plays every game as well as the big i5/i7 haswells.

But Pentium G3258 really is a killer in the low-budget CPU market.

(still hoping intel releases a K-series i3 even if that would kill the sales of lower end i5)

[luke_2bossly]

OC yes h100i