When does a G3258 start bottlenecking GPUs?

[vSyNd1c4t3]

Hey guys, here to ask what seems to be like a simple question...

What's up with the G3258?

 

Why is it so highly praised?

 

Is this duo core really all you need for no bottleneck in modern gaming GPUs?

 

At what point will this CPU bottleneck a GPU?

What GPU is not bottlenecked by this CPU?

 

Can you overclock this CPU to 4.0 on an Air Aftermarket Cooler?

 

If I have the money should I instead get the i3-4150? 2core 4thread. (as it will not? bottleneck these cards I mention)

 

Is the G3258 enough to run a gtx 960 or gtx 970 to their maximum potential?

 

What can I expect this CPU to do realistically?

 

(I am looking at Nvidia cards ONLY, I would like 1080p 60fps High+ settings in modern games.)

 

I understand that some games require more CPU than they do GPU and vise versa, so obviously I'm not making these questions reliant on that...

 

Can a G3258 not max out 100% before a gtx 960? gtx 970? gtx 980? gets to 100% load?

 

I'm guessing there is a ratio in there somewhere, but I would like to know where the G3258 stacks up.

[arnavvr]

Get the X4 860K if you want to OC, otherwise get the i3

[Pie-jacker875]

Depends on what it is doing. If you're playing a game that is not CPU intensive you will likely not see a bottleneck.

[lovingGamer]

From what i learned is that G3258 is good budget CPU (For people that don't have a lot of money)
But i'd recommend something like I3 4130 or even better I5 4440
But G3258 is solid too, I have MSI R9 280X and when i get my G3258 i will test it to see how much bottleneck i will get, i know i will get it, it will be noticeable..

I will OC my G3258  to 4.2 (I will try not all CPUs OC the same)

[Jamdog]

It is so highly praised because it is an excellent overclocker at the price. It will hit 4.4GHz easily and keep on going to about 4.8 on some extreme air coolers.

It won't bottleneck many GPU's, but of course it isn't going to perform anything like an i5.

 

You will be able to achieve 1080p/60fps in most games quite easily if you have a good GPU to go along with it.

[TheRetiredSlave]

The G3258 is highly praised because it has an unlocked multiplier, which means that it can be overclocked very easily.. In games that don't need more than 2 cores, a G3258 OC'd to 4.5 can offer incredible performance with an exceptionally low price. Since it's a dual core, it can be overclocked with the Intel stock cooler. 

 

The biggest issue is just that more AAA games are starting to need more than 4 cores, so the G3258 can sometimes be overwhelmed. If you're playing a lot of new AAA games, an i3 will generally offer better performance.

 

 

The best thing to do is keep your rig's CPU and GPU roughly balanced. I probably wouldn't pair anything more powerful than a GTX 960 with the G3258.

[thekeemo]

eh maybe a 280 i wouldnt recommend anything higher than that if you wont pugrade

the whole point of it is to upgrade it to something that wont bottleneck later

[zonahbear]

I have a G3258 in my NAS and I love it

And it's an H97 board

my dad wouldn't let me OC it

[Blebekblebek]

it's kinda hard to explain especially if you already own something that lot faster than typical dual core processor

 

the only thing I can tell you, after I upgrade from Athlon X2

 

I love every new dual core series starts from old sandy to new haswell (G500/G600/G1600/G1800/G2000/G3000)

I don't even think about anything faster until this stupid AAA company locked their game based on "number of core" instead core performance.

 

when you on low budget but want to play games (1080p or lower), Celeron/Pentium is good enough if you pair it with good GPU.

[SteveGrabowski]

Virtually any AAA game made the last two years needs a four threaded CPU to run well with midrange or better GPUs. The only recent game I found to run well on my 4.4 GHz G3258 with my GTX 970 was BioShock Infinite. For low budgets the G3258 and a GTX 750 Ti or GTX 960 makes sense if you plan to upgrade your CPU within a few months to an i5 or better. If you don't plan to upgrade the CPU anytime soon then an Athlon X4 860k is probably a better option, with an i3-4150 being a great option if you're willing to go up to $105 or so. The GTX 960 would be a great GPU to pair with either.

[lovingGamer]

It is so highly praised because it is an excellent overclocker at the price. It will hit 4.4GHz easily and keep on going to about 4.8 on some extreme air coolers.

It won't bottleneck many GPU's, but of course it isn't going to perform anything like an i5.

 

You will be able to achieve 1080p/60fps in most games quite easily if you have a good GPU to go along with it.

A 280X is considered as good GPU?

[vSyNd1c4t3]

Get the X4 860K if you want to OC, otherwise get the i3

I'll keep that in mind, but I was looking to stick with Intel and Nvidia.

 

 

Depends on what it is doing. If you're playing a game that is not CPU intensive you will likely not see a bottleneck.

yes, I understand this. How often would I see a bottle neck though? 50% of the time?

Game examples... Skyrim, Watchdogs, Assassins Creed, Evolve, Bioshock, GTA V, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, ect.

 

 

From what i learned is that G3258 is good budget CPU (For people that don't have a lot of money)

But i'd recommend something like I3 4130 or even better I5 4440

But G3258 is solid too, I have MSI R9 280X and when i get my G3258 i will test it to see how much bottleneck i will get, i know i will get it, it will be noticeable..

I will OC my G3258  to 4.2 (I will try not all CPUs OC the same)

yes, the i3 4130 is the other option i was thinking about, we probably wouldnt get the i5, because the plan might be to upgrade a year after the original purchase, and we would like to see a big jump to justify the upgrade and the waiting. so we might upgrade to i7 by that point, but we are looking entry level.

dang, too bad you dont already have it all ready, I am really looking for someone that possible already has a G3258 with a GTX 960, as that is what we were thinking would do what we need.

 

 

It is so highly praised because it is an excellent overclocker at the price. It will hit 4.4GHz easily and keep on going to about 4.8 on some extreme air coolers.

It won't bottleneck many GPU's, but of course it isn't going to perform anything like an i5.

 

You will be able to achieve 1080p/60fps in most games quite easily if you have a good GPU to go along with it.

 

Our plan is gtx 960 or 970. We are Nvidia fans, and don't plan on doing AMD.

 

 

The G3258 is highly praised because it has an unlocked multiplier, which means that it can be overclocked very easily.. In games that don't need more than 2 cores, a G3258 OC'd to 4.5 can offer incredible performance with an exceptionally low price. Since it's a dual core, it can be overclocked with the Intel stock cooler. 

 

The biggest issue is just that more AAA games are starting to need more than 4 cores, so the G3258 can sometimes be overwhelmed. If you're playing a lot of new AAA games, an i3 will generally offer better performance.

 

 

The best thing to do is keep your rig's CPU and GPU roughly balanced. I probably wouldn't pair anything more powerful than a GTX 960 with the G3258.

 

Hmm, it really seems like the i3 will be worth the $40 extra dollars, but games that require 4 cores will just use the 4 threads as if they were 4 cores? (im guessing yes.)

Your input is really helpful, we have been on the line with the 960 and 970, I know the 970 will give the 1080p 60fps we are looking for, we are just worried about the CPU with that GPU.

----------------------------

Thanks everyone for your input, here is the build we are looking at so far...

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HY2CkL

[SteveGrabowski]

it's kinda hard to explain especially if you already own something that lot faster than typical dual core processor

 

the only thing I can tell you, after I upgrade from Athlon X2

 

I love every new dual core series starts from old sandy to new haswell (G500/G600/G1600/G1800/G2000/G3000)

I don't even think about anything faster until this stupid AAA company locked their game based on "number of core" instead core performance.

 

it's blazing fast and it makes me think people who bought i3 for their system is stupid (sorry for that)

when you on low budget but want to play games (1080p or lower), Celeron/Pentium is good enough if you pair it with good GPU.

Nanosuits did some videos comparing BF4 MP with a simulated 4.5GHz G3258 and a simulated 3.5 GHz i3-4150, both paired with a GTX 780, and the i3 blew it away. With the i3 he had GPU loads usually in their high 80s or above, while with the much higher clocked Pentium it was in the 60s and below a lot. And his simulated G3258@4.5 GHz behaved just like my real G3258@4.4 GHz.

[vSyNd1c4t3]

Virtually any AAA game made the last two years needs a four threaded CPU to run well with midrange or better GPUs. The only recent game I found to run well on my 4.4 GHz G3258 with my GTX 970 was BioShock Infinite. For low budgets the G3258 and a GTX 750 Ti or GTX 960 makes sense if you plan to upgrade your CPU within a few months to an i5 or better. If you don't plan to upgrade the CPU anytime soon then an Athlon X4 860k is probably a better option, with an i3-4150 being a great option if you're willing to go up to $105 or so. The GTX 960 would be a great GPU to pair with either.

 

Nanosuits did some videos comparing BF4 MP with a simulated 4.5GHz G3258 and a simulated 3.5 GHz i3-4150, both paired with a GTX 780, and the i3 blew it away. With the i3 he had GPU loads usually in their high 80s or above, while with the much higher clocked Pentium it was in the 60s and below a lot. And his simulated G3258@4.5 GHz behaved just like my real G3258@4.4 GHz.

hmm, so it seems the i3-4150 is the way to go as a starter CPU if I'm looking to get 1080p 60fps and I should just pair that with the GTX 970.

Does the i3 need better cooling due to it having multithread compared to G3258? I am guessing yes, but will an After Market Air Cooler do the job?

[Wingfan]

hmm, so it seems the i3-4150 is the way to go as a starter CPU if I'm looking to get 1080p 60fps and I should just pair that with the GTX 970.

Does the i3 need better cooling due to it having multithread compared to G3258? I am guessing yes, but will an After Market Air Cooler do the job?

Stock cooler is fine, since it cant OC you wont need to spend money on an aftermarket cooler

[SteveGrabowski]

Thanks everyone for your input, here is the build we are looking at so far

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HY2CkL

The $30 you spend for the Hyper 212 Evo is a waste of money that could be put towards the i3 instead. An i3 only has a 53W TDP and won't stress the stock cooler. My G3258 did 4.4GHz fine in the middle of summer in Texas on the stock cooler. Maybe if you get a crappy Pentium out of the silicon lottery you could need better cooling to over clock above 4GHz, but no need to get it from the start when so many people get heavy over clocks on the stock cooler.

GTX 970 with an overclocked G3258 isn't something that makes much sense. I ran that setup and it wasn't a very good gaming experience, with really unsteady frame rates that were incredibly distracting when playing games other than BioShock Infinite. Skyrim wasn't fun to play in that setup. Neither was Tomb Raider. Far Cry 4 wouldn't even launch on a Pentium. I never even bothered with the hardcore performance stuff like Crysis 3 until replacing the Pentium with a Xeon E3 (it's like an i7).

[NerdNinja]

From what i learned is that G3258 is good budget CPU (For people that don't have a lot of money)

But i'd recommend something like I3 4130 or even better I5 4440

But G3258 is solid too, I have MSI R9 280X and when i get my G3258 i will test it to see how much bottleneck i will get, i know i will get it, it will be noticeable..

I will OC my G3258  to 4.2 (I will try not all CPUs OC the same)

 

Could you possibly tag me or PM me when this happens? I'm curious to know because I might hold off till I can afford an i5 depending on the results.

[NerdNinja]

Crap. Double post! Chromebook has been acting up lately

 

mod's please delete! <3 

[SteveGrabowski]

hmm, so it seems the i3-4150 is the way to go as a starter CPU if I'm looking to get 1080p 60fps and I should just pair that with the GTX 970.

Does the i3 need better cooling due to it having multithread compared to G3258? I am guessing yes, but will an After Market Air Cooler do the job?

The GTX 970 is a pretty high end GPU despite the reasonable price, and to really use it to its potential demands an i5 or better. It doesn't make sense to buy an expensive GPU and cheap CPU. A $175 i5-4440 will run a 970 really well, and 1080p ultra at 60 FPS should be achievable in most games with such a setup. You should keep mostly 95-100% GPU usage in such a setup, as I usually can on my Xeon E3 by turning off HT to simulate an i5. The HT on an i3 makes a big difference vs the Pentium, but it's still not as good as having the actual 4 cores an i5 has. The i5 really is the sweet spot for gaming, since it can run a GPU 2-4 times as expensive very well.

With an i3 you'll still get a really solid gaming experience with a GTX 960. Eurogamer.net has benched this a lot recently, and the results look great. And it's $200 cheaper than i5+970. 1080p ultra at 60 fps isn't happening on as a general rule on an i3+960 system, but it should be awesome playing games on high and occasionally medium, but mostly high.

[vSyNd1c4t3]

Stock cooler is fine, since it cant OC you wont need to spend money on an aftermarket cooler

 

Thanks you for saving me some $$$

 

 

The $30 you spend for the Hyper 212 Evo is a waste of money that could be put towards the i3 instead. An i3 only has a 53W TDP and won't stress the stock cooler. My G3258 did 4.4GHz fine in the middle of summer in Texas on the stock cooler. Maybe if you get a crappy Pentium out of the silicon lottery you could need better cooling to over clock above 4GHz, but no need to get it from the start when so many people get heavy over clocks on the stock cooler.

GTX 970 with an overclocked G3258 isn't something that makes much sense. I ran that setup and it wasn't a very good gaming experience, with really unsteady frame rates that were incredibly distracting when playing games other than BioShock Infinite. Skyrim wasn't fun to play in that setup. Neither was Tomb Raider. Far Cry 4 wouldn't even launch on a Pentium. I never even bothered with the hardcore performance stuff like Crysis 3 until replacing the Pentium with a Xeon E3 (it's like an i7).

 

The GTX 970 is a pretty high end GPU despite the reasonable price, and to really use it to its potential demands an i5 or better. It doesn't make sense to buy an expensive GPU and cheap CPU. A $175 i5-4440 will run a 970 really well, and 1080p ultra at 60 FPS should be achievable in most games with such a setup. You should keep mostly 95-100% GPU usage in such a setup, as I usually can on my Xeon E3 by turning off HT to simulate an i5. The HT on an i3 makes a big difference vs the Pentium, but it's still not as good as having the actual 4 cores an i5 has. The i5 really is the sweet spot for gaming, since it can run a GPU 2-4 times as expensive very well.

With an i3 you'll still get a really solid gaming experience with a GTX 960. Eurogamer.net has benched this a lot recently, and the results look great. And it's $200 cheaper than i5+970. 1080p ultra at 60 fps isn't happening on as a general rule on an i3+960 system, but it should be awesome playing games on high and occasionally medium, but mostly high.

 

This seems to sum up exactly what I was trying to figure out in the first place, thank you fellow Texan.

[SteveGrabowski]

This seems to sum up exactly what I was trying to figure out in the first place, thank you fellow Texan.

 

Sure. Glad to help. Since you were asking about aftermarket cooling on Intel CPUs, my thoughts on it are:

 

1. Doesn't make sense with a Pentium G3258 since for the price of Pentium G3258 + Hyper 212 EVO you can get an i3.

 

2. Doesn't make sense with an i3 since they're very low power chips that don't generate a lot of heat.

 

3. Usually doesn't make sense with a locked i5 since the stock cooler is usually enough. Sometimes you'll see people with locked i5s that run in the mid to high 70s Celsius who would benefit from a better cooler, but this seems to be more the exception than the rule.

 

4. Critical if you're overclocking an i5-4670k, i5-4690k, i7-4770k, or i7-4790k, since higher clocks usually generate lots of heat with these CPUs. With these kind of CPUs it often makes sense to buy an even better cooler, like a Noctua NH-D15 or Corsair H100i for example.

 

5. Sometimes makes sense with a locked i7 or Xeon E3, as these CPUs seem to be all over the map when it comes to temperatures. I got lucky with my Xeon E3, as it runs very cool on the stock cooler, but that's not always the case.

 

6. 100% needed for enthusiast CPUs like the i7-5820k, i7-5930k, i7-5960x, since these are 130W CPUs at stock and don't come with coolers. These should usually be paired with a high-end air cooler like a Noctua NH-D15 or a high-end water cooler like a Corsair H100i.

[vSyNd1c4t3]

And the whole reason for this post was!...

 

I was showing my brother my computer (Specs in signature), and convinced him he needs to ditch his console and buy a gaming computer. With this build he should be 1080p 60fps in every game, at better than console graphics settings. So he's pretty excited.

 

Here it is, probably pretty standard, but we buffed out some rough edges and really found our spot.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CvFksY

 

And if he changes his mind on his price point of $600 then we may decide to go with the $800 option of...

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7R8BJx

[Poster]

I paid 66 dollars for a G3258 and 212 Evo for a "scrapyard" build with my nephew.  I was able to OC it to 4.5 without any problem, and could very likely have gotten it higher had I gotten more time to work with it.  My nephew has since taken it and downloaded a plethora of steam games (as well as Minecraft, LoL, Dota) and hasn't had a single problem.  This is how a lot of people game.  Will it struggle with AAA titles?  Some of them, sure (or in Far Cry 4, won't even boot).  For the money, though, it's virtually impossible to beat for a ton of mainstream gaming.

[itachipirate]

I saw a lot online about FC4 and some other games refusing to play at all on dual threaded CPUs. The i3 would be better IMO and only bottlenecks the highest of high end cards (my fx6300 doesn't even bottleneck a 970 9/10 times)

[SteveGrabowski]

And the whole reason for this post was!...

 

I was showing my brother my computer (Specs in signature), and convinced him he needs to ditch his console and buy a gaming computer. With this build he should be 1080p 60fps in every game, at better than console graphics settings. So he's pretty excited.

 

Here it is, probably pretty standard, but we buffed out some rough edges and really found our spot.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CvFksY

 

And if he changes his mind on his price point of $600 then we may decide to go with the $800 option of...

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7R8BJx

 

The first system won't do 1080p ultra 60 FPS, but will still murder a PS4 and will probably get pretty close to 60FPS on high. The second should play most games at 1080p ultra 60 FPS.