[Tom's] Benching Intel's Unlocked Pentium G3258

[SPBHM]

Too bad Tom's did not test with a heavily multi-threaded game like Crysis 3. I would have been very interested to see how the Pentium 3258 compared to the Athlon x4 750K using the test conditions below:


http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/piledriver-k10-cpu-overclocking,3584-10.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ivy-bridge-wolfdale-yorkfield-comparison,3487-10.html

P.S. I believe the top graph is mislabeled for the stock speed Athlon x4 750K and OC Athlon x4 750K.

closest thing is this:

but it's running with much higher settings and r9 290 vs 7970 (and no minimum)

but this game can perform differently, it's very dependent on the per core performance here:

also as usual Nvidia scales better with more cores

 

[cbn]

closest thing is this:

but it's running with much higher settings and r9 290 vs 7970 (and no minimum)

but this game can perform differently, it's very dependent on the per core performance here:

also as usual Nvidia scales better with more cores

Thanks for posting that.

Nice to see the Pentium 3258 @ 4.7 Ghz actually beats both the 3MB cache Core i3 @ 3.5 Ghz (although by a only hair in the first test) and the OC Athlon x4 760K.

 

[USER8000]

Thanks for posting that.

Nice to see the Pentium 3258 @ 4.7 Ghz actually beats both the 3MB cache Core i3 @ 3.5 Ghz (although by a only hair in the first test) and the OC Athlon x4 760K.

No minimums or frametimes though. Also I have played Crysis3 MP in the past and it was extremely taxing on the CPU(it really pushes all four threads),so much so I ditched my Core i3 for a Core i5. The Core i5 was noticeably smoother.

 

[cbn]

Tom's Best Gaming CPU for the money ( July 2014 ) up:

(Pentium 3258 displaces Athlon x4 750K)

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106.html

Entry-Level Gaming

We've long suspected that a low-priced, multiplier-unlocked, Haswell-based processor could rock the enthuisiast world, and we were right. Intel's Pentium G3258 enables incredible performance and overclocking headroom, despite its $75 price point. This is a dual-core CPU without Hyper-Threading technology, but it still challenges the quickest Core i3s once you tune it up.

Entry-Level AMD Alternative

At $80, the Athlon X4 750K used to be the lowest-priced processor with an unlocked multiplier ratio. Intel recently usurped its position as our entry-level gaming recommendation using the typically-quicker Pentium G3258. In the short term, though, we'll keep the Athlon on our honorable mention list, at least until lower-priced overclocking-friendly LGA 1150 motherboards show up.

Although the Pentium is a dual-core architecture lacking Hyper-Threading, Haswell's excellent efficiency earns the Pentium a low-budget gaming CPU recommendation as a result of Chris' findings. My only hesitation comes from the fact that Intel's most affordable platform controller hubs aren't designed to enable overclocking, forcing you into a more expensive Z87 or Z97 Express-based board. With that said, several manufacturers have started slipping out BIOS updates for their B85/H81/H87/H97 offerings with multiplier tuning tweaks. Some of those products sell for under $60. They're not supposed to be doing that, but we'll see how the saga plays out.

What does this mean for AMD's Athlon X4 750K, one of the CPUs that undoubtedly compelling Intel to capitulate and introduce an unlocked budget processor of its own? We'll give it the respect it deserves with an honorable mention, attributable to the supporting platforms selling around $55 that are designed for overclocking. Should Intel's board partners introduce low-cost LGA 1150-based solutions that don't require leaked firmware, the unlocked Athlon's days will be numbered, though.