| Test Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Processors | Intel Core i5-4690K (Haswell) 3.5 GHz (35 * 100 MHz), Quad-Core, LGA 1150, 6 MB Shared L3, Turbo Boost enabled, Power-savings enabled |
| Intel Core i3-4330 (Haswell) 3.5 GHz (35 * 100 MHz), Dual-Core, LGA 1150, 4 MB Shared L3, Hyper-Threading enabled, Power-savings enabled | |
| Intel Pentium G3258 (Haswell) 3.2 GHz (32 * 100 MHz), Dual-Core, LGA 1150, 3 MB Shared L3, Power-savings enabled | |
| AMD Athlon X4 750K (Trinity) 3.4 GHz (34 * 100 MHz), Quad-Core, Socket FM2, 4 MB Shared L2, Turbo Core enabled, Power-savings enabled | |
| Motherboard | MSI Z97 Gaming 7 (LGA 1150) Intel Z97 Express, BIOS 1.3 |
| MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 (Socket FM2) AMD A85X, BIOS 2.5 | |
| Memory | G.Skill 16 GB (4 x 4 GB) DDR3-1600, F3-12800CL9Q2-32GBZL @ DDR3-1600 at 1.5 V |
| Hard Drive | Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB, SATA 6 Gb/s |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan 6 GB |
| Power Supply | Corsair AX860i, 80 PLUS Platinum, 860 W |
| Heat Sink | Noctua NH-U12S, Fan set to 100% duty cycle |
| System Software And Drivers | |
| Operating System | Windows 8 Professional x64 |
| DirectX | DirectX 11 |
| Graphics Driver | Nvidia GeForce Release 337.88 |
The Pentium G3258 isn't yet available; it's expected in stock towards the end of June. However, pre-order pricing puts it about £10 lower than AMD's Athlon X4 750K. That's impressive of course, but it doesn't take into account the fact that overclocking Intel's K-series (and now 20th anniversary Pentium) processors require a higher-end platform.
Intel says its Pentium G3258 is compatible with 8- and 9-series chipsets, and we used MSI's Z97 Gaming 7 for our tests. Of course, you don't need a £130 board. Z97-based offerings start at around £70.
But AMD's Athlon X4 750K is more flexible in that regard. The MSI FM2-A85X-G65 we're using is no longer available. A rough equivalent, MSI's A88X-G45, goes for £90, though. And you can find plenty-capable A88X-based motherboards for under £50. Take that difference into consideration when you talk about platform pricing.
| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| Adobe Creative Suite | |
| Adobe After Effects CC | Version 12.0.0.404 x64: Create Video which includes three Streams, 210 Frames, Render Multiple Frames Simultaneosly |
| Adobe Photoshop CC | Version 14.0 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates |
| Adobe Premeire Pro CC | Version 7.0.0, 6.61 GB MXF Project to H.264 to H.264 Blu-ray, Output 1920x1080, Maximum Quality |
| Audio/Video Encoding | |
| iTunes | Version 11.0.4.4 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC format |
| LAME MP3 | Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s) |
| HandBrake CLI | Version: 0.9.9: Video from Canon EOS 7D (1920x1080, 25 FPS) 1 Minutes 22 Seconds Audio: PCM-S16, 48,000 Hz, Two-Channel, to Video: AVC1 Audio: AAC (High Profile) |
| TotalCode Studio 2.5 | Version: 2.5.0.10677: MPEG-2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV |
| Productivity | |
| ABBYY FineReader | Version 11.0.102.583: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages |
| Adobe Acrobat XI | Version 11.0.0: Print PDF from 115 Page PowerPoint, 128-bit RC4 Encryption |
| Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 and 2013 | Version 14.0 x64: Space Flyby Mentalray, 248 Frames, 1440x1080 |
| Blender | Version: 2.68a, Cycles Engine, Syntax blender -b thg.blend -f 1, 1920x1080, 8x Anti-Aliasing, Render THG.blend frame 1 |
| Visual Studio 2010 | Version 10.0, Compile Google Chrome, Scripted |
| File Compression | |
| WinZip | Version 18.0 Pro: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r" |
| WinRAR | Version 5.0: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3" |
| 7-Zip | Version 9.30 Alpha: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" |
| Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
| 3DMark 11 | Version: 1.0.5 |
| PCMark 8 | Version: 2.0, Creative (Conventional) |
- An Enthusiast-Oriented Pentium CPU?
- Overclocking Pentium G3258 And Athlon X4 750K
- How We Tested Intel’s Pentium G3258 And AMD’s Athlon X4 750K
- Results: Arma 3
- Results: Battlefield 4
- Results: Grid 2
- Results: Metro: Last Light
- Results: Thief
- Results: Tomb Raider
- Results: World of Warcraft
- Results: Synthetics
- Results: Content Creation
- Results: Adobe CC
- Results: Productivity And Media Encoding
- Results: Compression Apps
- Power Consumption And Efficiency
- Haswell, Unlocked, For £55
dont buy a pc so cheap you cant cool it or have a good motherboard.
When the i3 is £90 and can be put in a cheap (£40) H81 motherboard without needing the effort of finding a stable overclock it seems a bit risky to go for the Pentium.
However, if a later upgrade to an i5K or i7K is planned (or you need the Z series chipset features) then the Pentium is a good way to start saving towards that upgrade while not compromising on the expense of an i3 or drop in performance of a regular Pentium.
Zalman CNPS10X Performa(~35$) or
Thermalright True Spirit 120i(~45$) should be enough to keep it under 80 degrees.
SOURCE:http://www.tomshardware.com/news/asus-overclocking-h87-h97-b85,27076.html
Anything above 4.3Ghz wasn't stable, even with the voltage up to 1.34v (not prepared to try higher than that as temps were too high). This was likely down to the cheap mobo, but I'm not going to complain about that, as it's still a nice overclock for the money.