G3258 vs 4670k vs skylake

Bluescreendeath · (This post was last modified: 09-21-2016, 07:37 AM by Bluescreendeath.)

I currently have a G3258 OCed to 4ghz. Due to bad binning, I cant really get it past 4.0ghz with suitable voltage. The majority of dolphin games run fine but a few lags. I want to minimize or eliminate this lag. (I'm overclocking on an H81 mobo atm)

Should I:
1) get another G3258 and a better mobo OC it to 4.5-4.6 (cheapest option, ~$100)
2) Get a 4670k or 4690k and a better mobo (B85 that allows OC) and OC it to 4-4.4 ghz (~$200 option)
3) get a skylake i3? (~$200 option)

Assuming I can get a i5-4670k + OC motherboard for $200, or an i3-6100 + Z-motherboard for $185, what is the better deal?

I read that Skylake basically performs the same as Haswell, with a 5% boost...but may do up to 10% better in Dolphin emulator?

Bluescreendeath · (This post was last modified: 09-21-2016, 08:13 AM by Bluescreendeath.)

I am hoping to buy parts used if I'm going with Hawell. Is the extra money for Skylake worth it when performance improvements seem to be negligible? KabyLake benchmarks also seem to be unimpressive - 5% better IPC with only a boost in clocks. I presume Coffee Lake will not be LGA1151?

**DJBarry004** · (This post was last modified: 09-21-2016, 08:30 AM by DJBarry004.)

You should have bought the Z87 mobo instead of the H81, from the beginning. It would have been easier for you. Overclocking on H81 is almost (if it isn´t completely) -a pain in the ass- compared with the Z87.

Sorry for the expression but that was the info I found during research.

EDIT: Take a look at this article, it explains better. http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/1132-intel-haswell-chipset-comparison

Bluescreendeath · (This post was last modified: 09-21-2016, 08:58 AM by Bluescreendeath.)

(09-21-2016, 08:27 AM)DJBarry004 Wrote: You should have bought the Z87 mobo instead of the H81, from the beginning. It would have been easier for you. Overclocking on H81 is almost (if it isn´t completely) -a pain in the ass- compared with the Z87.

Sorry for the expression but that was the info I found during research.

EDIT: Take a look at this article, it explains better. http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/1132-intel-haswell-chipset-comparison

1) Nah. It makes no sense to pair a $200 Z-motherboard with a budget $60 G3258 cpu (from Microcenter). It would make sense to get a Z motherboard if I was getting a quad-k series. The only reason why I'm upgrading my motherboard is to get USB 3.0 headers.

2) H81 overclocking is actually extremely easy if you're using certain motherboards that have it enabled. It takes like 10 seconds to overclock on my motherboard. I've seen stats of other folks getting the G3258 to 4.6GHz with my motherboard, so I know it's a cpu problem and not a motherboard problem. There is a long list here of all the non-Z motherboards that can overclock the G3258 - some of the H81 series do quite well:
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/what-motherboards-have-non-z-overclocking-enabled-for-pentium-3258.2389948/

3) Tomshardware did a review of overclocking the G3258 on cheap H81 motherboards - it did fine, and could overclock a G3258 to 4.4-4.5GHz at 1.275-1.3v.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-b81-cheap-overclocking,3888.html

**DJBarry004** · (This post was last modified: 09-21-2016, 09:03 AM by DJBarry004.)

(09-21-2016, 08:53 AM)Bluescreendeath Wrote: 1) Nah. It makes no sense to pair a $200 Z-motherboard with a budget $60 G3258 cpu (from Microcenter). It would make sense to get a Z motherboard if I was getting a quad-k series. The only reason why I'm upgrading my motherboard is to get USB 3.0 headers.

2) H81 overclocking is actually extremely easy if you're using certain motherboards that have it enabled. It takes like 10 seconds to overclock on my motherboard. I've seen stats of other folks getting the G3258 to 4.6GHz with my motherboard, so I know it's a cpu problem and not a motherboard problem. There is a long list here of all the non-Z motherboards that can overclock the G3258 - some of the H81 series do quite well:
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/what-motherboards-have-non-z-overclocking-enabled-for-pentium-3258.2389948/

3) Tomshardware did a review of overclocking the G3258 on cheap H81 motherboards - it did fine, and could overclock a G3258 to 4.4-4.5GHz at 1.275-1.3v.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-b81-cheap-overclocking,3888.html

The thing is, that not every H81 mobo is manufactured the same way; most of them use high-quality materials, others do not. And that makes influence on how good a mobo can perform.

Apart from other circumstances, of course.

**ExtremeDude2** · 09-21-2016, 09:25 AM #6

Since when is a z mobo $200?

Bluescreendeath · (This post was last modified: 09-21-2016, 10:40 AM by Bluescreendeath.)

(09-21-2016, 09:01 AM)DJBarry004 Wrote: The thing is, that not every H81 mobo is manufactured the same way; most of them use high-quality materials, others do not. And that makes influence on how good a mobo can perform.

Apart from other circumstances, of course.

Indeed - a person needs to research the motherboard manufacturer and model. Some H81 are low quality, while others are decent quality and can overclock the G3258 quite well,

(09-21-2016, 09:25 AM)ExtremeDude2 Wrote: Since when is a z mobo $200?

2 years ago? Now they're about $150 or around $100 during sales. Some decent H81s were ~$40 during sales.

**admin89** · 09-21-2016, 11:38 AM #8

I got Asrock Z87E ITX (Top of the line board with Japanese Caps, high-end onboard audio) for $100 last year . I wasn't lucky with CPU silicon lottery, so I used pretty high Vcore to achieve 4.6GHz : 1.36V (safe voltage must be less than 1.35V)
I couldn't get it up to 4.7GHz without a suicide OC (1.4V)

Quote:Get a 4670k or 4690k and a better mobo (B85 that allows OC)

You can overclock G3258 with a certain B85 board but I'm pretty sure you can't do the same on i5/i7 unless you flash the bios . You must have Z97 board
Quad Core is a better option . Though it's expensive, you will have up to 20% boost in Dolphin
btw, my i7 @ 3.4GHz completely destroys G3258 @ 4.6GHz in Cemu

Bluescreendeath · 09-21-2016, 12:26 PM #9

(09-21-2016, 11:38 AM)admin89 Wrote: I got Asrock Z87E ITX (Top of the line board with Japanese Caps, high-end onboard audio) for $100 last year . I wasn't lucky with CPU silicon lottery, so I used pretty high Vcore to achieve 4.6GHz : 1.36V (safe voltage must be less than 1.35V)
I couldn't get it up to 4.7GHz without a suicide OC (1.4V)
You can overclock G3258 with a certain B85 board but I'm pretty sure you can't do the same on i5/i7 unless you flash the bios . You must have Z97 board
Quad Core is a better option . Though it's expensive, you will have up to 20% boost in Dolphin
btw, my i7 @ 3.4GHz completely destroys G3258 @ 4.6GHz in Cemu

I originally thought I couldn't OC with it too, but this guy on Overclock.net with the same B85 board as me was able to overclock his 4670k with the F14 BIOS. I assume the F15 BIOS disables overclocking, since it mentions Intel microcode updates and Windows 10 Angry

http://www.overclock.net/t/1599459/gigabyte-b85m-d3h-overclocking-a-i5-4670k

Luckily, this board was dual-BIOS so I don't have to be afraid of bricking my board.

**Helios** · (This post was last modified: 09-21-2016, 10:52 PM by Helios.)

lololol @ everything in this thread.

If your goal is just Dolphin and nothing else, getting a new G3258 may be a better deal. Although I've never heard of a G3258 that couldn't break 4 ghz. Motherboard issue?

If you want a general HTPC, Haswell / Skylake i3.

If you want a general purpose system that can do other modern games, Skylake i5 / i7 as money permits. i7 will let you crank up settings to their highest in some games that like to use a lot of threads (Battlefield comes to mind)

For the last option, there is no reason to get Haswell. You'll be buying a new board anyways and Intel chips do not deprecate in price quickly.