How good of a cooler do I need to overclock intel g3258?

[dave2849]

I am upgrading an older computer to be able to run the Dolphin (Wii and gamecube) and PCSX2 emulators. I have read that the intel g3258 processor is very good for this when overclocked.

I want to go with this processor because is is only $70 but I also want to know how much money I need to safely overclock the intel g3258 processor to around 4 GHz or more if possible.

 

[Cerb]

Stock or better. Stock often appears to be sufficient for >4GHz. If you want to get a better cooler, to save your ears, or give you a better chance of nearing 5GHz, any good $30 or so one should be more than enough, like the AR-01, Hyper212+, or I30.

 

[4ghz]

It really depends on the chip you get. But on average any cooler with 3 heatpipes or more should be ok for low 4's. Also G3258 can often be found on sale for $60 or less. Or as part of a motherboard combo for under $100.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

I got it to 4.4 GHz @ 1.16V stable under an hour of Prime95 small FFT on the stock heatsink, with temps in the high 70s and occasionally peaking at 81 or 82 (can't remember), where ambient was around 28C. Mine idles about 3-4C over ambient at that voltage. Haven't tried stress testing it for longer though. Note I left uncore at x32 and BCLCK at 100 MHz though, per the direction of an overclocking guide I read for Haswell. I'm just running it at stock speed now though until I buy a video card (may hold out for Black Friday sales there). I did manage to get a steady 60 FPS on Bully in PCSX2, though Okami drops into the 30s anytime it's rendering text. It mostly plays in the high 50s on that overclock. Haven't tried any other PS2 games. I don't know how much of the slowdown in Okami is from having absolute crap for a video card though (GeForce 8400 GS that I bought years ago for hardware accelerated video).

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I just naturally assume that the fabrication process for the G3258 is identical to all non-E Ivy-Bridge and Haswells.

If so, did anyone try delidding one?

Even without delidding, Grabowski's experience with the stock cooler makes it look promising either way. A CM 212+/EVO would go a long way.

Heck! Everything I'd read about it so far makes it look promising. . . .

 

[Flapdrol1337]

I had mine on 4.5 with the stock cooler, the pentium doesn't have AVX, so synthetics like prime/linx don't hit it as hard.

An aftermarket cooler will probably add 100-300 MHz to your overclock, will also be less noisy at full load of course.

 

[crashtech]

In my case stock cooler was good for 4.4, and a relatively cheap Hyper 212 Evo was good for 4.9. Temps were not an issue in either case. I would bet the copper-cored stock heatsink that comes with the G3258 could handle quite a bit more, I didn't test it because I didn't think I needed to at the time.

 

[Ken g6]

I just naturally assume that the fabrication process for the G3258 is identical to all non-E Ivy-Bridge and Haswells.

If so, did anyone try delidding one?

A quick Google found that some people have.

 

[dave2849]

I was going to get a cheap $45 micro atx motherboard to overclock on but am concerned about an aftermarket cooler being able to fit on the motherboard. Anyone using a cheap micro atx board to overclock the g3258 with an aftermarket cooler? I'll also note that my case is a gateway midtower case but still a little on the smaller side so not a ton of room for an aftermarket cooler.

 

[MongGrel]

I'd vote a 212+ myself, just for the bucks involved performance/size wise.