Pentium G4560 CPU by Intel Review

The Pentium G4560 is a low-cost CPU from Intel, based on the Kaby Lake architecture, with two cores, Hyper-Threading, and 3.5 GHz clock. Let’s test it and check if is it a good option for a budget PC.
Recently, Intel launched the seventh generation Core i processors, codenamed Kaby Lake. At first, were launched the Core i7 and Core i5 CPUs, and soon after, the Core i3, Pentium, and Celeron models. Those processors bring small changes compared to the sixth-generation ones: new video decoder for 4K video, improved Speed Shift technology (that dynamically adjusts the CPU clock,) and support to Optane technology (which is a future kind of high performance SSDs.)
One of the new options on this generation is the Pentium CPUs, that come now with Hyper-Threading technology, which makes each physical core to be recognized by the operating system as two logical cores (threads). Until the previous generation, this was the main difference between Pentium and Core i3 CPUs, because only these last ones had it.
The Pentium G4560 has two cores, four threads, 3.5 GHz clock, 3 MiB of L3 cache, and TDP of 54 W. It is manufactured under 14 nm process.
In our tests, we compared the Pentium G4560 to its predecessor, the Pentium G4500. We also included the Core i3-7100, to check how much this new Pentium CPU is close to the entry Core i3 in performance. At last, we also included the Core i5-7600K to the comparison, in order to have an idea of the performance difference between low-cost CPUs and a top-mainstream one.
Figure 1 show the Pentium G4560 box.

Figure 1: the Pentium G4560 package

In Figure 2 you see the contents of the package: a small manual, a case sticker, the CPU itself and the stock cooler.

Figure 2: box contents

Figure 1 unveils the Pentium G4560 CPU.

Figure 3: the Pentium G4560 CPU

Figure 2 shows the bottom of the CPU.

Figure 4: underside of the Pentium G4560

In our benchmarks, we used the integrated video for the processing tests. However, for the gaming benchmarks, we disabled the integrated video and used a GeForce GTX 1080 video card on both CPUs, in order to see how the CPU power impact games, not the iGPU.
Let’s compare the main specs of the reviewed CPUs in the next page.
[nextpage title=”The Reviewed CPUs”]
In the tables below, we compare the main features of the CPUs included in our review.

CPU	Cores	HT	IGP	Internal Clock	Turbo Clock	Core	Tech.	TDP	Socket	Price
Pentium G4560	2	Yes	Yes	3.5 GHz	–	Kaby Lake	14 nm	54 W	LGA1151	USD 69
Pentium G4500	2	No	Yes	3.5 GHz	–	Skylake	14 nm	51 W	LGA1151	USD 73
Core i3-7100	2	Yes	Yes	3.9 GHz	–	Kaby Lake	14 nm	51 W	LGA1151	USD 120
Core i5-7600K	4	No	Yes	3.8 GHz	4.2 GHz	Kaby Lake	14 nm	91 W	LGA1151	USD 240

Below you can see the memory configuration for each CPU.

CPU	L2 Cache	L3 Cache	Memory Support	Memory Channels
Pentium G4560	2 x 256 kiB	3 MiB	Up to DDR4-2400 or DDR3L-1600	2
Pentium G4500	2 x 256 kiB	3 MiB	Up to DDR4-2133 or DDR3L-1600	2
Core i3-7100	2 x 256 kiB	3 MiB	Up to DDR4-2400 or DDR3L-1600	2
Core i5-7600K	4 x 256 kiB	6 MiB	Up to DDR4-2400 or DDR3L-1600	2

[nextpage title=”How We Tested”]During our benchmarking sessions, we used the configuration listed below. Between our benchmarking sessions, the only variable devicand was the CPU being tested.
Hardware Configuration

Motherboard: Gigabyte AORUS Z270X-Gaming 7
Memory: 16 GiB DDR4-2133, two G.Skill Ripjaws V F4-2133C15D-16GVR 8 GiB memory modules configured at 2133 MHz
Boot drive: WD Blue 1,000 GiB SSD
Video Card: GeForce GTX 1080 (on games), integrated video on the other tests
Video Monitor: Philips 236VL
Power Supply: Corsair VS500

Operating System Configuration

Windows 10 Home 64-bit
NTFS
Video resolution: 1920 x 1080 60 Hz

Driver Versions

NVIDIA driver version: 378.49

Software Used

Error Margin
We adopted a 3% error margin. Thus, differences below 3% cannot be considered relevant. In other words, products with a performance difference below 3% should be considered as having similar performance.
[nextpage title=”PCMark 8″]
PCMark 8 is a benchmarking software that uses real-world applications to measure the computer performance. We ran three tests: Home, which includes web browsing, writing, light gaming, photo editing, and video chat tests; Creative, that includes web surfing, video editing, group video chat, video conversion, and gaming; and Work, which runs tasks such as writing documents, web browsing, spreadsheets, editing, and video chatting. Let’s see the results.

On the PCMark 8 Home benchmark, the Pentium G4560 performed similarly to the Pentium G4500, was 9% slower than the Core i3-7100, and 19% slower than the Core i5-7600K.

On the Creative benchmark, the Pentium G4560 also performed similarly to the Pentium G4500, being 9% slower than the Core i3-7100, and 24% slower than the Core i5-7600K.

On the Work benchmark, the Pentium G4560 performed like the Pentium G4500, and was 4% slower than the Core i3-7100, and 10% slower than the Core i5-7600K.
[nextpage title=”3DMark”]

3DMark is a program with a set of several 3D benchmarks. Fire Strike runs a “heavy” DirectX 11 simulation. Sky Diver also measures DirectX 11 performance, and is aimed on average computers. The Cloud Gate benchmark measures DirectX 10 performance, and the Ice Storm Extreme measures DirectX 9 performance and is targeted to entry-level computers, so we don’t ran it.

On Fire Strike, the Pentium G4560 was 32% slower than the Pentium G4500, 34% slower than the Core i3-7100, and 43% slower than the Core i5-7600K.

On the Sky Diver benchmark, the Pentium G4560 was 38% slower than the Pentium G4500, 36% slower than the Core i3-7100, and 45% slower than the Core i5-7600K.

On the Cloud Gate benchmark, the Pentium G4560 was 5% slower than the Pentium G4500, 23% slower than the Core i3-7100, and 37% slower than the Core i5-7600K.

[nextpage title=”Performance in programs”]

Cinebench R15

Cinebench R15 is based on the Cinema 4D software. It is very useful to measure the performance gain obtained by the presence of several processing cores while rendering heavy 3D images. Rendering is an area where a bigger number of cores helps a lot, because usually this kind of software recognize several processors (Cinebench R15, for example, can use up to 256 processing cores).
We ran the CPU benchmark, which renders a complex image using all the processing cores (real and virtual) to speed up the process. The result is given as a score.

On Cinebench R15 CPU benchmark, the Pentium G4560 was 32% faster than the Pentium G4500, 10% slower than the Core i3-7100, and 46% slower than the Core i5-7600K.

CPU-Z

On its current version, the well-known hardware identification software CPU-Z comes with a benchmarking tool, which measures CPU performance for one core and for all available cores.

On the single thread benchmark, the Pentium G4560 was similar to the Pentium G4500, and was 10% slower than the Core i3-7100, and 18% slower than the Core i5-7600K.

On the multiple thread benchmark, the Pentium G4560 was 19% faster than the Pentium G4500, 12% slower than the Core i3-7100, and 52% slower than the Core i5-7600K.

HandBrake

HandBrake is an open source video converting tool. We used it to convert a Full HD, six-minute long .mov video file into a .MP4 file, using the “Fast 1080p30” output profile. The results below are given in seconds, so the lower the better.

On HandBrake, the Pentium G4560 was 23% faster than the Pentium G4500 and 14% slower than the Core i3-7100. We didn’t run this program on the Core i5-7600K.

DivX

We used the DivX converter, a tool included in the DivX package, in order to measure the encoding performance using this codec. The DivX codec is capable of recognizing and using all available cores and the SSE4 instruction set.
We converted a Full HD, six-minute long .mov video file into an .avi file, using the “HD 1080p” output profile. The results below are given in seconds, so the lower the better.

On DivX encoding, the Pentium G4560 performed similarly to the Pentium G4500, being 6% slower than the Core i3-7100 and 33% slower than the Core i5-7600K.

Media Espresso

Media Espresso is a video conversion program that uses the graphics processing unit of the video engine to speed up the conversion process. We converted a 1 GiB, 1920x1080i, 23,738 kbps, .mov video file to a smaller 320×200, H.264, .MP4 file for viewing on a smartphone. The results below are given in seconds, so the lower the better.

Here the Pentium G4560 was also on a technical tie to the Pentium G4500, and was 11% slower than the Core i3-7100 and 23% slower than the Core i5-7600K.

Photoshop CC

The best way to measure the performance of a CPU is by using real programs. The problem, of course, is to create a methodology that offers precise results. For Photoshop CC, we used a script named “Retouch Artist Speed Test,” which applies a series of filters to a standard image and gives the time Photoshop takes to run all of them. The results are given in seconds, so the less, the best.

In this test, the Pentium G4560 performed similarly to the Pentium G4500 and the Core i3-7100, being 40% slower than the Core i5-7600K.

WinRAR

Another task where the CPU is very demanded is on file compacting. We ran a test compacting a folder with 8 GiB on 6.813 files to a file, using WinRAR 4.2. The graph below shows the time taken on each test.

On WinRAR, the Pentium G4560 was 12% faster than the Pentium G4500, 8% slower than the Core i3-7100, and 29% slower than the Core i5-7600K.
[nextpage title=”Gaming Performance”]
Keep in mind that, at the gaming tests, we disabled the integrated video and used a GeForce GTX 1080 video card.

Dirt Rally

Dirt Rally is an off-road racing game released in April 2015, using Ego engine. To measure performance using this game, we ran the performance test included in the game, in 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) resolution and image quality configured as “medium” and MSAA off.
The results below are expressed in frames per second (fps).

In this game, the Pentium G4560 was 19% faster than the Pentium G4500, 8% slower than the Core i3-7100, and 25% slower than the Core i5-7600K.

Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V, or simply GTA V, is an open-world action game released for PCs in April of 2015, using the RAGE engine. In order to measure the performance on this game, we ran the performance test of the game, measuring the framerate with FRAPS. We ran GTA V at Full HD, with all image quality set as “high” and MSAA off.

The results below are expressed in frames per second.

On GTA V, the Pentium G4560 was 80% faster than the Pentium G4500, 10% slower than the Core i3-7100, and 23% slower than the Core i5-7600K.

It is important to note that, at the Pentium G4500, the game was too “lagged” to be actually playable. At the Pentium G4560, it ran perfectly smooth.

Hitman

Hitman is an action/stealth game, launched in March 2016, that uses a DirectX 12 compatible version of the Glacier 2 engine. To measure performance in this game, we ran the benchmark in it, measuring the framerate with FRAPS. We ran this game with DirectX 12 enabled, with image quality set as “high”.
The results below, in Full HD and 4K, are expressed in frames per second.

On Hitman, the Pentium G4560 was 43% faster than the Pentium G4500, 6% slower than the Core i3-7100, and 29% slower than the Core i5-7600K.

Mad Max

Mad Max is an open-world action game launched in September of 2015, using the Avalanche engine. In order to measure the performance using this game, we ran its intro, measuring the framerate with FRAPS three times. We ran the game with image quality set as “high”.

The results below are expressed in fps and they are the mean between the three collected results.

On Mad Max, the Pentium G4560 was 5% faster than the Pentium G4500, performing similarly to the other CPUs.

Rise of the Tomb Rider

Rise of the Tomb Rider is an adventure/action game launched in January of 2016, based on Foundation engine. In order to measure the performance using this game, we ran the benchmark included on it, using Full HD resolution and graphics quality set to “medium”.
The results below are expressed in frames per second.

Also on Rise of the Tomb Rider, the Pentium G4560 was 42% faster than the Pentium G4500, 5% slower than the Core i3-7100, and 26% slower than the Core i5-7600K.
[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]
When the Kaby Lake CPUs were announced, everyone become curious about the new Pentium processors with Hyper-Threading technology enabled. As we expected, our tests proved that, in all the tasks where the four threads are used, the Pentium G4560 performed similarly to the Core i3-7100, being slightly slower only because of the lower clock rate.
It was also clear that the Pentium G4560 uses a weaker graphics engine (HD 610) than the Core i3-7100 (HD 630) and even than Pentium G4500 (HD 530). So, using the Pentium G4560 integrated video for gaming (or any GPU-demanding task) is not a viable option.
On the other hand, the benchmarks in games using a “real” video card bring an important discover: the Pentium G4560 performed similarly to the Core i7-7100, which is actually a CPU with excellent cost/benefit ratio.
So, the Pentium G4560 shown an excellent general performance for its price tag, which makes it a great choice for a low-cost PC, and even for a budget gaming PC, if you install an actual video card, since its integrated video is its weak point.