MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results


Gaming 51% Yacht	Desktop 97% Nuclear submarine	Workstation 44% Speed boat


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing above expectations (77th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 23 performed better. The overall PC percentile is the average of each of its individual components.
Processor	With an outstanding single core score, this CPU is the cat's whiskers: It demolishes everyday tasks such as web browsing, office apps and audio/video playback. Additionally this processor can handle moderate workstation, and even light server workloads. Finally, with a gaming score of 89%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is very good.
Graphics	51.1% is a reasonable 3D score (RTX 2060S = 100%). This GPU can handle the majority of recent games but it will struggle with resolutions greater than 1080p at ultra detail levels. (Note: general computing tasks don't require 3D graphics)
Boot Drive	224% is an exceptional SSD score. This drive is suitable for heavy workstation use, it will facilitate fast boots, responsive applications and allow for fast transfers of multi-gigabyte files.
Memory	16GB is enough RAM to run any version of Windows and it's more than sufficient for nearly all games. 16GB also allows for very large file and system caches, software development and batch photo editing/processing.
OS Version	Although Windows 10 is not the most recent version of Windows, it remains a great option.

Sub-optimal background CPU (12%). High background CPU reduces benchmark accuracy. How to reduce background CPU.

Run History

5 years ago, 5 years ago, 5 years ago, 5 years ago.

System	MSI MS-7978
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) (all builds)
Memory	11.1 GB free of 16 GB @ 2.4 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors, 1024 x 768 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20161017
Uptime	0 Days
Run Date	Sep 14 '18 at 22:37
Run Duration	173 Seconds
Run User	GBR-User
Background CPU	12%

PC Performing above expectations (77^th percentile)

Actual performance vs. expectations. The graphs show user score (x) vs user score frequency (y).

Processor	Bench	Normal	Heavy	Server
Intel Core i7-6700K-$180 588,978 User benchmarks, average bench 81% U3E1, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 8 threads Base clock 4 GHz, turbo 4.4 GHz (avg) Performing way above expectations (95^th percentile)	89% Excellent	Memory 95 1-Core 137 2-Core 258 92% 164 Pts	4-Core 448 8-Core 677 70% 562 Pts	64-Core 685 42% 685 Pts
Poor: 70% ↑ This bench: 89% Great: 90%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 970-$200 834,238 User benchmarks, average bench 49% Asus(1043 8508) CLim: 1455 MHz, MLim: 1752 MHz, Ram: 4GB, Driver: 399.24 Performing below potential (76^th percentile) - GPU OC Guide	51.1% Above average	Lighting 63.5 Reflection 68 Parallax 66.5 52% 66 fps	MRender 70.9 Gravity 60.6 Splatting 54.5 50% 62 fps
Poor: 43% ↑ This bench: 51.1% Great: 54%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
Samsung 970 Evo NVMe PCIe M.2 250GB-$100 154,949 User benchmarks, average bench 235% 199GB free (System drive) Firmware: 1B2QEXE7 Max speed: PCIe 16,000 MB/s SusWrite @10s intervals: 1041 534 310 311 310 313 MB/s Performing below expectations (32^nd percentile)	224% Outstanding	Read 1,498 Write 1,338 Mixed 1,069 SusWrite 470 244% 1,094 MB/s	4K Read 63.8 4K Write 157 4K Mixed 84.1 288% 102 MB/s	DQ Read 981 DQ Write 1,120 DQ Mixed 1,014 774% 1,038 MB/s
Poor: 160% ↑ This bench: 224% Great: 280%
Adata Premier SP550 120GB-$45 22,057 User benchmarks, average bench 76% 68GB free Firmware: O1230C SusWrite @10s intervals: 171 128 55 55 55 58 MB/s Performing way above expectations (96^th percentile)	92.5% Outstanding	Read 515 Write 391 Mixed 359 SusWrite 87 75% 338 MB/s	4K Read 31.5 4K Write 121 4K Mixed 47.5 173% 66.8 MB/s	DQ Read 282 DQ Write 313 DQ Mixed 233 193% 276 MB/s
Poor: 51% ↑ This bench: 92.5% Great: 91%
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 1TB-$28 1,562,409 User benchmarks, average bench 89% 818GB free Firmware: CC43 SusWrite @10s intervals: 187 189 190 190 190 190 MB/s Performing way above expectations (88^th percentile)	108% Outstanding	Read 188 Write 188 Mixed 82.5 SusWrite 189 118% 162 MB/s	4K Read 0.8 4K Write 1.6 4K Mixed 0.7 141% 1.03 MB/s
Poor: 55% ↑ This bench: 108% Great: 112%
WD Blue 1TB (2012)-$35 3,105,054 User benchmarks, average bench 83% 915GB free Firmware: 02.01A02 SusWrite @10s intervals: 168 170 170 169 167 170 MB/s Performing above expectations (85^th percentile)	101% Outstanding	Read 182 Write 171 Mixed 95.2 SusWrite 169 113% 154 MB/s	4K Read 1.4 4K Write 2.8 4K Mixed 1.2 244% 1.8 MB/s
Poor: 52% ↑ This bench: 101% Great: 109%
WD Elements 2TB 35,768 User benchmarks, average bench 24% 1TB free, PID 10b8 Operating at USB 3.0 Speed SusWrite @10s intervals: 67 66 66 66 66 67 MB/s Performing above expectations (70^th percentile)	25.2% Poor	Read 64.5 Write 66.8 Mixed 25.3 SusWrite 66.4 74% 55.8 MB/s	4K Read 0.5 4K Write 0.4 4K Mixed 0.4 29% 0.43 MB/s
Poor: 11% ↑ This bench: 25.2% Great: 44%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 2400 C14 2x8GB-$42 66,222 User benchmarks, average bench 73% 2 of 4 slots used 16GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2400 MHz Performing above expectations (73^rd percentile)	77% Very good	MC Read 29.7 MC Write 29.2 MC Mixed 22.5 78% 27.1 GB/s	SC Read 16.1 SC Write 28 SC Mixed 22.9 64% 22.3 GB/s	Latency 57.1 70% 57.1 ns
Poor: 51% ↑ This bench: 77% Great: 88%

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System Memory Latency Ladder

L1/L2/L3 CPU cache and main memory (DIMM) access latencies in nano seconds

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Typical Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) Builds (Compare 2,308 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings

Gaming 51%

Yacht

Desktop 87%

Aircraft carrier

Workstation 44%

Speed boat

Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) - $150

CPU
Core i7-6700KIntel $180Bench 81%, 588,978 samples	817x
Core i5-6600KIntel $81Bench 72%, 342,244 samples	630x
Core i7-6700Intel $180Bench 72%, 282,363 samples	226x

GPU
GTX 1060-6GBNvidia $117Bench 56%, 1,368,019 samples	316x
GTX 1070Nvidia $132Bench 80%, 1,459,281 samples	305x
GTX 970Nvidia $200Bench 49%, 834,238 samples	221x

SSD
850 Evo 250GBSamsung $100Bench 103%, 951,591 samples	117x
850 Evo 500GBSamsung $109Bench 112%, 695,664 samples	74x
970 Evo Plus NVMe PCIe M.2 1TBSamsung $76Bench 310%, 455,997 samples	55x

RAM
Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GBCorsair $43Bench 82%, 606,405 samples	98x
Ripjaws V DDR4 2400 C15 2x8GBG.SKILL $40Bench 71%, 98,777 samples	83x
Fury DDR4 2133 C14 2x8GBHyperX $125Bench 73%, 59,072 samples	71x

EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER

Value: 86% - Excellent

Total price: $589

CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $279	Nvidia RTX 4060 $300	Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $134	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $184	Nvidia RTX 4070 $409	Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52

HDD	RAM	USB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $40	SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $35	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $43	SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $51	G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351	SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16