MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results


Gaming 34% Sail boat	Desktop 97% Nuclear submarine	Workstation 30% Sail boat


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing above expectations (71st percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 29 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 typical workstation, and even moderate server workloads. Finally, with a gaming score of 97%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is excellent.
Graphics	28.4% is a below average 3D score (RTX 2060S = 100%). This GPU can handle older games but it will struggle to render recent games at resolutions greater than 1080p. (Note: general computing tasks don't require 3D graphics)
Boot Drive	105% is a very good SSD score. This drive is suitable for moderate workstation use, it will facilitate fast boots, responsive applications and ensure minimum IO wait times.
Memory	32GB is enough RAM to run any version of Windows and it's far more than any current game requires. 32GB will also allow for large file and system caches, virtual machine hosting, software development, video editing and batch multimedia processing.
OS Version	Although Windows 10 is not the most recent version of Windows, it remains a great option.

Run History

7 years ago, 7 years ago.

System	MSI MS-7978
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) (all builds)
Memory	25.3 GB free of 32 GB @ 2.4 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20160223
Uptime	2 Days
Run Date	Feb 12 '17 at 10:03
Run Duration	168 Seconds
Run User	THA-User
Background CPU	6%

PC Performing above expectations (71^st 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 (100^th percentile)	97% Outstanding	Memory 94 1-Core 140 2-Core 280 95% 172 Pts	4-Core 540 8-Core 766 82% 653 Pts	64-Core 771 48% 771 Pts
Poor: 70% ↑ This bench: 97% Great: 90%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 950-$100 111,509 User benchmarks, average bench 26% Asus(1043 8569) 2GB CLim: 1443 MHz, MLim: 1652 MHz, Ram: 2GB, Driver: 376.53 Performing way above expectations (94^th percentile)	28.4% Poor	Lighting 35.3 Reflection 34.3 Parallax 30.8 29% 33.5 fps	MRender 37.7 Gravity 31.3 Splatting 32.8 28% 33.9 fps
Poor: 22% ↑ This bench: 28.4% Great: 28%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
SanDisk Ultra II 240GB-$40 53,931 User benchmarks, average bench 82% 208GB free Firmware: X41100RL Max speed: SATA 3.0 600 MB/s Performing as expected (40^th percentile) (ID) Attribute Now Worst Value (05) Reallocated sector count 100 100 0 (09) Power-on hours count 100 100 1071 (0C) Power cycle count 100 100 232 (A5) Unknown 100 100 2949147 (A6) Unknown 100 100 1 (A7) Unknown 100 100 42 (A8) Unknown 100 100 2 (A9) Unknown 100 100 353 (AA) Unknown 100 100 0 (AB) Unknown 100 100 0 (AC) Unknown 100 100 0 (AD) Unknown 100 100 1 (AE) Unknown 100 100 5 (B8) Unknown 100 100 0 (BB) vendor-specific 100 100 0 (BC) Unknown 100 100 0 (C2) HDA temperature 65 63 270584709155 (C7) UDMA CRC error rate 100 100 0 (E6) GMR head amplitude 100 100 30065688590 (E8) Unknown 100 100 100 (E9) Unknown 100 100 235 (EA) Unknown 100 100 281 (F1) Unknown 253 253 271 (F2) Unknown 253 253 14 (F4) Unknown 0 100 0	79.5% Very good	Read 498 Write 164 Mixed 205 63% 289 MB/s	4K Read 37 4K Write 84.7 4K Mixed 19.9 126% 47.2 MB/s	DQ Read 375 DQ Write 204 DQ Mixed 40.3 97% 207 MB/s
Poor: 58% ↑ This bench: 79.5% Great: 101%
Intel SSDSCKKW240H6 240GB 3,142 User benchmarks, average bench 76% 125GB free (System drive) Firmware: LSF031C Max speed: SATA 3.0 600 MB/s Performing way above expectations (100^th percentile) (ID) Attribute Now Worst Value (05) Reallocated sector count 100 100 0 (09) Power-on hours count 100 100 87 (0C) Power cycle count 100 100 248 (AA) Unknown 100 100 0 (AB) Unknown 100 100 0 (AC) Unknown 100 100 0 (AE) Unknown 100 100 8 (B7) Unknown 100 100 0 (B8) Unknown 100 100 0 (BB) vendor-specific 100 100 0 (BE) vendor-specific 55 61 141737918519 (C0) Power-off retract count 100 100 8 (C7) UDMA CRC error rate 100 100 0 (E1) Load/Unload cycle count 100 100 85170 (E2) Load-in time 100 100 0 (E3) Torque amplification count 100 100 0 (E4) Power-off retract count 100 100 0 (E8) Unknown 100 100 0 (E9) Unknown 98 98 0 (F1) Unknown 100 100 85170 (F2) Unknown 100 100 65777 (F9) Unknown 100 100 1165 (FC) Unknown 100 100 7	105% Outstanding	Read 517 Write 453 Mixed 487 108% 486 MB/s	4K Read 31.6 4K Write 116 4K Mixed 32.4 151% 60.1 MB/s	DQ Read 286 DQ Write 243 DQ Mixed 81.7 111% 204 MB/s
Poor: 58% ↑ This bench: 105% Great: 89%
WD Blue 1TB (2012)-$30 3,105,054 User benchmarks, average bench 83% 676GB free Firmware: 01.01A01 Max speed: SATA 3.0 600 MB/s Performing above expectations (64^th percentile) (ID) Attribute Now Worst Value (01) Raw read error rate 200 200 0 (03) Spinup time 173 173 2316 (04) Start/Stop count 100 100 764 (05) Reallocated sector count 200 200 0 (07) Seek error rate 200 200 0 (09) Power-on hours count 99 99 1163 (0A) Spinup retry count 100 100 0 (0B) Calibration retry count 100 100 0 (0C) Power cycle count 100 100 252 (B7) Unknown 100 100 0 (B8) Unknown 100 100 0 (BB) vendor-specific 100 100 0 (BC) Unknown 100 100 0 (BE) vendor-specific 62 57 656277542 (C0) Power-off retract count 200 200 11 (C1) Load/Unload cycle count 200 200 2542 (C2) HDA temperature 105 100 38 (C4) Reallocation count 200 200 0 (C5) Current pending sector count 200 200 0 (C6) Offline scan uncorrectable count 200 200 0 (C7) UDMA CRC error rate 200 200 0 (C8) Write error rate 200 200 0	91.2% Outstanding	Read 182 Write 136 Mixed 136 113% 151 MB/s	4K Read 0.98 4K Write 2.32 4K Mixed 0.34 121% 1.21 MB/s
Poor: 52% ↑ This bench: 91.2% Great: 109%
WD My Passport 259F 2TB 3,542 User benchmarks, average bench 31% 538GB free, PID 259f Operating at USB 3.0 Speed Performing as expected (51^st percentile)	32.1% Below average	Read 70.1 Write 73.6 Mixed 58.2 86% 67.3 MB/s	4K Read 0.53 4K Write 1.86 4K Mixed 0.2 72% 0.86 MB/s
Poor: 14% ↑ This bench: 32.1% Great: 44%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Kingston HyperX DDR4 2400 C15 4x8GB 3,679 User benchmarks, average bench 86% 4 of 4 slots used 32GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2400 MHz Performing as expected (51^st percentile)	81.3% Excellent	MC Read 28.6 MC Write 31.3 MC Mixed 25.5 81% 28.5 GB/s	SC Read 16.7 SC Write 34.2 SC Mixed 25.7 73% 25.5 GB/s	Latency 59.8 67% 59.8 ns
Poor: 70% ↑ This bench: 81.3% Great: 115%

Take a copy of your results How to check your in-game FPS

System Memory Latency Ladder

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

Custom PC Builder (Explore upgrades for this PC) Build your perfect PC: compare component prices, popularity, speed and value for money

CHOOSE AN UPGRADE:

CPU

GPU

SSD

HDD

RAM

MBD

Typical Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) Builds (Compare 2,309 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	818x
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 $95Bench 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 $133	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $182	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) $30	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