MSI Z97 GAMING 3 (MS-7918)

Performance Results

Benchmarks - missing SSD
Gaming 55% Gunboat	Desktop 91% Nuclear submarine	Workstation 44% Speed boat


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing above expectations (85th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 15 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 92.2%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is excellent.
Graphics	59.9% 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	The boot partition is located on a mechanical or hybrid drive. Moving the system to an SSD will yield far faster boot times, better system responsiveness and faster application load times.
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.

System	MSI MS-7918
Motherboard	MSI Z97 GAMING 3 (MS-7918) (all builds)
Memory	13.9 GB free of 16 GB @ 1.6 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20140724
Uptime	0 Days
Run Date	Jun 11 '18 at 19:02
Run Duration	110 Seconds
Run User	IRL-User
Background CPU	2%

PC Performing above expectations (85^th percentile)

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

Processor	Bench	Normal	Heavy	Server
Intel Core i5-4690K-$53 229,359 User benchmarks, average bench 70% SOCKET 0, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 4 threads Base clock 3.5 GHz, turbo 4.5 GHz (avg) Performing way above expectations (100^th percentile)	92.2% Outstanding	Memory 94 1-Core 136 2-Core 269 93% 166 Pts	4-Core 521 8-Core 522 70% 522 Pts	64-Core 530 33% 530 Pts
Poor: 53% ↑ This bench: 92.2% Great: 82%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 970-$200 834,238 User benchmarks, average bench 49% EVGA(3842 3975) CLim: 1581 MHz, MLim: 1892 MHz, Ram: 4GB, Driver: 398.11 Performing way above expectations (100^th percentile)	59.9% Above average	Lighting 75.9 Reflection 74.9 Parallax 67 62% 72.6 fps	MRender 80.9 Gravity 69.3 Splatting 60 56% 70.1 fps
Poor: 43% ↑ This bench: 59.9% Great: 54%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k
WD Purple 1TB (2014)-$40 18,782 User benchmarks, average bench 65% 489GB free Firmware: 01.01A01 Max speed: SATA 3.0 600 MB/s Performing as expected (45^th percentile) (ID) Attribute Now Worst Value (01) Raw read error rate 200 200 0 (03) Spinup time 135 133 4208 (04) Start/Stop count 100 100 533 (05) Reallocated sector count 200 200 0 (07) Seek error rate 200 200 0 (09) Power-on hours count 97 97 2795 (0A) Spinup retry count 100 100 0 (0B) Calibration retry count 100 100 0 (0C) Power cycle count 100 100 502 (C0) Power-off retract count 200 200 68 (C1) Load/Unload cycle count 200 200 472 (C2) HDA temperature 113 109 30 (C4) Reallocation count 200 200 0 (C5) Current pending sector count 200 200 0 (C6) Offline scan uncorrectable count 100 253 0 (C7) UDMA CRC error rate 200 200 0 (C8) Write error rate 100 253 0	62.8% Good	Read 110 Write 109 Mixed 89.9 77% 103 MB/s	4K Read 0.39 4K Write 2.02 4K Mixed 0.22 78% 0.88 MB/s
Poor: 44% ↑ This bench: 62.8% Great: 85%
WD Blue 1TB (2012)-$30 3,105,054 User benchmarks, average bench 83% 200GB free (System drive) Firmware: 01.01A01 Max speed: SATA 3.0 600 MB/s Performing above expectations (82^nd percentile) (ID) Attribute Now Worst Value (01) Raw read error rate 200 200 0 (03) Spinup time 182 171 1875 (04) Start/Stop count 99 99 1301 (05) Reallocated sector count 200 200 0 (07) Seek error rate 100 253 0 (09) Power-on hours count 91 91 6914 (0A) Spinup retry count 100 100 0 (0B) Calibration retry count 100 100 0 (0C) Power cycle count 99 99 1279 (C0) Power-off retract count 200 200 263 (C1) Load/Unload cycle count 200 200 1111 (C2) HDA temperature 110 105 33 (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	100% Outstanding	Read 191 Write 160 Mixed 157 127% 169 MB/s	4K Read 0.54 4K Write 2.36 4K Mixed 0.21 90% 1.04 MB/s
Poor: 52% ↑ This bench: 100% Great: 109%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600 C10 4x4GB 5,347 User benchmarks, average bench 56% 4 of 4 slots used 16GB DIMM DDR3 clocked @ 1600 MHz Performing way above expectations (97^th percentile)	63.9% Good	MC Read 22.5 MC Write 23.1 MC Mixed 19.6 62% 21.7 GB/s	SC Read 17.1 SC Write 23.2 SC Mixed 22.1 59% 20.8 GB/s	Latency 59.7 67% 59.7 ns
Poor: 41% ↑ This bench: 63.9% Great: 63%

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 Z97 GAMING 3 (MS-7918) Builds (Compare 2,570 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings

Gaming 42%

Speed boat

Desktop 84%

Aircraft carrier

Workstation 36%

Jet ski

Motherboard: MSI Z97 GAMING 3 (MS-7918) - $135

CPU
Core i7-4790KIntel $348Bench 79%, 455,746 samples	844x
Core i5-4690KIntel $53Bench 70%, 229,359 samples	616x
Core i7-4790Intel $135Bench 71%, 255,027 samples	307x

GPU
GTX 970Nvidia $200Bench 49%, 834,238 samples	440x
GTX 1060-6GBNvidia $117Bench 56%, 1,368,019 samples	206x
GTX 1070Nvidia $132Bench 80%, 1,459,281 samples	175x

SSD
850 Evo 250GBSamsung $100Bench 103%, 951,591 samples	119x
860 Evo 500GBSamsung $80Bench 105%, 762,998 samples	67x
850 Evo 500GBSamsung $109Bench 112%, 695,664 samples	60x

RAM
Fury DDR3 1866 C10 2x8GBHyperXBench 59%, 122,541 samples	153x
Fury DDR3 1600 C10 2x8GBHyperXBench 54%, 77,652 samples	98x
Savage DDR3 2400 C11 2x8GBHyperXBench 63%, 20,216 samples	48x

EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER

Value: 60% - Above average

Total price: $783

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) $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