MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results


Gaming 45% Yacht	Desktop 81% Aircraft carrier	Workstation 37% Jet ski


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing above expectations (64th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 36 performed better. The overall PC percentile is the average of each of its individual components.
Processor	With a good single core score, this CPU can easily handle the majority of general computing tasks. Despite its good single core score this processor isn't appropriate for workstation use due to its relatively weak multi-core performance. Finally, with a gaming score of 68.8%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is above average.
Graphics	62.6% is a good 3D score. This GPU can handle the majority of recent games at high resolutions and ultra detail levels.
Boot Drive	165% 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.

Very high background CPU (41%). High background CPU reduces benchmark accuracy. How to reduce background CPU.

System	MSI MS-7978
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) (all builds)
Memory	12.7 GB free of 16 GB @ 2.4 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20170424
Uptime	0 Days
Run Date	Jul 24 '18 at 22:23
Run Duration	158 Seconds
Run User	USA-User
Background CPU	41%

Watch Gameplay: 1060-6GB + 9600K How to compare your gameplay

PC Performing above expectations (64^th percentile)

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

Processor	Bench	Normal	Heavy	Server
Intel Core i5-6600K-$81 342,244 User benchmarks, average bench 72% U3E1, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 4 threads Base clock 3.5 GHz, turbo 4.1 GHz (avg) Performing below expectations (34^th percentile)	68.8% Good	Memory 66.8 1-Core 132 2-Core 263 82% 154 Pts	4-Core 400 8-Core 453 56% 426 Pts	64-Core 441 27% 441 Pts
Poor: 57% ↑ This bench: 68.8% Great: 85%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 1060-6GB-$117 1,368,019 User benchmarks, average bench 56% Asus(1043 85AC) CLim: 2025 MHz, MLim: 2052 MHz, Ram: 6GB, Driver: 398.36 Performing way above expectations (100^th percentile)	62.6% Good	Lighting 79.1 Reflection 78.5 Parallax 68.8 64% 75.5 fps	MRender 72.7 Gravity 72.6 Splatting 71.3 59% 72.2 fps
Poor: 51% ↑ This bench: 62.6% Great: 60%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
MyDigitalSSD BPX NVMe PCIe M.2 120GB 759 User benchmarks, average bench 138% 78GB free (System drive) Firmware: E7FM04.C Max speed: PCIe 16,000 MB/s SusWrite @10s intervals: 574 481 319 582 212 142 MB/s Performing way above expectations (87^th percentile)	165% Outstanding	Read 1,151 Write 1,167 Mixed 695 SusWrite 385 190% 850 MB/s	4K Read 43.2 4K Write 123 4K Mixed 59.5 207% 75.3 MB/s	DQ Read 659 DQ Write 738 DQ Mixed 581 470% 659 MB/s
Poor: 97% ↑ This bench: 165% Great: 178%
PNY CS1311 240GB-$78 26,547 User benchmarks, average bench 81% 223GB free Firmware: CS131122 SusWrite @10s intervals: 326 194 176 176 176 176 MB/s Performing way above expectations (97^th percentile)	98.2% Outstanding	Read 501 Write 483 Mixed 372 SusWrite 204 87% 390 MB/s	4K Read 31.7 4K Write 118 4K Mixed 43 166% 64.2 MB/s	DQ Read 324 DQ Write 349 DQ Mixed 205 191% 293 MB/s
Poor: 52% ↑ This bench: 98.2% Great: 97%
Hitachi HUA723020ALA641 2TB-$78 30,011 User benchmarks, average bench 64% 481GB free Firmware: MK7OA840 SusWrite @10s intervals: 116 115 114 115 116 116 MB/s Performing above expectations (69^th percentile)	72.2% Very good	Read 136 Write 135 Mixed 72.7 SusWrite 115 84% 115 MB/s	4K Read 0.9 4K Write 2.1 4K Mixed 0.7 154% 1.23 MB/s
Poor: 40% ↑ This bench: 72.2% Great: 82%
SanDisk Ultra Flair USB 3.0 32GB-$8 9,864 User benchmarks, average bench 25% 25GB free, PID 5591 Operating at USB 3.0 Speed SusWrite @10s intervals: 41 53 44 28 24 24 MB/s Performing above expectations (60^th percentile)	26.2% Poor	Read 97.7 Write 41 Mixed 47 SusWrite 35.5 66% 55.3 MB/s	4K Read 3.7 4K Write 1.1 4K Mixed 1.1 88% 1.97 MB/s
Poor: 11% ↑ This bench: 26.2% Great: 39%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Crucial BLS8G4D240FSB.M16FAD 2x8GB 240 User benchmarks, average bench 77% 2 of 4 slots used 16GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2400 MHz Performing below potential (3^rd percentile) - ensure that a dual+ channel XMP BIOS profile is enabled: How to enable XMP	41.1% Average	MC Read 15.7 MC Write 15.8 MC Mixed 13.6 43% 15 GB/s	SC Read 5.7 SC Write 11.6 SC Mixed 11.3 27% 9.53 GB/s	Latency 109 37% 109 ns
Poor: 45% ↑ This bench: 41.1% Great: 89%

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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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GPU

SSD

HDD

RAM

MBD

Typical Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) Builds (Compare 2,313 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	631x
Core i7-6700Intel $180Bench 72%, 282,363 samples	227x

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	223x

SSD
850 Evo 250GBSamsung $100Bench 103%, 951,591 samples	117x
850 Evo 500GBSamsung $94Bench 112%, 695,664 samples	74x
970 Evo Plus NVMe PCIe M.2 1TBSamsung $90Bench 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 $31Bench 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 $273	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 $177	Nvidia RTX 4070 $539	Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52

HDD	RAM	USB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $45	SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $37	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