MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results


Gaming 20% Surfboard	Desktop 80% Aircraft carrier	Workstation 16% Surfboard


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing as expected (48th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 52 performed better. The overall PC percentile is the average of each of its individual components.
Processor	With a brilliant single core score, this CPU is the business: It demolishes everyday tasks such as web browsing, office apps and audio/video playback. 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 72.6%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is good.
Graphics	22.9% 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	34% is low SSD score. With a better SSD this system will boot faster, make applications more responsive and reduce IO wait times.
Memory	8GB is enough RAM to run any version of Windows and it's sufficient for the vast majority of games. 8GB is also enough for moderate file and system caches which result in a very responsive system.
OS Version	Although Windows 10 is not the most recent version of Windows, it remains a great option.

High background CPU (22%). High background CPU reduces benchmark accuracy. How to reduce background CPU.

Run History

5 years ago, 5 years ago.

System	MSI MS-7978
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) (all builds)
Memory	4.1 GB free of 8 GB @ 2.4 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20170424
Uptime	0.1 Days
Run Date	Mar 16 '19 at 16:36
Run Duration	113 Seconds
Run User	BGD-User
Background CPU	22%

PC Performing as expected (48^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 3.1 GHz (avg) Performing way below expectations (10^th percentile)	72.6% Very good	Memory 89.7 1-Core 114 2-Core 194 78% 133 Pts	4-Core 318 8-Core 344 44% 331 Pts	64-Core 271 17% 271 Pts
Poor: 70% ↑ This bench: 72.6% Great: 90%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
AMD R7 260X-$120 38,521 User benchmarks, average bench 20% MSI(1462 2935) CLim: 1175 MHz, MLim: 1625 MHz, Ram: 2GB, Driver: 17.1.1 Performing way above expectations (99^th percentile)	22.9% Poor	Lighting 27.4 Reflection 32 Parallax 33.6 22% 31 fps	MRender 27.9 Gravity 24.7 Splatting 33.7 24% 28.8 fps
Poor: 18% ↑ This bench: 22.9% Great: 22%

Drive	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
Zotac ZTSSD-A4P-120G 120GB 495 User benchmarks, average bench 47% 40GB free (System drive) Firmware: S9FM02.6 SusWrite @10s intervals: 50 55 54 43 67 67 MB/s Performing way below expectations (9^th percentile)	34% Below average	Read 382 Write 13 Mixed 134 SusWrite 56.1 32% 146 MB/s	4K Read 9.5 4K Write 36.7 4K Mixed 10 47% 18.7 MB/s	DQ Read 54.4 DQ Write 2.8 DQ Mixed 3.2 9% 20.1 MB/s
Poor: 34% ↑ This bench: 34% Great: 67%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Unknown TEAMGROUP-UD4-2400 1x8GB 13,006 User benchmarks, average bench 41% 1 of 4 slots used 8GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2400 MHz Performing above expectations (73^rd percentile)	44.1% Average	MC Read 15.8 MC Write 15.6 MC Mixed 12.5 42% 14.6 GB/s	SC Read 12.2 SC Write 15.6 SC Mixed 14 40% 13.9 GB/s	Latency 67.6 59% 67.6 ns
Poor: 26% ↑ This bench: 44.1% Great: 47%

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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 2,313 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 $130Bench 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 $90Bench 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 $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 $269	Nvidia RTX 4060 $295	Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $133	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $178	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