MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results


Gaming 45% Yacht	Desktop 84% Aircraft carrier	Workstation 36% Jet ski


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing as expected (42nd percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 58 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. Additionally this processor can handle very light workstation, and even some very light server workloads. Finally, with a gaming score of 76.3%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is good.
Graphics	52% 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	72.5% is a good SSD score. This drive enables fast boots, responsive applications and ensures minimum system IO wait 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.

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

Run History

4 years ago, 4 years ago, 4 years ago, 4 years ago, 4 years ago, 4 years ago, 4 years ago, 4 years ago, 4 years ago.

System	MSI MS-7978
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) (all builds)
Memory	11.9 GB free of 16 GB @ 2.1 GHz
Display	1440 x 900 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20160122
Uptime	4 Days
Run Date	Sep 20 '19 at 17:49
Run Duration	240 Seconds
Run User	ROU-User
Background CPU	12%

PC Performing as expected (42^nd percentile)

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

Processor	Bench	Normal	Heavy	Server
Intel Core i5-6500-$67 241,476 User benchmarks, average bench 64% U3E1, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 4 threads Base clock 3.2 GHz, turbo 3.3 GHz (avg) Performing way above expectations (99^th percentile)	76.3% Very good	Memory 82.4 1-Core 102 2-Core 204 74% 130 Pts	4-Core 405 8-Core 409 54% 407 Pts	64-Core 409 25% 409 Pts
Poor: 43% ↑ This bench: 76.3% Great: 73%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 970-$200 834,238 User benchmarks, average bench 49% MSI(1462 3161) ≥ 4GB CLim: 1455 MHz, MLim: 1752 MHz, Ram: 4GB, Driver: 436.15 Performing above expectations (85^th percentile)	52% Above average	Lighting 65.6 Reflection 65.9 Parallax 65 54% 65.5 fps	MRender 70.1 Gravity 60.6 Splatting 52.7 49% 61.1 fps
Poor: 43% ↑ This bench: 52% Great: 54%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
Samsung 860 Evo 500GB-$80 762,998 User benchmarks, average bench 105% 368GB free (System drive) Firmware: RVT03B6Q SusWrite @10s intervals: 239 128 202 128 199 131 MB/s Performing way below expectations (5^th percentile)	72.5% Very good	Read 481 Write 315 Mixed 296 SusWrite 171 70% 316 MB/s	4K Read 30.9 4K Write 45.8 4K Mixed 31.2 111% 36 MB/s	DQ Read 371 DQ Write 13 DQ Mixed 167 128% 184 MB/s
Poor: 74% ↑ This bench: 72.5% Great: 129%
Samsung 970 Evo NVMe PCIe M.2 1TB-$158 331,647 User benchmarks, average bench 297% 471GB free Firmware: 2B2Q Max speed: PCIe 16,000 MB/s SusWrite @10s intervals: 815 454 1012 600 948 667 MB/s Performing way below expectations (5^th percentile)	208% Outstanding	Read 2,436 Write 1,830 Mixed 1338 SusWrite 749 353% 1,588 MB/s	4K Read 60.9 4K Write 55.2 4K Mixed 4 127% 40 MB/s	DQ Read 1,321 DQ Write 83.5 DQ Mixed 168 257% 524 MB/s
Poor: 214% ↑ This bench: 208% Great: 372%
WD WD2003FYPS-27W9B 2TB 9,937 User benchmarks, average bench 47% 239GB free Firmware: 04.05G11 SusWrite @10s intervals: 94 41 66 42 64 43 MB/s Performing below expectations (32^nd percentile)	41.7% Average	Read 86.2 Write 78.7 Mixed 60.5 SusWrite 58.5 52% 71 MB/s	4K Read 0.7 4K Write 2.5 4K Mixed 0.8 164% 1.33 MB/s
Poor: 30% ↑ This bench: 41.7% Great: 61%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 2400 C16 2x8GB-$42 105,447 User benchmarks, average bench 76% 2 of 4 slots used 16GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2133 MHz Performing below potential (26^th percentile) - ensure that a dual+ channel XMP BIOS profile is enabled: How to enable XMP	71.2% Very good	MC Read 26.6 MC Write 28.6 MC Mixed 24.5 76% 26.6 GB/s	SC Read 14 SC Write 26.5 SC Mixed 6.5 45% 15.7 GB/s	Latency 76.2 52% 76.2 ns
Poor: 50% ↑ This bench: 71.2% Great: 88%

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

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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 $94Bench 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 $274	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 $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