MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results


Gaming 18% Surfboard	Desktop 44% Speed boat	Workstation 14% Tree trunk


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing way below expectations (14th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 86 performed better. The overall PC percentile is the average of each of its individual components. Use the charts in the benchmark sections of this report to identify problem areas.
Processor	With a relatively low single core score, this CPU can handle email, light web browsing and basic audio/video playback, but it will struggle to handle CPU intensive tasks. Finally, with a gaming score of 32.3%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is poor.
Graphics	42.5% 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	48.1% is a reasonable SSD score. This drive enables fast boots and responsive applications.
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.

High background CPU (22%). 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	13.7 GB free of 16 GB @ 2.4 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors, 1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20151022
Uptime	0.2 Days
Run Date	Jan 02 '17 at 05:01
Run Duration	148 Seconds
Run User	USA-User
Background CPU	22%

PC Performing way below expectations (14^th percentile)

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

Processor	Bench	Normal	Heavy	Server
Intel Core i5-6400-$77 171,457 User benchmarks, average bench 61% U3E1, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 4 threads Base clock 2.7 GHz, turbo 0.8 GHz (avg) Performing way below expectations (3^rd percentile)	32.3% Below average	Memory 47.1 1-Core 25.5 2-Core 52.1 27% 41.6 Pts	4-Core 102 8-Core 103 14% 103 Pts	64-Core 104 6% 104 Pts
Poor: 39% ↑ This bench: 32.3% Great: 71%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 970-$200 834,238 User benchmarks, average bench 49% Nvidia(10DE 1131) ≥ 4GB CLim: 1392 MHz, MLim: 1752 MHz, Ram: 4GB, Driver: 361.91 Performing below potential (5^th percentile) - GPU OC Guide	42.5% Average	Lighting 48.2 Reflection 61.7 Parallax 59.2 39% 56.3 fps	MRender 71.9 Gravity 58.5 Splatting 51.9 49% 60.8 fps
Poor: 43% ↑ This bench: 42.5% Great: 54%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
SanDisk SSD Plus 120GB-$42 87,912 User benchmarks, average bench 58% 83GB free (System drive) Firmware: Z32080RL Max speed: SATA 3.0 600 MB/s Performing below expectations (23^rd percentile) (ID) Attribute Now Worst Value (05) Reallocated sector count 100 100 0 (09) Power-on hours count 0 100 44 (0C) Power cycle count 100 100 8 (A5) Unknown 100 100 8592818214 (A6) Unknown 100 100 0 (A7) Unknown 100 100 0 (A8) Unknown 100 100 1 (A9) Unknown 100 100 0 (AA) Unknown 100 100 0 (AB) Unknown 100 100 0 (AC) Unknown 100 100 0 (AD) Unknown 100 100 0 (AE) Unknown 100 100 4 (BB) vendor-specific 100 100 0 (BC) Unknown 100 100 0 (C2) HDA temperature 60 44 240518168616 (C7) UDMA CRC error rate 100 100 0 (E6) GMR head amplitude 100 100 51540197388 (E8) Unknown 100 100 100 (E9) Unknown 100 100 78 (EA) Unknown 100 100 182 (F1) Unknown 253 253 124 (F2) Unknown 253 253 120 (F4) Unknown 0 100 0	48.1% Average	Read 484 Write 221 Mixed 254 70% 320 MB/s	4K Read 15.3 4K Write 37.7 4K Mixed 4.51 49% 19.2 MB/s	DQ Read 12.1 DQ Write 54.7 DQ Mixed 6.19 13% 24.3 MB/s
Poor: 35% ↑ This bench: 48.1% Great: 78%
WD Green 1TB (2010)-$139 139,542 User benchmarks, average bench 44% 461GB free Firmware: 80.00A80 Max speed: SATA 2.0 300 MB/s Performing below expectations (35^th percentile) (ID) Attribute Now Worst Value (01) Raw read error rate 200 200 9 (03) Spinup time 179 168 7041 (04) Start/Stop count 98 98 2614 (05) Reallocated sector count 200 200 0 (07) Seek error rate 200 200 0 (09) Power-on hours count 61 61 29045 (0A) Spinup retry count 100 100 0 (0B) Calibration retry count 100 100 0 (0C) Power cycle count 98 98 2599 (C0) Power-off retract count 200 200 230 (C1) Load/Unload cycle count 31 31 509554 (C2) HDA temperature 119 101 28 (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	38.7% Below average	Read 59.6 Write 75.1 Mixed 83.9 55% 72.8 MB/s	4K Read 0.73 4K Write 1.13 4K Mixed 0.23 77% 0.7 MB/s
Poor: 29% ↑ This bench: 38.7% Great: 59%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
HyperX Fury DDR4 2400 C15 2x8GB-$299 20,912 User benchmarks, average bench 79% 2 of 4 slots used 16GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2400 MHz Performing way below expectations (5^th percentile)	46.3% Average	MC Read 16.8 MC Write 16.3 MC Mixed 21 52% 18 GB/s	SC Read 6.2 SC Write 9.9 SC Mixed 8.5 23% 8.2 GB/s	Latency 172 23% 172 ns
Poor: 46% ↑ This bench: 46.3% Great: 91%

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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 2,320 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	822x
Core i5-6600KIntel $130Bench 72%, 342,244 samples	633x
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	308x
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 $48Bench 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: 85% - Excellent

Total price: $594

CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $254	Nvidia RTX 4060 $290	Crucial MX500 250GB $39
Intel Core i5-12400F $133	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $175	Nvidia RTX 4070 $550	Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52

HDD	RAM	USB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $39	SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $32	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $48	SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $62	G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351	SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16