MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results

Benchmarks - missing SSD
Gaming 46% Yacht	Desktop 82% Aircraft carrier	Workstation 38% Jet ski


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing as expected (53rd percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 47 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. Additionally this processor can handle light workstation, and even some light server workloads. Finally, with a gaming score of 80.5%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is very good.
Graphics	55.9% 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)
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 (57%). High background CPU reduces benchmark accuracy. How to reduce background CPU.

Run History

4 years ago, 4 years ago.

System	MSI MS-7978
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) (all builds)
Memory	0.3 GB free of 16 GB @ 2.4 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit barev
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20160724
Uptime	2.1 Days
Run Date	Mar 24 '20 at 22:08
Run Duration	125 Seconds
Run User	CZE-User
Background CPU	57%

PC Performing as expected (53^rd 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 4 GHz (avg) Performing as expected (49^th percentile)	80.5% Excellent	Memory 91.3 1-Core 119 2-Core 219 82% 143 Pts	4-Core 377 8-Core 550 58% 464 Pts	64-Core 553 34% 553 Pts
Poor: 70% ↑ This bench: 80.5% Great: 90%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
AMD R9 390-$325 82,117 User benchmarks, average bench 50% Asus(1043 04DD) CLim: 1050 MHz, MLim: 1500 MHz, Ram: 8GB, Driver: 20.1.3 Performing way above expectations (100^th percentile)	55.9% Above average	Lighting 67.9 Reflection 61.8 Parallax 84.1 55% 71.3 fps	MRender 62.8 Gravity 60.2 Splatting 81 57% 68 fps
Poor: 45% ↑ This bench: 55.9% Great: 52%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
Kingston SSDNow V300 240GB-$35 176,713 User benchmarks, average bench 64% 11GB free (System drive) Firmware: 603ABBF0 Relative performance n/a - sequential test incomplete		Read 269 Write 192 Mixed 220 50% 227 MB/s	4K Read 21.7 4K Write 62.8 4K Mixed 22.3 95% 35.6 MB/s	DQ Read 141 DQ Write 191 DQ Mixed 146 116% 159 MB/s
Poor: 41% Great: 85%
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 1TB-$28 1,562,409 User benchmarks, average bench 89% 242GB free Firmware: CC41 SusWrite @10s intervals: 109 112 114 113 111 109 MB/s Performing way below expectations (9^th percentile)	61.6% Good	Read 103 Write 107 Mixed 59 SusWrite 111 70% 95.2 MB/s	4K Read 0.6 4K Write 1.2 4K Mixed 0.7 125% 0.83 MB/s
Poor: 55% ↑ This bench: 61.6% Great: 112%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Unknown BLS4G4D240FSB.8FBD2 859B BLS4G4D240FSB.8FBD2 859B BLS4G4D240FSB.8FADG 859B BLS4G4D240FSB.8FADG 16GB 3 User benchmarks, average bench 76% 2400, 2400, 2400, 2400 MHz 4096, 4096, 4096, 4096 MB Relative performance n/a - insufficient samples	70.9% Very good	MC Read 24.7 MC Write 27.8 MC Mixed 22.3 71% 24.9 GB/s	SC Read 15.9 SC Write 28.4 SC Mixed 19.2 60% 21.2 GB/s	Latency 65.3 61% 65.3 ns
Poor: 71% ↑ This bench: 70.9% Great: 79%

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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

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SSD

HDD

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MBD

Typical Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) Builds (Compare 2,306 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	816x
Core i5-6600KIntel $81Bench 72%, 342,244 samples	630x
Core i7-6700Intel $180Bench 72%, 282,363 samples	226x

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	221x

SSD
850 Evo 250GBSamsung $100Bench 103%, 951,591 samples	117x
850 Evo 500GBSamsung $109Bench 112%, 695,664 samples	74x
970 Evo Plus NVMe PCIe M.2 1TBSamsung $76Bench 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 $40Bench 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 $131	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $186	Nvidia RTX 4070 $409	Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52

HDD	RAM	USB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $34	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $40	SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $35	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