MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results


Gaming 61% Destroyer	Desktop 92% Nuclear submarine	Workstation 53% Yacht


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing above expectations (72nd percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 28 performed better. The overall PC percentile is the average of each of its individual components.
Processor	With an outstanding single core score, this CPU is the cat's whiskers: It demolishes everyday tasks such as web browsing, office apps and audio/video playback. Additionally this processor can handle moderate workstation, and even light server workloads. Finally, with a gaming score of 87.2%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is very good.
Graphics	68.2% is a good 3D score. This GPU can handle the majority of recent games at high resolutions and ultra detail levels.
Boot Drive	123% 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.

System	MSI MS-7978
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) (all builds)
Memory	13.1 GB free of 16 GB @ 2.7 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20150810
Uptime	0 Days
Run Date	Aug 20 '18 at 11:17
Run Duration	156 Seconds
Run User	AUS-User
Background CPU	2%

PC Performing above expectations (72^nd 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 way above expectations (89^th percentile)	87.2% Excellent	Memory 94.5 1-Core 128 2-Core 254 89% 159 Pts	4-Core 430 8-Core 706 70% 568 Pts	64-Core 704 44% 704 Pts
Poor: 70% ↑ This bench: 87.2% Great: 90%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 980-$500 167,107 User benchmarks, average bench 59% Nvidia(10DE 1116) ≥ 4GB CLim: 1493 MHz, MLim: 1752 MHz, Ram: 4GB, Driver: 398.82 Performing way above expectations (98^th percentile)	68.2% Good	Lighting 88.4 Reflection 86.3 Parallax 76.8 72% 83.9 fps	MRender 80.8 Gravity 76.2 Splatting 68 61% 75 fps
Poor: 53% ↑ This bench: 68.2% Great: 66%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
Samsung 850 Evo 500GB-$109 695,664 User benchmarks, average bench 112% 354GB free Firmware: EMT03B6Q SusWrite @10s intervals: 464 481 489 492 493 491 MB/s Performing way above expectations (99^th percentile)	137% Outstanding	Read 499 Write 481 Mixed 400 SusWrite 485 105% 466 MB/s	4K Read 47.7 4K Write 135 4K Mixed 66 228% 82.9 MB/s	DQ Read 382 DQ Write 344 DQ Mixed 360 271% 362 MB/s
Poor: 80% ↑ This bench: 137% Great: 134%
Samsung 850 Evo 250GB-$100 951,591 User benchmarks, average bench 103% 166GB free (System drive) Firmware: EMT01B6Q SusWrite @10s intervals: 389 259 255 254 252 252 MB/s Performing way above expectations (94^th percentile)	123% Outstanding	Read 503 Write 490 Mixed 377 SusWrite 277 92% 412 MB/s	4K Read 48.4 4K Write 128 4K Mixed 65.2 225% 80.7 MB/s	DQ Read 382 DQ Write 345 DQ Mixed 361 272% 363 MB/s
Poor: 72% ↑ This bench: 123% Great: 124%
Samsung Spinpoint T166 500GB-$40 43,024 User benchmarks, average bench 34% 327GB free Firmware: CR100-13 SusWrite @10s intervals: 60 60 61 61 60 61 MB/s Performing below expectations (36^th percentile)	30.6% Below average	Read 45.8 Write 42.5 Mixed 34.2 SusWrite 60.6 34% 45.8 MB/s	4K Read 0.6 4K Write 1.1 4K Mixed 0.6 112% 0.77 MB/s
Poor: 22% ↑ This bench: 30.6% Great: 44%
Samsung Spinpoint T166 500GB-$40 43,024 User benchmarks, average bench 34% 80GB free Firmware: CR100-13 SusWrite @10s intervals: 76 76 78 77 77 77 MB/s Performing above expectations (79^th percentile)	38.6% Below average	Read 57.3 Write 62.5 Mixed 41.5 SusWrite 76.9 44% 59.6 MB/s	4K Read 0.6 4K Write 1.2 4K Mixed 0.7 125% 0.83 MB/s
Poor: 22% ↑ This bench: 38.6% Great: 44%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
HyperX Fury DDR4 2666 C15 2x8GB-$169 37,519 User benchmarks, average bench 83% 2 of 4 slots used 16GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2667 MHz Performing below potential (7^th percentile) - ensure that a dual+ channel XMP BIOS profile is enabled: How to enable XMP	50.5% Above average	MC Read 17.5 MC Write 17.4 MC Mixed 14.4 47% 16.4 GB/s	SC Read 15.5 SC Write 19.3 SC Mixed 17.9 50% 17.6 GB/s	Latency 58.4 68% 58.4 ns
Poor: 46% ↑ This bench: 50.5% Great: 97%

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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 2,311 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	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 $92Bench 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 $295	Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $133	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $179	Nvidia RTX 4070 $539	Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52

HDD	RAM	USB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $40	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