MSI Z170A GAMING M7 (MS-7976)

Performance Results

Benchmarks - missing SSD
Gaming 58% Gunboat	Desktop 95% Nuclear submarine	Workstation 45% Yacht


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing above expectations (62nd percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 38 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 98.1%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is excellent.
Graphics	59.4% 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	The boot partition is located on a mechanical or hybrid drive. Moving the system to an SSD will yield far faster boot times, better system responsiveness and faster application load 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 7 is still a viable option, it's now 14 years and 8 months old. This system should be upgraded to Windows 10 which is generally faster and has an improved set of core utilities including better versions of explorer and task manager.

Run History

System	MSI MS-7976
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M7 (MS-7976) (all builds)
Memory	11.8 GB free of 16 GB @ 3 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors, 1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 7
BIOS Date	20160722
Uptime	0.1 Days
Run Date	Dec 24 '17 at 00:07
Run Duration	276 Seconds
Run User	USA-User
Background CPU	2%

PC Performing above expectations (62^nd percentile)

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

Processor	Bench	Normal	Heavy	Server
Intel Core i5-6600K-$81 342,244 User benchmarks, average bench 72% U3E1, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 4 threads Base clock 3.5 GHz Performing way above expectations (100^th percentile)	98.1% Outstanding	Memory 96.3 1-Core 146 2-Core 292 98% 178 Pts	4-Core 576 8-Core 576 77% 576 Pts	64-Core 578 36% 578 Pts
Poor: 57% ↑ This bench: 98.1% Great: 85%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 970-$200 834,238 User benchmarks, average bench 49% MSI(1462 3160) CLim: 1555 MHz, MLim: 1877 MHz, Ram: 4GB, Driver: 388.71 Performing way above expectations (100^th percentile)	59.4% Above average	Lighting 74.5 Reflection 74.7 Parallax 67.4 61% 72.2 fps	MRender 80 Gravity 69 Splatting 62.3 57% 70.4 fps
Poor: 43% ↑ This bench: 59.4% Great: 54%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k
WD Blue 1TB (2012)-$35 3,105,054 User benchmarks, average bench 83% 465GB free (System drive) Firmware: 01.0 Performing as expected (57^th percentile)	87.4% Excellent	Read 159 Write 145 Mixed 142 112% 149 MB/s	4K Read 0.76 4K Write 2.28 4K Mixed 0.34 111% 1.12 MB/s
Poor: 52% ↑ This bench: 87.4% Great: 109%
Lexar USB Flash Drive 8GB 1,392 User benchmarks, average bench 6% 7GB free, PID a815 Operating at USB 2.0 Speed Performing as expected (47^th percentile)	4.78% Terrible	Read 18.5 Write 4.67 Mixed 6.84 10% 10 MB/s	4K Read 4.47 4K Write 0.009 4K Mixed 0.008 17% 1.49 MB/s
Poor: 4% ↑ This bench: 4.78% Great: 8%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB-$43 606,405 User benchmarks, average bench 82% 2 of 4 slots used 16GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 3000 MHz Performing below potential (6^th percentile) - ensure that a dual+ channel XMP BIOS profile is enabled: How to enable XMP	58.6% Above average	MC Read 20 MC Write 20.4 MC Mixed 18 56% 19.5 GB/s	SC Read 16.3 SC Write 20.7 SC Mixed 19.9 54% 19 GB/s	Latency 53 76% 53 ns
Poor: 58% ↑ This bench: 58.6% Great: 104%

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

Custom PC Builder (Explore upgrades for this PC) Build your perfect PC: compare component prices, popularity, speed and value for money

CHOOSE AN UPGRADE:

CPU

GPU

SSD

HDD

RAM

MBD

Typical Z170A GAMING M7 (MS-7976) Builds (Compare 2,474 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings

Gaming 86%

Aircraft carrier

Desktop 87%

Aircraft carrier

Workstation 72%

Battleship

Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M7 (MS-7976) - $180

CPU
Core i7-6700KIntel $180Bench 81%, 588,978 samples	1,671x
Core i5-6600KIntel $81Bench 72%, 342,244 samples	321x
Core i7-7700KIntel $250Bench 84%, 712,312 samples	168x

GPU
GTX 1080Nvidia $400Bench 102%, 1,082,454 samples	364x
GTX 1070Nvidia $132Bench 80%, 1,459,281 samples	360x
GTX 970Nvidia $200Bench 49%, 834,238 samples	151x

SSD
850 Evo 500GBSamsung $109Bench 112%, 695,664 samples	184x
850 Evo 250GBSamsung $100Bench 103%, 951,591 samples	124x
970 Evo Plus NVMe PCIe M.2 1TBSamsung $76Bench 310%, 455,997 samples	82x

RAM
Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GBCorsair $43Bench 82%, 606,405 samples	124x
Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GBCorsair $40Bench 85%, 653,654 samples	83x
Fury DDR4 2133 C14 2x8GBHyperX $125Bench 73%, 59,072 samples	62x

EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER

Value: 68% - Good

Total price: $912

CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $279	Nvidia RTX 4060 $300	Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $134	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $184	Nvidia RTX 4070 $409	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) $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