MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results

Benchmarks - missing SSD
Gaming 100% UFO	Desktop 93% Nuclear submarine	Workstation 79% Battleship


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing as expected (57th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 43 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 92.2%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is excellent.
Graphics	109% is an outstanding 3D score, it's the bee's knees. This GPU can handle almost all 3D games at very high resolutions and ultra detail levels.
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	10.4 GB free of 16 GB @ 3 GHz
Display	1680 x 1050 - 32 Bit barev, 1920 x 1200 - 32 Bit barev
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20161221
Uptime	4 Days
Run Date	Jul 07 '18 at 16:16
Run Duration	232 Seconds
Run User	CZE-User
Background CPU	7%

Watch Gameplay: 1080 + 9600K How to compare your gameplay

PC Performing as expected (57^th percentile)

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

Processor	Bench	Normal	Heavy	Server
Intel Core i5-6600K-$81 342,244 User benchmarks, average bench 72% U3E1, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 4 threads Base clock 3.5 GHz, turbo 4.1 GHz (avg) Performing way above expectations (100^th percentile)	92.2% Outstanding	Memory 96.2 1-Core 132 2-Core 266 92% 165 Pts	4-Core 508 8-Core 522 68% 515 Pts	64-Core 519 32% 519 Pts
Poor: 57% ↑ This bench: 92.2% Great: 85%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 1080-$400 1,082,454 User benchmarks, average bench 102% Gigabyte(1458 3702) CLim: 1999 MHz, MLim: 2502 MHz, Ram: 8GB, Driver: 397.93 Performing way above expectations (93^rd percentile)	109% Outstanding	Lighting 143 Reflection 151 Parallax 132 116% 142 fps	MRender 118 Gravity 138 Splatting 112 100% 123 fps
Poor: 93% ↑ This bench: 109% Great: 110%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
Samsung 840 Evo 500GB-$150 68,337 User benchmarks, average bench 103% 137GB free (System drive) Firmware: EXT0DB6Q Relative performance n/a - sequential test incomplete		Read 7,787 Write 7,610 Mixed 7,184 1,682% 7527 MB/s	4K Read 708 4K Write 389 4K Mixed 363 1,744% 487 MB/s	DQ Read 1,929 DQ Write 1,594 DQ Mixed 1,728 1,303% 1,750 MB/s
Poor: 72% Great: 126%
Seagate Video SV35.6 Series 2TB-$121 12,330 User benchmarks, average bench 89% 94GB free Firmware: CV13 SusWrite @10s intervals: 101 98 100 101 103 102 MB/s Performing way below expectations (6^th percentile)	56.3% Above average	Read 95.5 Write 92.5 Mixed 33 SusWrite 101 58% 80.4 MB/s	4K Read 0.7 4K Write 0.5 4K Mixed 0.4 83% 0.53 MB/s
Poor: 56% ↑ This bench: 56.3% Great: 113%
Seagate ST4000DM006-2G5107 4TB 7,216 User benchmarks, average bench 105% 1.5TB free Firmware: DN04 SusWrite @10s intervals: 184 183 187 188 188 186 MB/s Performing as expected (50^th percentile)	109% Outstanding	Read 192 Write 184 Mixed 93.5 SusWrite 186 120% 164 MB/s	4K Read 1.4 4K Write 4.3 4K Mixed 1.1 260% 2.27 MB/s
Poor: 76% ↑ This bench: 109% Great: 126%
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 3TB-$40 235,501 User benchmarks, average bench 88% 328GB free Firmware: CC43 SusWrite @10s intervals: 96 99 100 101 101 101 MB/s Performing way below expectations (12^th percentile)	64.5% Good	Read 125 Write 90.2 Mixed 74.5 SusWrite 99.7 72% 97.4 MB/s	4K Read 0.6 4K Write 1.6 4K Mixed 0.7 132% 0.97 MB/s
Poor: 56% ↑ This bench: 64.5% Great: 113%
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 3TB-$40 235,501 User benchmarks, average bench 88% 1.5TB free Firmware: CC27 SusWrite @10s intervals: 175 181 182 183 183 185 MB/s Performing above expectations (80^th percentile)	104% Outstanding	Read 181 Write 138 Mixed 81.5 SusWrite 182 106% 146 MB/s	4K Read 0.8 4K Write 1.8 4K Mixed 0.8 156% 1.13 MB/s
Poor: 56% ↑ This bench: 104% Great: 113%
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 3TB-$40 235,501 User benchmarks, average bench 88% 496GB free Firmware: CC25 SusWrite @10s intervals: 129 134 135 135 136 136 MB/s Performing below expectations (24^th percentile)	76.3% Very good	Read 132 Write 94.8 Mixed 75.8 SusWrite 134 80% 109 MB/s	4K Read 0.7 4K Write 1.6 4K Mixed 0.8 148% 1.03 MB/s
Poor: 56% ↑ This bench: 76.3% Great: 113%
Seagate D3 Station 5TB 79 User benchmarks, average bench 56% 1TB free, PID 6126 Operating at USB 3.1 Speed SusWrite @10s intervals: 116 124 123 125 128 126 MB/s Performing above expectations (65^th percentile)	65.2% Good	Read 101 Write 82.8 Mixed 33.5 SusWrite 124 113% 85.2 MB/s	4K Read 1 4K Write 7.6 4K Mixed 0.5 279% 3.03 MB/s
Poor: 20% ↑ This bench: 65.2% Great: 76%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Kingston HyperX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB 51,435 User benchmarks, average bench 86% 2 of 4 slots used 16GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 3000 MHz Performing above expectations (80^th percentile)	97.1% Outstanding	MC Read 32.1 MC Write 39.3 MC Mixed 31.9 98% 34.4 GB/s	SC Read 17.7 SC Write 40.8 SC Mixed 29.1 83% 29.2 GB/s	Latency 53.3 75% 53.3 ns
Poor: 65% ↑ This bench: 97.1% Great: 108%

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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 2,313 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 $81Bench 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 $273	Nvidia RTX 4060 $300	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 $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