MSI Z97 GAMING 3 (MS-7918)

Performance Results


Gaming 29% Raft	Desktop 83% Aircraft carrier	Workstation 23% Surfboard


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing as expected (58th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 42 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 very light workstation, and even some very light server workloads. Finally, with a gaming score of 73%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is good.
Graphics	33.3% is a below average 3D score (RTX 2060S = 100%). This GPU can handle older games but it will struggle to render recent games at resolutions greater than 1080p. (Note: general computing tasks don't require 3D graphics)
Boot Drive	60.4% is a good SSD score. This drive enables fast boots, responsive applications and ensures minimum system IO wait times.
Memory	8GB is enough RAM to run any version of Windows and it's sufficient for the vast majority of games. 8GB is also enough for moderate file and system caches which result in a very responsive system.
OS Version	Although Windows 10 is not the most recent version of Windows, it remains a great option.

Very high background CPU (33%). High background CPU reduces benchmark accuracy. How to reduce background CPU.

System	MSI MS-7918
Motherboard	MSI Z97 GAMING 3 (MS-7918) (all builds)
Memory	2.2 GB free of 8 GB @ 1.3 GHz
Display	2560 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20150828
Uptime	25 Days
Run Date	Aug 07 '18 at 06:59
Run Duration	180 Seconds
Run User	AUS-User
Background CPU	33%

PC Performing as expected (58^th percentile)

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

Processor	Bench	Normal	Heavy	Server
Intel Core i5-4690K-$53 229,359 User benchmarks, average bench 70% SOCKET 0, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 4 threads Base clock 3.5 GHz, turbo 4 GHz (avg) Performing above expectations (67^th percentile)	73% Very good	Memory 93.8 1-Core 108 2-Core 220 81% 140 Pts	4-Core 296 8-Core 344 42% 320 Pts	64-Core 405 25% 405 Pts
Poor: 53% ↑ This bench: 73% Great: 82%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 960-$198 440,282 User benchmarks, average bench 33% MSI(1462 3202) CLim: 1430 MHz, MLim: 1752 MHz, Ram: 4GB, Driver: 398.36 Performing below potential (65^th percentile) - GPU OC Guide	33.3% Below average	Lighting 42.7 Reflection 42.5 Parallax 37.8 35% 41 fps	MRender 38.6 Gravity 39 Splatting 34.5 30% 37.4 fps
Poor: 30% ↑ This bench: 33.3% Great: 36%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB-$38 339,020 User benchmarks, average bench 54% 31GB free (System drive) Firmware: 603ABBF0 SusWrite @10s intervals: 74 57 57 64 53 56 MB/s Performing above expectations (70^th percentile)	60.4% Good	Read 261 Write 128 Mixed 180 SusWrite 60.1 35% 157 MB/s	4K Read 25.7 4K Write 95.9 4K Mixed 35.2 135% 52.3 MB/s	DQ Read 93.6 DQ Write 127 DQ Mixed 82.5 70% 101 MB/s
Poor: 30% ↑ This bench: 60.4% Great: 73%
Hitachi HTS543232A7A384 320GB-$40 17,642 User benchmarks, average bench 31% 273GB free Firmware: ES2ZB70T SusWrite @10s intervals: 79 80 80 79 79 78 MB/s Performing way above expectations (94^th percentile)	45.2% Average	Read 78.2 Write 76.3 Mixed 42.3 SusWrite 79.3 51% 69 MB/s	4K Read 0.5 4K Write 1.1 4K Mixed 0.5 97% 0.7 MB/s
Poor: 8% ↑ This bench: 45.2% Great: 46%
WD Black 1TB (2013)-$48 240,965 User benchmarks, average bench 82% 104GB free Firmware: 01.01A01 SusWrite @10s intervals: 87 88 86 84 86 85 MB/s Performing way below expectations (14^th percentile)	63.8% Good	Read 136 Write 138 Mixed 75.5 SusWrite 86 80% 109 MB/s	4K Read 1.2 4K Write 2.6 4K Mixed 1.2 232% 1.67 MB/s
Poor: 50% ↑ This bench: 63.8% Great: 108%
Verbatim STORE N GO 16GB 163 User benchmarks, average bench 6% 12GB free, PID 0300 Operating at USB 2.0 Speed SusWrite @10s intervals: 3.1 2.8 3 3.5 3.3 3.2 MB/s Performing way below expectations (17^th percentile)	4% Terrible	Read 13.8 Write 1 Mixed 4.2 SusWrite 3.1 6% 5.53 MB/s	4K Read 5.6 4K Write 0 4K Mixed 0 21% 1.87 MB/s
Poor: 4% ↑ This bench: 4% Great: 9%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
HyperX Fury DDR3 1866 C10 2x4GB-$35 38,490 User benchmarks, average bench 51% 2 of 4 slots used 8GB DIMM DDR3 1333 MHz clocked @ 1867 MHz Performing above expectations (81^st percentile)	59.7% Above average	MC Read 21.3 MC Write 22.3 MC Mixed 18.9 60% 20.8 GB/s	SC Read 14.4 SC Write 18.3 SC Mixed 16.1 46% 16.3 GB/s	Latency 60.3 66% 60.3 ns
Poor: 30% ↑ This bench: 59.7% Great: 67%

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

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Typical Z97 GAMING 3 (MS-7918) Builds (Compare 2,573 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings

Gaming 42%

Speed boat

Desktop 84%

Aircraft carrier

Workstation 36%

Jet ski

Motherboard: MSI Z97 GAMING 3 (MS-7918) - $135

CPU
Core i7-4790KIntel $348Bench 79%, 455,746 samples	846x
Core i5-4690KIntel $53Bench 70%, 229,359 samples	616x
Core i7-4790Intel $135Bench 71%, 255,027 samples	307x

GPU
GTX 970Nvidia $200Bench 49%, 834,238 samples	440x
GTX 1060-6GBNvidia $117Bench 56%, 1,368,019 samples	206x
GTX 1070Nvidia $132Bench 80%, 1,459,281 samples	175x

SSD
850 Evo 250GBSamsung $100Bench 103%, 951,591 samples	119x
860 Evo 500GBSamsung $80Bench 105%, 762,998 samples	67x
850 Evo 500GBSamsung $94Bench 112%, 695,664 samples	60x

RAM
Fury DDR3 1866 C10 2x8GBHyperXBench 59%, 122,541 samples	153x
Fury DDR3 1600 C10 2x8GBHyperXBench 54%, 77,652 samples	98x
Savage DDR3 2400 C11 2x8GBHyperXBench 63%, 20,216 samples	48x

EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER

Value: 60% - Above average

Total price: $783

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 $45	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