MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results

Benchmarks - missing SSD
Gaming
Gaming 117%
UFO
Desktop
Desktop 93%
Nuclear submarine
Workstation
Workstation 92%
Nuclear submarine
PC StatusOverall this PC is performing above expectations (84th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 16 performed better. The overall PC percentile is the average of each of its individual components.
ProcessorWith 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 94.7%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is excellent.
Graphics127% 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.
Memory16GB 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 VersionAlthough Windows 10 is not the most recent version of Windows, it remains a great option.
SystemMSI MS-7978
MotherboardMSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)  (all builds)
Memory12.7 GB free of 16 GB @ 2.4 GHz
Display1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OSWindows 10
BIOS Date20160516
Uptime0 Days
Run DateSep 29 '18 at 07:38
Run Duration143 Seconds
Run User USA-User
Background CPU0%

 PC Performing above expectations (84th percentile)

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

Processor BenchNormalHeavyServer
Intel Core i5-6600K-$81
U3E1, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 4 threads
Base clock 3.5 GHz, turbo 4.5 GHz (avg)
Performing way above expectations (100th percentile)
94.7% Outstanding
Memory 92.2
1-Core 145
2-Core 272
94% 170 Pts
4-Core 561
8-Core 563
75% 562 Pts
64-Core 554
34% 554 Pts
Poor: 57%
This bench: 94.7%
Great: 85%
Graphics Card Bench3D DX93D DX103D DX11
Nvidia GTX 1080-Ti-$485
CLim: 1987 MHz, MLim: 2752 MHz, Ram: 11GB, Driver: 411.70
Performing below potential (72nd percentile) - GPU OC Guide
127% Outstanding
Lighting 176
Reflection 197
Parallax 193
144% 188 fps
MRender 124
Gravity 176
Splatting 123
114% 141 fps
Poor: 109%
This bench: 127%
Great: 133%
Drives BenchSequentialRandom 4kDeep queue 4k
SanDisk SSD Plus 120GB-$42
2GB free (System drive)
Firmware: Z22000RL
Relative performance n/a - sequential test incomplete
Read 510
Write 170
Mixed 197
64% 292 MB/s
4K Read 27.8
4K Write 124
4K Mixed 14.4
126% 55.3 MB/s
DQ Read 184
DQ Write 193
DQ Mixed 80.1
90% 152 MB/s
Poor: 35% Great: 78%
Adata SU800NS38 128GB
22GB free
Firmware: Q0518BS
Relative performance n/a - sequential test incomplete
Read 516
Write 417
Mixed 398
99% 444 MB/s
4K Read 33.8
4K Write 122
4K Mixed 49.5
179% 68.3 MB/s
DQ Read 129
DQ Write 336
DQ Mixed 155
141% 207 MB/s
Poor: 46% Great: 102%
Seagate Desktop SSHD 4TB-$230
3TB free
Firmware: CC45
SusWrite @10s intervals: 173 171 173 171 173 172 MB/s
Performing way above expectations (99th percentile)
96.8% Outstanding
Read 164
Write 130
Mixed 25.3
SusWrite 172
89% 123 MB/s
4K Read 1
4K Write 5
4K Mixed 1.7
323% 2.57 MB/s
Poor: 44%
This bench: 96.8%
Great: 94%
Memory Kit BenchMulti coreSingle coreLatency
Crucial Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 2400 C16 2x8GB-$118
2 of 4 slots used
16GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2400 MHz
Performing above expectations (63rd percentile)
80.9% Excellent
MC Read 28.2
MC Write 31
MC Mixed 26.4
82% 28.5 GB/s
SC Read 18.1
SC Write 31.7
SC Mixed 25.1
71% 25 GB/s
Latency 63.8
63% 63.8 ns
Poor: 45%
This bench: 80.9%
Great: 87%

 System Memory Latency Ladder

L1/L2/L3 CPU cache and main memory (DIMM) access latencies in nano seconds

Typical Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) Builds (Compare 2,312 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings
Gaming
Gaming 51%
Yacht
Desktop
Desktop 87%
Aircraft carrier
Workstation
Workstation 44%
Speed boat

Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) - $150

EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER Value: 86% - Excellent Total price: $589
The Best.
CPUGPUSSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $273Nvidia RTX 4060 $295Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $133Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $177Nvidia RTX 4070 $539Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52
HDDRAMUSB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $40SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $37Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $43SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $51G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16
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