MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results


Gaming 111% UFO	Desktop 94% Nuclear submarine	Workstation 86% Aircraft carrier


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing above expectations (66th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 34 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 light workstation, and even some light server workloads. Finally, with a gaming score of 89.8%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is very good.
Graphics	125% 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.

Very high background CPU (88%). High background CPU reduces benchmark accuracy. How to reduce background CPU.

System	MSI MS-7978
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) (all builds)
Memory	12.1 GB free of 16 GB @ 3.2 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20160516
Uptime	0 Days
Run Date	Jan 06 '19 at 21:01
Run Duration	217 Seconds
Run User	USA-User
Background CPU	88%

Watch Gameplay: 2080 + 9600K How to compare your gameplay

PC Performing above expectations (66^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 3.9 GHz (avg) Performing way above expectations (99^th percentile)	89.8% Excellent	Memory 96.3 1-Core 125 2-Core 252 89% 158 Pts	4-Core 480 8-Core 492 65% 486 Pts	64-Core 481 30% 481 Pts
Poor: 57% ↑ This bench: 89.8% Great: 85%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia RTX 2080-$407 316,424 User benchmarks, average bench 124% Asus(1043 8662) CLim: 2100 MHz, MLim: 3500 MHz, Ram: 8GB, Driver: 417.35 Performing below potential (58^th percentile) - GPU OC Guide	125% Outstanding	Lighting 171 Reflection 164 Parallax 159 140% 165 fps	MRender 184 Gravity 144 Splatting 105 114% 145 fps
Poor: 109% ↑ This bench: 125% Great: 134%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
WD Black NVMe PCIe M.2 500GB (2018)-$37 23,087 User benchmarks, average bench 233% 96GB free (System drive) Firmware: 101140WD Max speed: PCIe 16,000 MB/s Relative performance n/a - sequential test incomplete		Read 1,858 Write 1,966 Mixed 1,575 402% 1,799 MB/s	4K Read 45.4 4K Write 186 4K Mixed 74.1 262% 102 MB/s	DQ Read 1,600 DQ Write 1324 DQ Mixed 1,407 1,069% 1,444 MB/s
Poor: 160% Great: 284%
Samsung 850 Evo 500GB-$109 695,664 User benchmarks, average bench 112% 49GB free Firmware: EMT02B6Q SusWrite @10s intervals: 491 489 490 344 133 134 MB/s Performing way above expectations (88^th percentile)	130% Outstanding	Read 505 Write 486 Mixed 399 SusWrite 347 98% 434 MB/s	4K Read 49 4K Write 134 4K Mixed 67.3 231% 83.3 MB/s	DQ Read 384 DQ Write 346 DQ Mixed 362 272% 364 MB/s
Poor: 80% ↑ This bench: 130% Great: 134%
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 1TB-$33 1,562,409 User benchmarks, average bench 89% 146GB free Firmware: CC43 SusWrite @10s intervals: 119 127 131 129 131 130 MB/s Performing as expected (48^th percentile)	90.2% Outstanding	Read 187 Write 73.5 Mixed 73 SusWrite 128 84% 115 MB/s	4K Read 0.7 4K Write 1.6 4K Mixed 0.7 137% 1 MB/s
Poor: 55% ↑ This bench: 90.2% Great: 112%
Seagate Barracuda 4TB (2017)-$79 179,101 User benchmarks, average bench 67% 3.5TB free Firmware: 0001 SusWrite @10s intervals: 175 181 185 187 183 185 MB/s Performing way above expectations (98^th percentile)	91.7% Outstanding	Read 137 Write 147 Mixed 70.8 SusWrite 183 98% 134 MB/s	4K Read 1.8 4K Write 1.7 4K Mixed 0.7 184% 1.4 MB/s
Poor: 40% ↑ This bench: 91.7% Great: 90%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB 5,376 User benchmarks, average bench 90% 2 of 4 slots used 16GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 3200 MHz Performing below potential (7^th percentile) - ensure that a dual+ channel XMP BIOS profile is enabled: How to enable XMP	61.2% Good	MC Read 21.2 MC Write 21.6 MC Mixed 19.1 59% 20.6 GB/s	SC Read 16.8 SC Write 21.6 SC Mixed 18.2 54% 18.9 GB/s	Latency 52.7 76% 52.7 ns
Poor: 58% ↑ This bench: 61.2% Great: 111%

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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 2,309 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 $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 $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 $279	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 $182	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) $30	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