MSI Z170A GAMING M5 (MS-7977)

Performance Results

 
Gaming
Gaming 53%
Yacht
Desktop
Desktop 94%
Nuclear submarine
Workstation
Workstation 46%
Yacht
PC StatusOverall this PC is performing above expectations (77th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 23 performed better. The overall PC percentile is the average of each of its individual components.
ProcessorWith 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 moderate workstation, and even light server workloads. Finally, with a gaming score of 84.8%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is very good.
Graphics55.1% 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 Drive255% is an exceptional SSD score. This drive is suitable for heavy workstation use, it will facilitate fast boots, responsive applications and allow for fast transfers of multi-gigabyte files.
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 8.1 is a recent version of Windows, it's worth upgrading to Windows 10 which has had several improvements made to the user interface including a better homescreen.
High background CPU (30%). High background CPU reduces benchmark accuracy. How to reduce background CPU.
Run History
SystemMSI MS-7977
MotherboardMSI Z170A GAMING M5 (MS-7977)  (all builds)
Memory13.9 GB free of 16 GB @ 2.1 GHz
Display1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors, 1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OSWindows 8.1
BIOS Date20160722
Uptime0 Days
Run DateJan 03 '17 at 15:42
Run Duration118 Seconds
Run User USA-User
Background CPU 30%

 PC Performing above expectations (77th percentile)

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

Processor BenchNormalHeavyServer
Intel Core i7-6700K-$180
U3E1, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 8 threads
Base clock 4 GHz, turbo 3.95 GHz (avg)
Performing above expectations (79th percentile)
84.8% Excellent
Memory 90.2
1-Core 129
2-Core 245
87% 155 Pts
4-Core 428
8-Core 689
68% 558 Pts
64-Core 711
44% 711 Pts
Poor: 70%
This bench: 84.8%
Great: 90%
Graphics Cards Bench3D DX93D DX103D DX11
Nvidia GTX 970-$200
CLim: 1519 MHz, MLim: 1752 MHz, Ram: 4GB, Driver: 376.33
Performing way above expectations (99th percentile)
55.1% Above average
Lighting 69.6
Reflection 71.3
Parallax 64.8
57% 68.6 fps
MRender 73.2
Gravity 63.3
Splatting 56.5
52% 64.3 fps
Poor: 43%
This bench: 55.1%
Great: 54%
Intel HD 530 (Desktop Skylake)
MSI(1462 7977) 1GB
Driver: igdumdim64.dll Ver. 21.20.16.4550
Performing way above expectations (100th percentile)
7.69% Terrible
Lighting 8.07
Reflection 11.5
Parallax 7.94
7% 9.18 fps
MRender 10.7
Gravity 6.97
Splatting 16.6
10% 11.4 fps
Poor: 3%
This bench: 7.69%
Great: 6%
Drive BenchSequentialRandom 4kDeep queue 4k
Samsung 950 NVMe PCIe M.2 512GB-$625
241GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 1B0QBXX7 Max speed: PCIe 16,000 MB/s
Performing above expectations (74th percentile)
255% Outstanding
Read 2,006
Write 1,338
Mixed 1,482
356% 1,609 MB/s
4K Read 52.1
4K Write 184
4K Mixed 47.7
237% 94.5 MB/s
DQ Read 645
DQ Write 392
DQ Mixed 239
253% 425 MB/s
Poor: 138%
This bench: 255%
Great: 283%
Memory Kit BenchMulti coreSingle coreLatency
Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB-$45
2 of 4 slots used
16GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2133 MHz
Performing below potential (35th percentile) - ensure that a dual+ channel XMP BIOS profile is enabled: How to enable XMP
76.5% Very good
MC Read 27.7
MC Write 28.9
MC Mixed 24
77% 26.9 GB/s
SC Read 18.2
SC Write 29.8
SC Mixed 24.3
69% 24.1 GB/s
Latency 67
60% 67 ns
Poor: 61%
This bench: 76.5%
Great: 110%

 System Memory Latency Ladder

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

Typical Z170A GAMING M5 (MS-7977) Builds (Compare 4,918 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings
Gaming
Gaming 68%
Battle cruiser
Desktop
Desktop 87%
Aircraft carrier
Workstation
Workstation 57%
Gunboat

Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 (MS-7977) - $140

EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER Value: 99% - Outstanding Total price: $578
The Best.
CPUGPUSSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $254Nvidia RTX 4060 $300Crucial MX500 250GB $39
Intel Core i5-12400F $133Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $175Nvidia RTX 4070 $539Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52
HDDRAMUSB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $45SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $32Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $48SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $51G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16
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