MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results

Benchmarks - missing GPU
Gaming 0% Incomplete	Desktop 0% Incomplete	Workstation 0% Incomplete


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing above expectations (67th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 33 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 88.4%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is very good.
Boot Drive	61.4% is a good SSD score. This drive enables fast boots, responsive applications and ensures minimum system IO wait times.
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 7 is still a viable option, it's now 14 years and 10 months old. This system should be upgraded to Windows 10 which is generally faster and has an improved set of core utilities including better versions of explorer and task manager.

Very high background CPU (31%). High background CPU reduces benchmark accuracy. How to reduce background CPU.

Run History

7 years ago, 7 years ago, 7 years ago, 7 years ago, 7 years ago, 7 years ago, 7 years ago, 7 years ago, 7 years ago, 7 years ago, 7 years ago, 7 years ago, 7 years ago, 7 years ago, 7 years ago. (Only the first run influences device rankings)

System	MSI MS-7978
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) (all builds)
Memory	14.2 GB free of 16 GB @ 2.4 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 7
BIOS Date	20161221
Uptime	0 Days
Run Date	Feb 08 '17 at 16:40
Run Duration	107 Seconds
Run User	THA-User
Background CPU	31%

PC Performing above expectations (67^th percentile)

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

Processor	Bench	Normal	Heavy	Server
Intel Core i7-6700K-$219 588,978 User benchmarks, average bench 81% U3E1, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 8 threads Base clock 4 GHz Performing way above expectations (93^rd percentile)	88.4% Excellent	Memory 92.9 1-Core 137 2-Core 274 93% 168 Pts	4-Core 452 8-Core 779 75% 615 Pts	64-Core 783 48% 783 Pts
Poor: 70% ↑ This bench: 88.4% Great: 90%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 970-$200 834,238 User benchmarks, average bench 49% Zotac(19DA 2370) ≥ 4GB CLim: 1557 MHz, MLim: 1800 MHz, Ram: 4GB, Driver: 376.9 Relative performance n/a - benchmarks incomplete		Lighting 69.7 Reflection 75.4 Parallax 72.7 57% 72.6 fps	Gravity 65.8 Splatting 62.2 56% 64 fps
Poor: 43% Great: 54%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
SanDisk SSD Plus 240GB-$30 133,640 User benchmarks, average bench 61% 151GB free (System drive) Firmware: Z32070RL Max speed: SATA 3.0 600 MB/s Performing as expected (53^rd percentile) (ID) Attribute Now Worst Value (05) Reallocated sector count 100 100 0 (09) Power-on hours count 0 100 609 (0C) Power cycle count 100 100 216 (A5) Unknown 100 100 1172550517092 (A6) Unknown 100 100 2 (A7) Unknown 100 100 0 (A8) Unknown 100 100 10 (A9) Unknown 100 100 0 (AA) Unknown 100 100 0 (AB) Unknown 100 100 0 (AC) Unknown 100 100 0 (AD) Unknown 100 100 5 (AE) Unknown 100 100 36 (BB) vendor-specific 100 100 0 (BC) Unknown 100 100 0 (C2) HDA temperature 58 41 253403070506 (C7) UDMA CRC error rate 100 100 0 (E6) GMR head amplitude 100 100 506811056246 (E8) Unknown 100 100 100 (E9) Unknown 100 100 1264 (EA) Unknown 100 100 3340 (F1) Unknown 253 253 2162 (F2) Unknown 253 253 3271 (F4) Unknown 0 100 0	61.4% Good	Read 493 Write 242 Mixed 236 71% 324 MB/s	4K Read 23.3 4K Write 69.4 4K Mixed 3.4 76% 32 MB/s	DQ Read 61.9 DQ Write 209 DQ Mixed 9.35 44% 93.3 MB/s
Poor: 35% ↑ This bench: 61.4% Great: 86%
Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB-$22 9,374 User benchmarks, average bench 84% 458GB free Firmware: SN04 Max speed: SATA 3.0 600 MB/s Performing above expectations (70^th percentile) (ID) Attribute Now Worst Value (01) Raw read error rate 79 64 89340573 (03) Spinup time 97 96 0 (04) Start/Stop count 100 100 449 (05) Reallocated sector count 100 100 0 (07) Seek error rate 78 60 78819805 (09) Power-on hours count 100 100 638 (0A) Spinup retry count 100 100 0 (0C) Power cycle count 100 100 213 (B8) Unknown 100 100 0 (BB) vendor-specific 100 100 0 (BC) Unknown 100 100 0 (BD) vendor-specific 100 100 0 (BE) vendor-specific 69 62 555679775 (BF) G-sense error rate 100 100 0 (C0) Power-off retract count 100 100 28 (C1) Load/Unload cycle count 100 100 547 (C2) HDA temperature 31 40 68719476767 (C3) Hardware ECC recovered 22 10 89340573 (C5) Current pending sector count 100 100 0 (C6) Offline scan uncorrectable count 100 100 0 (C7) UDMA CRC error rate 200 200 0	92.6% Outstanding	Read 165 Write 158 Mixed 56.4 92% 126 MB/s	4K Read 1.05 4K Write 2.09 4K Mixed 0.58 147% 1.24 MB/s
Poor: 56% ↑ This bench: 92.6% Great: 103%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
HyperX Fury DDR4 2400 C15 2x8GB-$299 20,912 User benchmarks, average bench 79% 2 of 4 slots used 16GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2400 MHz Performing as expected (51^st percentile)	81.2% Excellent	MC Read 29.6 MC Write 30.7 MC Mixed 25.1 81% 28.5 GB/s	SC Read 17.7 SC Write 33.2 SC Mixed 26.5 74% 25.8 GB/s	Latency 62.3 64% 62.3 ns
Poor: 46% ↑ This bench: 81.2% Great: 91%

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 Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) Builds (Compare 2,326 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 $219Bench 81%, 588,978 samples	824x
Core i5-6600KIntel $130Bench 72%, 342,244 samples	634x
Core i7-6700Intel $219Bench 72%, 282,363 samples	227x

GPU
GTX 1060-6GBNvidia $117Bench 56%, 1,368,019 samples	317x
GTX 1070Nvidia $132Bench 80%, 1,459,281 samples	310x
GTX 970Nvidia $200Bench 49%, 834,238 samples	224x

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 $75Bench 310%, 455,997 samples	55x

RAM
Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GBCorsair $48Bench 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: 83% - Excellent

Total price: $633

CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-12600K $176	Nvidia RTX 4060 $293	Crucial MX500 250GB $39
Intel Core i5-12400F $128	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-13600K $260	Nvidia RTX 4070 $550	Samsung 870 Evo 250GB $45

HDD	RAM	USB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $40	SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $32	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $48	SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $62	G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351	SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16