MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results


Gaming 31% Sail boat	Desktop 93% Nuclear submarine	Workstation 28% Raft


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing above expectations (70th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 30 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 83.5%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is very good.
Graphics	28.1% 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	109% is a very good SSD score. This drive is suitable for moderate workstation use, it will facilitate fast boots, responsive applications and ensure minimum IO wait times.
Memory	32GB is enough RAM to run any version of Windows and it's far more than any current game requires. 32GB will also allow for large file and system caches, virtual machine hosting, software development, video editing and batch multimedia processing.
OS Version	Although Windows 10 is not the most recent version of Windows, it remains a great option.

Run History

7 years ago, 7 years ago.

System	MSI MS-7978
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) (all builds)
Memory	29 GB free of 32 GB @ 2.4 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20160223
Uptime	0 Days
Run Date	Feb 12 '17 at 10:17
Run Duration	162 Seconds
Run User	THA-User
Background CPU	2%

PC Performing above expectations (70^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-$180 588,978 User benchmarks, average bench 81% U3E1, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 8 threads Base clock 4 GHz, turbo 4.2 GHz (avg) Performing above expectations (64^th percentile)	83.5% Excellent	Memory 93.9 1-Core 134 2-Core 268 92% 165 Pts	4-Core 393 8-Core 743 68% 568 Pts	64-Core 740 46% 740 Pts
Poor: 70% ↑ This bench: 83.5% Great: 90%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 950-$100 111,509 User benchmarks, average bench 26% Asus(1043 8569) 2GB CLim: 1443 MHz, MLim: 1652 MHz, Ram: 2GB, Driver: 376.53 Performing way above expectations (94^th percentile)	28.1% Poor	Lighting 34.9 Reflection 34.2 Parallax 30.6 28% 33.2 fps	MRender 37.6 Gravity 31.4 Splatting 32.3 27% 33.8 fps
Poor: 22% ↑ This bench: 28.1% Great: 28%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
SanDisk Ultra II 240GB-$40 53,931 User benchmarks, average bench 82% 208GB free Firmware: X41100RL Max speed: SATA 3.0 600 MB/s Performing above expectations (73^rd percentile) (ID) Attribute Now Worst Value (05) Reallocated sector count 100 100 0 (09) Power-on hours count 100 100 1071 (0C) Power cycle count 100 100 233 (A5) Unknown 100 100 3014683 (A6) Unknown 100 100 1 (A7) Unknown 100 100 42 (A8) Unknown 100 100 2 (A9) Unknown 100 100 353 (AA) Unknown 100 100 0 (AB) Unknown 100 100 0 (AC) Unknown 100 100 0 (AD) Unknown 100 100 1 (AE) Unknown 100 100 6 (B8) Unknown 100 100 0 (BB) vendor-specific 100 100 0 (BC) Unknown 100 100 0 (C2) HDA temperature 64 63 270584709156 (C7) UDMA CRC error rate 100 100 0 (E6) GMR head amplitude 100 100 30065688590 (E8) Unknown 100 100 100 (E9) Unknown 100 100 235 (EA) Unknown 100 100 285 (F1) Unknown 253 253 275 (F2) Unknown 253 253 17 (F4) Unknown 0 100 0	89.8% Excellent	Read 498 Write 348 Mixed 329 87% 391 MB/s	4K Read 37.7 4K Write 80.1 4K Mixed 19 124% 45.6 MB/s	DQ Read 372 DQ Write 205 DQ Mixed 43.3 98% 207 MB/s
Poor: 58% ↑ This bench: 89.8% Great: 101%
Intel SSDSCKKW240H6 240GB 3,142 User benchmarks, average bench 76% 125GB free (System drive) Firmware: LSF031C Max speed: SATA 3.0 600 MB/s Performing way above expectations (100^th percentile) (ID) Attribute Now Worst Value (05) Reallocated sector count 100 100 0 (09) Power-on hours count 100 100 87 (0C) Power cycle count 100 100 249 (AA) Unknown 100 100 0 (AB) Unknown 100 100 0 (AC) Unknown 100 100 0 (AE) Unknown 100 100 9 (B7) Unknown 100 100 0 (B8) Unknown 100 100 0 (BB) vendor-specific 100 100 0 (BE) vendor-specific 57 61 141737918521 (C0) Power-off retract count 100 100 9 (C7) UDMA CRC error rate 100 100 0 (E1) Load/Unload cycle count 100 100 85302 (E2) Load-in time 100 100 0 (E3) Torque amplification count 100 100 0 (E4) Power-off retract count 100 100 0 (E8) Unknown 100 100 0 (E9) Unknown 98 98 0 (F1) Unknown 100 100 85302 (F2) Unknown 100 100 65954 (F9) Unknown 100 100 1165 (FC) Unknown 100 100 7	109% Outstanding	Read 524 Write 420 Mixed 486 106% 477 MB/s	4K Read 30.9 4K Write 110 4K Mixed 43.3 161% 61.5 MB/s	DQ Read 286 DQ Write 317 DQ Mixed 80.4 122% 228 MB/s
Poor: 58% ↑ This bench: 109% Great: 89%
WD Blue 1TB (2012)-$31 3,105,054 User benchmarks, average bench 83% 676GB free Firmware: 01.01A01 Max speed: SATA 3.0 600 MB/s Performing as expected (47^th percentile) (ID) Attribute Now Worst Value (01) Raw read error rate 200 200 0 (03) Spinup time 178 173 2100 (04) Start/Stop count 100 100 765 (05) Reallocated sector count 200 200 0 (07) Seek error rate 200 200 0 (09) Power-on hours count 99 99 1163 (0A) Spinup retry count 100 100 0 (0B) Calibration retry count 100 100 0 (0C) Power cycle count 100 100 253 (B7) Unknown 100 100 0 (B8) Unknown 100 100 0 (BB) vendor-specific 100 100 0 (BC) Unknown 100 100 0 (BE) vendor-specific 61 57 656867367 (C0) Power-off retract count 200 200 12 (C1) Load/Unload cycle count 200 200 2542 (C2) HDA temperature 104 100 39 (C4) Reallocation count 200 200 0 (C5) Current pending sector count 200 200 0 (C6) Offline scan uncorrectable count 200 200 0 (C7) UDMA CRC error rate 200 200 0 (C8) Write error rate 200 200 0	83.1% Excellent	Read 155 Write 134 Mixed 129 105% 139 MB/s	4K Read 0.93 4K Write 2.28 4K Mixed 0.25 108% 1.15 MB/s
Poor: 52% ↑ This bench: 83.1% Great: 109%
WD My Passport 259F 2TB 3,542 User benchmarks, average bench 31% 538GB free, PID 259f Operating at USB 3.0 Speed Performing as expected (51^st percentile)	32.5% Below average	Read 70.5 Write 74.7 Mixed 59.7 88% 68.3 MB/s	4K Read 0.53 4K Write 1.9 4K Mixed 0.22 74% 0.89 MB/s
Poor: 14% ↑ This bench: 32.5% Great: 44%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Kingston HyperX DDR4 2400 C15 4x8GB 3,679 User benchmarks, average bench 86% 4 of 4 slots used 32GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2400 MHz Performing as expected (60^th percentile)	82.2% Excellent	MC Read 28.9 MC Write 31.9 MC Mixed 25.5 82% 28.8 GB/s	SC Read 16.9 SC Write 34.3 SC Mixed 26.7 74% 26 GB/s	Latency 60 67% 60 ns
Poor: 70% ↑ This bench: 82.2% Great: 115%

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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 2,315 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	820x
Core i5-6600KIntel $130Bench 72%, 342,244 samples	631x
Core i7-6700Intel $180Bench 72%, 282,363 samples	227x

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	223x

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 $96Bench 310%, 455,997 samples	55x

RAM
Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GBCorsair $37Bench 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: 87% - Excellent

Total price: $583

CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $254	Nvidia RTX 4060 $300	Crucial MX500 250GB $39
Intel Core i5-12400F $133	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $163	Nvidia RTX 4070 $539	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) $31	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $37	SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $64	G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351	SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16