MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results


Gaming 47% Yacht	Desktop 80% Aircraft carrier	Workstation 40% Jet ski


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing as expected (51st percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 49 performed better. The overall PC percentile is the average of each of its individual components.
Processor	With a good single core score, this CPU can easily handle the majority of general computing tasks. Additionally this processor can handle light workstation, and even some light server workloads. Finally, with a gaming score of 77%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is good.
Graphics	55.6% 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 Drive	67.5% is a good SSD score. This drive enables fast boots, responsive applications and ensures minimum system 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.

Sub-optimal background CPU (12%). 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	21.2 GB free of 32 GB @ 2.1 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit barev
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20160122
Uptime	6.3 Days
Run Date	Jan 13 '21 at 17:19
Run Duration	184 Seconds
Run User	CZE-User
Background CPU	12%

Watch Gameplay: 1060-6GB + 9600K How to compare your gameplay

PC Performing as expected (51^st 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 below expectations (23^rd percentile)	77% Very good	Memory 79.2 1-Core 112 2-Core 204 75% 132 Pts	4-Core 403 8-Core 577 61% 490 Pts	64-Core 624 39% 624 Pts
Poor: 70% ↑ This bench: 77% Great: 90%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 1060-6GB-$117 1,368,019 User benchmarks, average bench 56% MSI(1462 3281) CLim: 1974 MHz, MLim: 2002 MHz, Ram: 6GB, Driver: 460.89 Performing below potential (59^th percentile) - GPU OC Guide	55.6% Above average	Lighting 69.2 Reflection 71 Parallax 64.5 56% 68.2 fps	MRender 64 Gravity 68.5 Splatting 65.3 54% 65.9 fps
Poor: 51% ↑ This bench: 55.6% Great: 60%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
Crucial MX200 500GB-$90 17,487 User benchmarks, average bench 83% 43GB free (System drive) Firmware: MU05 SusWrite @10s intervals: 102 97 86 59 86 86 MB/s Performing way below expectations (18^th percentile)	67.5% Good	Read 418 Write 123 Mixed 181 SusWrite 85.9 44% 202 MB/s	4K Read 26.3 4K Write 75.3 4K Mixed 31 119% 44.2 MB/s	DQ Read 314 DQ Write 89 DQ Mixed 110 105% 171 MB/s
Poor: 56% ↑ This bench: 67.5% Great: 105%
SanDisk U110 128GB-$69 1,185 User benchmarks, average bench 37% 62GB free Firmware: U220000 SusWrite @10s intervals: 271 107 36 27 26 38 MB/s Performing way below expectations (10^th percentile)	26.6% Poor	Read 381 Write 310 Mixed 79 SusWrite 84 47% 213 MB/s	4K Read 4.3 4K Write 15.8 4K Mixed 2.3 18% 7.47 MB/s	DQ Read 32.9 DQ Write 18.1 DQ Mixed 12.8 13% 21.3 MB/s
Poor: 27% ↑ This bench: 26.6% Great: 51%
WD Green 1TB (2010)-$139 139,542 User benchmarks, average bench 44% 878GB free Firmware: 80.00A80 SusWrite @10s intervals: 94 94 93 94 94 94 MB/s Performing way above expectations (85^th percentile)	54.4% Above average	Read 95.5 Write 96.2 Mixed 60.5 SusWrite 93.9 64% 86.5 MB/s	4K Read 1 4K Write 1.5 4K Mixed 0.7 147% 1.07 MB/s
Poor: 29% ↑ This bench: 54.4% Great: 59%
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 2TB-$50 815,515 User benchmarks, average bench 88% 2.5TB free Firmware: HP34 SusWrite @10s intervals: 186 191 190 193 193 195 MB/s Performing above expectations (79^th percentile)	105% Outstanding	Read 176 Write 158 Mixed 82.3 SusWrite 192 111% 152 MB/s	4K Read 0.7 4K Write 1.6 4K Mixed 0.7 137% 1 MB/s
Poor: 51% ↑ This bench: 105% Great: 114%
WD WD2500YS-01SHB1 251GB 1,993 User benchmarks, average bench 28% 233GB free Firmware: 20.06C06 SusWrite @10s intervals: 58 58 58 59 59 58 MB/s Performing way above expectations (89^th percentile)	33.6% Below average	Read 58.3 Write 56 Mixed 47.2 SusWrite 58.2 41% 54.9 MB/s	4K Read 0.7 4K Write 2.1 4K Mixed 0.9 168% 1.23 MB/s
Poor: 15% ↑ This bench: 33.6% Great: 35%
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 2TB-$50 815,515 User benchmarks, average bench 88% 1.5TB free Firmware: HP51 SusWrite @10s intervals: 182 190 191 191 192 193 MB/s Performing way above expectations (85^th percentile)	108% Outstanding	Read 187 Write 154 Mixed 83.5 SusWrite 190 112% 154 MB/s	4K Read 0.6 4K Write 1.6 4K Mixed 0.7 132% 0.97 MB/s
Poor: 51% ↑ This bench: 108% Great: 114%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Kingston HyperX 2133 C14 4x8GB 3,576 User benchmarks, average bench 75% 4 of 4 slots used 32GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2133 MHz Performing way below expectations (13^th percentile)	64.8% Good	MC Read 23 MC Write 26.3 MC Mixed 21.7 68% 23.7 GB/s	SC Read 12.1 SC Write 17.2 SC Mixed 20 47% 16.4 GB/s	Latency 82.1 49% 82.1 ns
Poor: 62% ↑ This bench: 64.8% Great: 99%

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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 2,313 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	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 $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 $273	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 $177	Nvidia RTX 4070 $539	Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52

HDD	RAM	USB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $45	SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $37	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