MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results


Gaming 38% Jet ski	Desktop 95% Nuclear submarine	Workstation 32% Sail boat


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 light workstation, and even some light server workloads. Finally, with a gaming score of 87.5%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is very good.
Graphics	33.6% 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)
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.

Run History

3 years ago, 3 years ago, 3 years ago, 3 years ago.

System	MSI MS-7978
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) (all builds)
Memory	25.5 GB free of 32 GB @ 3.2 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20180704
Uptime	0.6 Days
Run Date	Mar 03 '21 at 18:31
Run Duration	236 Seconds
Run User	CAN-User
Background CPU	12%

Watch Gameplay: 480 + 9600K How to compare your gameplay

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 i5-6600K-$130 342,244 User benchmarks, average bench 72% U3E1, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 4 threads Base clock 3.5 GHz, turbo 4.1 GHz (avg) Performing way above expectations (98^th percentile)	87.5% Excellent	Memory 94.7 1-Core 133 2-Core 264 92% 164 Pts	4-Core 453 8-Core 523 64% 488 Pts	64-Core 519 32% 519 Pts
Poor: 57% ↑ This bench: 87.5% Great: 85%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
AMD RX 480-$75 261,163 User benchmarks, average bench 46% Asus(1043 04A8) CLim: 1266 MHz, MLim: 2000 MHz, Ram: 8GB, Driver: 21.2.1 Performing below potential (3^rd percentile) - GPU OC Guide	33.6% Below average	Lighting 38.2 Reflection 60.4 Parallax 59 31% 52.5 fps	MRender 62.8 Gravity 36.4 Splatting 44.2 38% 47.8 fps
Poor: 35% ↑ This bench: 33.6% Great: 53%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
Crucial P5 3D NVMe PCIe M.2 500GB-$69 17,082 User benchmarks, average bench 256% 91GB free (System drive) Firmware: P4CR Max speed: PCIe 16,000 MB/s Relative performance n/a - sequential test incomplete		Read 1,622 Write 2,215 Mixed 1,599 407% 1,812 MB/s	4K Read 53.3 4K Write 132 4K Mixed 65.1 234% 83.6 MB/s	DQ Read 1,653 DQ Write 1349 DQ Mixed 1,359 1,056% 1,454 MB/s
Poor: 168% Great: 332%
Samsung 850 Evo 250GB-$100 951,591 User benchmarks, average bench 103% 76GB free Firmware: EMT02B6Q SusWrite @10s intervals: 404 267 242 217 193 184 MB/s Performing way above expectations (88^th percentile)	119% Outstanding	Read 466 Write 450 Mixed 388 SusWrite 251 87% 389 MB/s	4K Read 48.1 4K Write 124 4K Mixed 64.5 221% 79 MB/s	DQ Read 384 DQ Write 345 DQ Mixed 357 270% 362 MB/s
Poor: 72% ↑ This bench: 119% Great: 124%
Microsoft Storage Space Device 13TB 105 User benchmarks, average bench 66% 11.5TB free Firmware: 0.1 SusWrite @10s intervals: 6 4.6 4.2 4 3.4 3.9 MB/s Relative performance n/a - RAM cached drive detected
Poor: 17% Great: 100%
Microsoft Storage Space Device 2TB 3,439 User benchmarks, average bench 79% 557GB free Firmware: 0.1 SusWrite @10s intervals: 1.6 0.6 0.4 0.6 0.4 0.7 MB/s Relative performance n/a - RAM cached drive detected
Poor: 28% Great: 106%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
G.SKILL F4 DDR4 3200 C16 4x8GB 30,689 User benchmarks, average bench 92% 4 of 4 slots used 32GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 3200 MHz Performing way above expectations (90^th percentile)	108% Outstanding	MC Read 38.7 MC Write 42.9 MC Mixed 35.5 112% 39 GB/s	SC Read 21.7 SC Write 45.1 SC Mixed 29.2 91% 32 GB/s	Latency 58 69% 58 ns
Poor: 66% ↑ This bench: 108% Great: 118%

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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 $98Bench 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