MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results

Benchmarks - missing SSD
Gaming 85% Aircraft carrier	Desktop 83% Aircraft carrier	Workstation 71% Battleship


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 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 light workstation, and even some light server workloads. Finally, with a gaming score of 83.4%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is very good.
Graphics	103% is an outstanding 3D score, it's the bee's knees. This GPU can handle almost all 3D games at very high resolutions and ultra detail levels.
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 (17%). 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	26.8 GB free of 32 GB @ 2.1 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20180704
Uptime	5.8 Days
Run Date	Mar 25 '21 at 15:27
Run Duration	163 Seconds
Run User	PSE-User
Background CPU	17%

Watch Gameplay: 2060S + 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 GHz (avg) Performing above expectations (64^th percentile)	83.4% Excellent	Memory 86.9 1-Core 127 2-Core 217 82% 144 Pts	4-Core 432 8-Core 617 66% 524 Pts	64-Core 646 40% 646 Pts
Poor: 70% ↑ This bench: 83.4% Great: 90%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia RTX 2060S (Super)-$510 319,148 User benchmarks, average bench 100% MSI(1462 C757) ≥ 4GB CLim: 2115 MHz, MLim: 3500 MHz, Ram: 8GB, Driver: 457.51 Performing above expectations (83^rd percentile)	103% Outstanding	Lighting 126 Reflection 114 Parallax 130 103% 123 fps	MRender 184 Gravity 116 Splatting 105 106% 135 fps
Poor: 90% ↑ This bench: 103% Great: 106%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
Spcc M.2 SSD 240GB 444 User benchmarks, average bench 65% 5GB free (System drive) Firmware: 8B Relative performance n/a - sequential test incomplete		Read 435 Write 265 Mixed 61 55% 254 MB/s	4K Read 25.4 4K Write 58.9 4K Mixed 38.6 119% 41 MB/s	DQ Read 277 DQ Write 272 DQ Mixed 179 161% 243 MB/s
Poor: 35% Great: 99%
WD WD10EZRX-00A8LB0 4TB 8 User benchmarks, average bench 68% 1TB free Firmware: FP2A SusWrite @10s intervals: 140 143 143 145 142 142 MB/s Relative performance n/a - drive id incomplete or inconclusive		Read 135 Write 132 Mixed 63.3 SusWrite 143 86% 118 MB/s	4K Read 2.4 4K Write 2.2 4K Mixed 1.1 263% 1.9 MB/s
Poor: 45% Great: 87%
Hitachi HUA723030ALA641 3TB 2,582 User benchmarks, average bench 72% 1TB free Firmware: A840 SusWrite @10s intervals: 85 86 86 86 85 86 MB/s Performing way below expectations (5^th percentile)	46.7% Average	Read 76.8 Write 72.1 Mixed 47.5 SusWrite 85.6 52% 70.5 MB/s	4K Read 0.8 4K Write 1.9 4K Mixed 0.8 157% 1.17 MB/s
Poor: 49% ↑ This bench: 46.7% Great: 88%
WD Green 2TB (2012)-$49 170,877 User benchmarks, average bench 64% 627GB free Firmware: 0A80 SusWrite @10s intervals: 88 98 98 99 98 98 MB/s Performing below expectations (27^th percentile)	54.1% Above average	Read 91.5 Write 91.1 Mixed 86.5 SusWrite 96.6 68% 91.4 MB/s	4K Read 0.7 4K Write 2.5 4K Mixed 0.9 176% 1.37 MB/s
Poor: 40% ↑ This bench: 54.1% Great: 84%
SANDISK SDDR-489 64GB 226 User benchmarks, average bench 37% 57GB free, PID cfc9 Operating at USB 3.1 Speed SusWrite @10s intervals: 64 66 81 65 79 68 MB/s Performing as expected (58^th percentile)	35% Below average	Read 86.1 Write 46.9 Mixed 41 SusWrite 70.5 78% 61.1 MB/s	4K Read 5.7 4K Write 1.9 4K Mixed 2.8 181% 3.47 MB/s
Poor: 14% ↑ This bench: 35% Great: 95%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Unknown SP008GBLFU213N02 4x8GB 6 User benchmarks, average bench 78% 4 of 4 slots used 32GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2133 MHz Performing above expectations (67^th percentile)	74% Very good	MC Read 25.4 MC Write 28.5 MC Mixed 23.8 74% 25.9 GB/s	SC Read 17.4 SC Write 30.6 SC Mixed 23.9 68% 24 GB/s	Latency 70.5 57% 70.5 ns
Poor: 69% ↑ This bench: 74% Great: 104%

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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 $31Bench 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 $40	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