MSI Z170-A PRO (MS-7971)

Performance Results

Benchmarks - missing SSD
Gaming 31% Sail boat	Desktop 76% Battleship	Workstation 24% Surfboard


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing as expected (43rd percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 57 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. Despite its good single core score this processor isn't appropriate for workstation use due to its relatively weak multi-core performance. Finally, with a gaming score of 69.1%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is above average.
Graphics	41.1% 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	The boot partition is located on a mechanical or hybrid drive. Moving the system to an SSD will yield far faster boot times, better system responsiveness and faster application load 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 10 is not the most recent version of Windows, it remains a great option.

High background CPU (21%). High background CPU reduces benchmark accuracy. How to reduce background CPU.

Run History

6 years ago, 6 years ago, 6 years ago, 6 years ago, 6 years ago, 6 years ago, 6 years ago.

System	MSI MS-7971
Motherboard	MSI Z170-A PRO (MS-7971) (all builds)
Memory	8 GB free of 16 GB @ 2.1 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20160511
Uptime	10.1 Days
Run Date	Jul 06 '17 at 23:03
Run Duration	84 Seconds
Run User	USA-User
Background CPU	21%

PC Performing as expected (43^rd percentile)

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

Processor	Bench	Normal	Heavy	Server
Intel Core i5-6500-$67 241,476 User benchmarks, average bench 64% U3E1, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 4 threads Base clock 3.2 GHz, turbo 3.3 GHz (avg) Performing above expectations (81^st percentile)	69.1% Good	Memory 81.7 1-Core 104 2-Core 209 75% 132 Pts	4-Core 324 8-Core 347 44% 335 Pts	64-Core 346 21% 346 Pts
Poor: 43% ↑ This bench: 69.1% Great: 73%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
AMD R9 390-$325 82,117 User benchmarks, average bench 50% Gigabyte(1458 22BD) ≥ 4GB CLim: 1025 MHz, MLim: 1500 MHz, Ram: 8GB, Driver: 17.1.1 Performing below potential (1^st percentile) - GPU OC Guide	41.1% Average	Lighting 47.6 Reflection 53 Parallax 59.6 39% 53.4 fps	MRender 54 Gravity 46.3 Splatting 63.5 46% 54.6 fps
Poor: 45% ↑ This bench: 41.1% Great: 52%

Drive	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 2TB-$50 815,515 User benchmarks, average bench 88% 1.5TB free (System drive) Firmware: CC26 Max speed: SATA 3.0 600 MB/s Performing above expectations (74^th percentile) (ID) Attribute Now Worst Value (01) Raw read error rate 117 99 147111056 (03) Spinup time 96 96 0 (04) Start/Stop count 100 100 167 (05) Reallocated sector count 100 100 0 (07) Seek error rate 78 60 66246722 (09) Power-on hours count 96 96 3645 (0A) Spinup retry count 100 100 0 (0C) Power cycle count 100 100 167 (B7) Unknown 100 100 0 (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 62 52 639631398 (BF) G-sense error rate 100 100 0 (C0) Power-off retract count 100 100 13 (C1) Load/Unload cycle count 100 100 881 (C2) HDA temperature 38 48 81604378662 (C5) Current pending sector count 100 100 0 (C6) Offline scan uncorrectable count 100 100 0 (C7) UDMA CRC error rate 200 200 0 (F0) Head flying hours 100 253 25473451036216 (F1) Unknown 100 253 11513956263 (F2) Unknown 100 253 71429760637	103% Outstanding	Read 195 Write 163 Mixed 155 128% 171 MB/s	4K Read 0.41 4K Write 1.48 4K Mixed 0.19 66% 0.69 MB/s
Poor: 51% ↑ This bench: 103% Great: 114%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
G.SKILL Ripjaws V DDR4 2400 C15 2x8GB-$31 98,777 User benchmarks, average bench 71% 2 of 4 slots used 16GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2133 MHz Performing below potential (17^th percentile) - ensure that a dual+ channel XMP BIOS profile is enabled: How to enable XMP	63.9% Good	MC Read 22.4 MC Write 25.4 MC Mixed 20.4 65% 22.7 GB/s	SC Read 13.8 SC Write 22.6 SC Mixed 18.9 53% 18.4 GB/s	Latency 77.5 52% 77.5 ns
Poor: 44% ↑ This bench: 63.9% Great: 88%

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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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GPU

SSD

HDD

RAM

MBD

Typical Z170-A PRO (MS-7971) Builds (Compare 2,612 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings

Gaming 61%

Destroyer

Desktop 82%

Aircraft carrier

Workstation 48%

Yacht

Motherboard: MSI Z170-A PRO (MS-7971) - $180

CPU
Core i5-6600KIntel $130Bench 72%, 342,244 samples	907x
Core i7-6700KIntel $180Bench 81%, 588,978 samples	690x
Core i5-6500Intel $67Bench 64%, 241,476 samples	277x

GPU
GTX 1070Nvidia $132Bench 80%, 1,459,281 samples	394x
GTX 1060-6GBNvidia $117Bench 56%, 1,368,019 samples	381x
GTX 970Nvidia $200Bench 49%, 834,238 samples	182x

SSD
850 Evo 250GBSamsung $100Bench 103%, 951,591 samples	131x
850 Evo 500GBSamsung $94Bench 112%, 695,664 samples	66x
860 Evo 1TBSamsung $130Bench 112%, 602,853 samples	61x

RAM
Ripjaws V DDR4 2400 C15 2x8GBG.SKILL $31Bench 71%, 98,777 samples	117x
Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GBCorsair $48Bench 82%, 606,405 samples	95x
Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GBCorsair $40Bench 85%, 653,654 samples	68x

EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER

Value: 96% - Outstanding

Total price: $573

CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $254	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 $48	SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $51	G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351	SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16