MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results


Gaming 56% Gunboat	Desktop 97% Nuclear submarine	Workstation 45% Yacht


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing way above expectations (89th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 11 performed better. The overall PC percentile is the average of each of its individual components. This PC is likely operated by a technical master!
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 93.4%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is excellent.
Graphics	52.1% 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	124% is an exceptional SSD score. This drive is suitable for heavy workstation use, it will facilitate fast boots, responsive applications and allow for fast transfers of multi-gigabyte files.
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.

System	MSI MS-7978
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) (all builds)
Memory	13.6 GB free of 16 GB @ 3 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20180704
Uptime	0 Days
Run Date	Sep 25 '21 at 07:02
Run Duration	158 Seconds
Run User	USA-User
Background CPU	8%

PC Performing way above expectations (89^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-$81 342,244 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 (100^th percentile)	93.4% Outstanding	Memory 95.8 1-Core 134 2-Core 248 90% 159 Pts	4-Core 528 8-Core 514 70% 521 Pts	64-Core 522 32% 522 Pts
Poor: 57% ↑ This bench: 93.4% Great: 85%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 970-$200 834,238 User benchmarks, average bench 49% EVGA(3842 2974) CLim: 1506 MHz, MLim: 1752 MHz, Ram: 4GB, Driver: 461.92 Performing above expectations (85^th percentile)	52.1% Above average	Lighting 64.2 Reflection 74.2 Parallax 66 52% 68.1 fps	MRender 69.5 Gravity 64.7 Splatting 57.9 52% 64 fps
Poor: 43% ↑ This bench: 52.1% Great: 54%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
Samsung 850 Evo 250GB-$100 951,591 User benchmarks, average bench 103% 200GB free (System drive) Firmware: EMT02B6Q SusWrite @10s intervals: 359 292 294 293 295 293 MB/s Performing way above expectations (96^th percentile)	124% Outstanding	Read 507 Write 492 Mixed 400 SusWrite 304 96% 426 MB/s	4K Read 47.6 4K Write 131 4K Mixed 63.7 223% 80.9 MB/s	DQ Read 381 DQ Write 345 DQ Mixed 353 267% 360 MB/s
Poor: 72% ↑ This bench: 124% Great: 124%
Hitachi HDS5C3015ALA632 1.5TB 531 User benchmarks, average bench 49% 1.5TB free Firmware: ML5OA580 SusWrite @10s intervals: 114 115 120 112 120 114 MB/s Performing way above expectations (97^th percentile)	67.3% Good	Read 119 Write 123 Mixed 65.5 SusWrite 116 78% 106 MB/s	4K Read 0.7 4K Write 1.6 4K Mixed 0.7 137% 1 MB/s
Poor: 31% ↑ This bench: 67.3% Great: 66%
Lexar USB Flash Drive 32GB 181 User benchmarks, average bench 11% 29GB free, PID 0cc7 Operating at USB 2.0 Speed SusWrite @10s intervals: 13 13 12 12 12 13 MB/s Performing above expectations (62^nd percentile)	6.74% Terrible	Read 21 Write 23.8 Mixed 9.8 SusWrite 12.4 22% 16.8 MB/s	4K Read 4.2 4K Write 0 4K Mixed 0 16% 1.4 MB/s
Poor: 4% ↑ This bench: 6.74% Great: 29%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Unknown TEAMGROUP-UD4-3000 2x8GB 74,390 User benchmarks, average bench 82% 2 of 4 slots used 16GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 3000 MHz Performing way above expectations (96^th percentile)	104% Outstanding	MC Read 37.6 MC Write 40.6 MC Mixed 32.4 105% 36.9 GB/s	SC Read 22.1 SC Write 44.2 SC Mixed 31.9 94% 32.7 GB/s	Latency 54.5 73% 54.5 ns
Poor: 60% ↑ This bench: 104% Great: 103%

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System Memory Latency Ladder

L1/L2/L3 CPU cache and main memory (DIMM) access latencies in nano seconds

SkillBench Score 0: 0R 0G 0B (High Scores)

Measures user input accuracy relative to the given hardware

Score	Hit Rate	Shots	EFps	0.1% Low	Refresh Rate	Screen	Resolution	Monitor
0%	0%	0	111	7	60	23.8"	1920 1080	ACI24C4 ASUS VN248

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Typical Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) Builds (Compare 2,308 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	817x
Core i5-6600KIntel $81Bench 72%, 342,244 samples	630x
Core i7-6700Intel $180Bench 72%, 282,363 samples	226x

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	221x

SSD
850 Evo 250GBSamsung $100Bench 103%, 951,591 samples	117x
850 Evo 500GBSamsung $109Bench 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 $279	Nvidia RTX 4060 $300	Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $134	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $184	Nvidia RTX 4070 $409	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) $30	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