MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results

Benchmarks - missing SSD
Gaming 5% Tree trunk	Desktop 50% Yacht	Workstation 4% Tree trunk


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing as expected (41st percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 59 performed better. The overall PC percentile is the average of each of its individual components.
Processor	With an average single core score, this CPU can handle browsing the web, email, video playback and the majority of general computing tasks including light gaming when coupled with an appropriate GPU. Finally, with a gaming score of 52.3%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is average.
Graphics	5.17% is a very low 3D score (RTX 2060S = 100%). This GPU can only handle very basic 3D games but it's fine for general computing tasks.
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.

Very high background CPU (40%). High background CPU reduces benchmark accuracy. How to reduce background CPU.

Run History

2 years ago, 2 years ago, 2 years ago, 2 years ago, 2 years ago.

System	MSI MS-7978
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) (all builds)
Memory	11.6 GB free of 16 GB @ 2.1 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20180704
Uptime	0 Days
Run Date	Dec 15 '21 at 01:29
Run Duration	160 Seconds
Run User	THA-User
Background CPU	40%

PC Performing as expected (41^st percentile)

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

Processor	Bench	Normal	Heavy	Server
Intel Core i3-6100-$66 110,166 User benchmarks, average bench 55% U3E1, 1 CPU, 2 cores, 4 threads Base clock 3.7 GHz, turbo 3.7 GHz (avg) Performing below expectations (25^th percentile)	52.3% Above average	Memory 62.6 1-Core 87.5 2-Core 135 56% 95.2 Pts	4-Core 244 8-Core 239 32% 242 Pts	64-Core 250 16% 250 Pts
Poor: 29% ↑ This bench: 52.3% Great: 68%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Intel HD 530 (Desktop Skylake) 188,220 User benchmarks, average bench 5% MSI(1462 7978) 1GB Driver: igdumdim64.dll Ver. 30.0.101.1121 Performing above expectations (73^rd percentile)	5.17% Terrible	Lighting 5.6 Reflection 5 Parallax 6.4 5% 5.67 fps	MRender 7.2 Gravity 5.2 Splatting 10 6% 7.47 fps
Poor: 3% ↑ This bench: 5.17% Great: 6%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2018)-$50 695,066 User benchmarks, average bench 87% 603GB free (System drive) Firmware: 0001 SusWrite @10s intervals: 32 55 50 51 66 71 MB/s Performing way below expectations (1^st percentile)	37% Below average	Read 74.7 Write 88.2 Mixed 64 SusWrite 54.2 52% 70.3 MB/s	4K Read 1.3 4K Write 0.6 4K Mixed 0.1 76% 0.67 MB/s
Poor: 53% ↑ This bench: 37% Great: 106%
SanDisk Ultra Flair USB 3.0 32GB-$7 9,864 User benchmarks, average bench 25% 28GB free, PID 5591 Operating at USB 3.0 Speed SusWrite @10s intervals: 80 13 17 16 20 19 MB/s Performing way above expectations (92^nd percentile)	37.7% Below average	Read 138 Write 92.7 Mixed 107 SusWrite 27.4 114% 91.3 MB/s	4K Read 5.1 4K Write 3.4 4K Mixed 3.5 254% 4 MB/s
Poor: 11% ↑ This bench: 37.7% Great: 39%
Generic- SD/MMC 537GB 9 User benchmarks, average bench 8% 495GB free, PID 0701 Operating at USB 2.0 Speed SusWrite @10s intervals: 8.6 9.4 9 9.9 10 10 MB/s Performing as expected (50^th percentile)	5.11% Terrible	Read 15.6 Write 1.5 Mixed 6 SusWrite 9.6 10% 8.18 MB/s	4K Read 3.2 4K Write 0 4K Mixed 0 12% 1.07 MB/s
Poor: 4% ↑ This bench: 5.11% Great: 20%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB-$45 606,405 User benchmarks, average bench 82% 2 of 4 slots used 16GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2133 MHz Performing way below expectations (3^rd percentile)	52.3% Above average	MC Read 20 MC Write 19.4 MC Mixed 16.9 54% 18.8 GB/s	SC Read 13.1 SC Write 17.8 SC Mixed 16.3 45% 15.7 GB/s	Latency 120 33% 120 ns
Poor: 58% ↑ This bench: 52.3% 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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SSD

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MBD

Typical Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) Builds (Compare 2,322 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	822x
Core i5-6600KIntel $130Bench 72%, 342,244 samples	633x
Core i7-6700Intel $180Bench 72%, 282,363 samples	227x

GPU
GTX 1060-6GBNvidia $117Bench 56%, 1,368,019 samples	317x
GTX 1070Nvidia $132Bench 80%, 1,459,281 samples	309x
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 $45Bench 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: 85% - Excellent

Total price: $591

CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $273	Nvidia RTX 4060 $289	Crucial MX500 250GB $39
Intel Core i5-12400F $133	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $168	Nvidia RTX 4070 $550	Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52

HDD	RAM	USB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $39	SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $32	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $45	SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $62	G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351	SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16