MSI Z97 GUARD-PRO (MS-7923)

Performance Results

Benchmarks - missing SSD
Gaming 34% Sail boat	Desktop 73% Battleship	Workstation 27% Raft


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing as expected (53rd percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 47 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 69.9%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is above average.
Graphics	50.3% 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)
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 (52%). High background CPU reduces benchmark accuracy. How to reduce background CPU.

System	MSI MS-7923
Motherboard	MSI Z97 GUARD-PRO (MS-7923) (all builds)
Memory	10.2 GB free of 16 GB @ 1.6 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20150814
Uptime	0 Days
Run Date	Oct 15 '22 at 09:57
Run Duration	155 Seconds
Run User	ZAF-User
Background CPU	52%

PC Performing as expected (53^rd percentile)

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

Processor	Bench	Normal	Heavy	Server
Intel Core i7-4790-$135 255,027 User benchmarks, average bench 71% SOCKET 0, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 8 threads Base clock 3.6 GHz, turbo 3.8 GHz (avg) Performing below expectations (34^th percentile)	69.9% Good	Memory 91 1-Core 85.3 2-Core 160 68% 112 Pts	4-Core 272 8-Core 347 40% 309 Pts	64-Core 445 28% 445 Pts
Poor: 58% ↑ This bench: 69.9% Great: 80%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 970-$200 834,238 User benchmarks, average bench 49% MSI(1462 3160) CLim: 1455 MHz, MLim: 1752 MHz, Ram: 4GB, Driver: 512.15 Performing below potential (66^th percentile) - GPU OC Guide	50.3% Above average	Lighting 62.4 Reflection 68 Parallax 60.8 51% 63.7 fps	MRender 67.3 Gravity 62.7 Splatting 53.2 49% 61.1 fps
Poor: 43% ↑ This bench: 50.3% Great: 54%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
SanDisk X300 256GB-$99 2,341 User benchmarks, average bench 79% 19GB free (System drive) Firmware: X3540000 Relative performance n/a - sequential test incomplete		Read 428 Write 382 Mixed 237 77% 349 MB/s	4K Read 22.2 4K Write 56.9 4K Mixed 28.1 100% 35.7 MB/s	DQ Read 353 DQ Write 190 DQ Mixed 213 174% 252 MB/s
Poor: 56% Great: 97%
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016)-$39 1,120,098 User benchmarks, average bench 92% 507GB free Firmware: CC43 SusWrite @10s intervals: 171 175 172 175 178 181 MB/s Performing as expected (43^rd percentile)	91.2% Outstanding	Read 143 Write 121 Mixed 75.1 SusWrite 175 94% 129 MB/s	4K Read 0.6 4K Write 1.5 4K Mixed 0.7 130% 0.93 MB/s
Poor: 60% ↑ This bench: 91.2% Great: 113%
Seagate Expansion 1TB 60,540 User benchmarks, average bench 42% 358GB free Firmware: 9300 SusWrite @10s intervals: 75 69 74 76 70 69 MB/s Performing below expectations (38^th percentile)	38.1% Below average	Read 60 Write 83 Mixed 52.2 SusWrite 72.2 49% 66.8 MB/s	4K Read 0.9 4K Write 2.1 4K Mixed 0.4 121% 1.13 MB/s
Poor: 16% ↑ This bench: 38.1% Great: 66%
Hitachi HTS543225L9A300 250GB 30 User benchmarks, average bench 14% 195GB free, PID 2329 Operating at USB 2.0 Speed SusWrite @10s intervals: 39 40 40 41 41 41 MB/s Performing above expectations (83^rd percentile)	17% Very poor	Read 36.5 Write 38.5 Mixed 23.9 SusWrite 40.1 47% 34.8 MB/s	4K Read 0.7 4K Write 0.9 4K Mixed 0.7 57% 0.77 MB/s
Poor: 8% ↑ This bench: 17% Great: 18%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Kingston KHX1866C9D3/4GX KHX1866C9D3/8GX KHX1866C9D3/4GX 16GB 21 User benchmarks, average bench 43% 1600, 1600, 1600 MHz 4096, 8192, 4096 MB Performing as expected (52^nd percentile)	41.5% Average	MC Read 14.2 MC Write 14.7 MC Mixed 12 39% 13.6 GB/s	SC Read 10.7 SC Write 15.4 SC Mixed 12.9 37% 13 GB/s	Latency 65.7 61% 65.7 ns
Poor: 29% ↑ This bench: 41.5% Great: 58%

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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 Z97 GUARD-PRO (MS-7923) Builds (Compare 234 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings

Gaming 42%

Speed boat

Desktop 83%

Aircraft carrier

Workstation 36%

Jet ski

Motherboard: MSI Z97 GUARD-PRO (MS-7923)

CPU
Core i7-4790KIntel $348Bench 79%, 455,746 samples	59x
Core i7-4790Intel $135Bench 71%, 255,027 samples	59x
Core i5-4690KIntel $53Bench 70%, 229,359 samples	46x

GPU
GTX 970Nvidia $200Bench 49%, 834,238 samples	30x
GTX 1060-6GBNvidia $117Bench 56%, 1,368,019 samples	24x
RX 580AMD $130Bench 52%, 360,351 samples	20x

SSD
BX500 240GBCrucial $28Bench 56%, 142,801 samples	8x
850 Evo 250GBSamsung $100Bench 103%, 951,591 samples	7x
SSDNow V300 240GBKingston $35Bench 64%, 176,713 samples	6x

RAM
Fury DDR3 1866 C10 2x8GBHyperXBench 59%, 122,541 samples	10x
DDR3 1600 Kingston KHX1866C10D3/8G 16GBUnknownBench 57%, 60 samples	8x
Fury DDR3 1600 C10 2x8GBHyperXBench 54%, 77,652 samples	8x

EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER

Value: 66% - Good

Total price: $576

CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $273	Nvidia RTX 4060 $293	Crucial MX500 250GB $39
Intel Core i5-12400F $128	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $165	Nvidia RTX 4070 $542	Samsung 870 Evo 250GB $29

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 $48	SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $62	G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351	SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16