MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results


Gaming 21% Surfboard	Desktop 87% Aircraft carrier	Workstation 19% Surfboard


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing as expected (57th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 43 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 79.4%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is good.
Graphics	16.9% is a below average 3D score (RTX 2060S = 100%). This GPU can handle older games but it will struggle to render recent games at resolutions greater than 1080p. (Note: general computing tasks don't require 3D graphics)
Boot Drive	189% 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.

Run History

9 months ago, 9 months ago, 9 months ago, 9 months ago, 9 months ago, 9 months ago, 7 months ago, 6 months ago.

System	MSI MS-7978
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) (all builds)
Memory	10.8 GB free of 16 GB @ 2.1 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20151218
Uptime	0 Days
Run Date	Jul 18 '23 at 10:46
Run Duration	124 Seconds
Run User	USA-User
Background CPU	2%

PC Performing as expected (57^th 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 below expectations (34^th percentile)	79.4% Very good	Memory 92.4 1-Core 117 2-Core 236 84% 148 Pts	4-Core 359 8-Core 597 58% 478 Pts	64-Core 604 37% 604 Pts
Poor: 70% ↑ This bench: 79.4% Great: 90%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
AMD Radeon R9 M380 61 User benchmarks, average bench 15% AMD(1002 030C) ≥ 4GB CLim: 1000 MHz, MLim: 1500 MHz, Ram: 4GB, Driver: 20.10.35.02 Performing above expectations (83^rd percentile)	16.9% Very poor	Lighting 20 Reflection 24.4 Parallax 26.3 16% 23.6 fps	MRender 23.1 Gravity 20.2 Splatting 22.8 18% 22 fps
Poor: 6% ↑ This bench: 16.9% Great: 18%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
Samsung 960 Evo NVMe PCIe M.2 250GB-$45 240,629 User benchmarks, average bench 199% 180GB free (System drive) Firmware: 3B7QCXE7 Max speed: PCIe 16,000 MB/s SusWrite @10s intervals: 971 320 318 324 325 326 MB/s Performing below expectations (31^st percentile)	189% Outstanding	Read 1,888 Write 1,503 Mixed 581 SusWrite 431 244% 1,100 MB/s	4K Read 38.3 4K Write 98 4K Mixed 46.7 170% 61 MB/s	DQ Read 908 DQ Write 657 DQ Mixed 714 552% 760 MB/s
Poor: 142% ↑ This bench: 189% Great: 236%
Hitachi HDS728040PLA320 41GB 39 User benchmarks, average bench 25% 35GB free Firmware: PF1OA60A SusWrite @10s intervals: 55 54 55 55 55 54 MB/s Performing way above expectations (96^th percentile)	31.5% Below average	Read 54.9 Write 55.7 Mixed 37.9 SusWrite 54.6 37% 50.8 MB/s	4K Read 0.6 4K Write 1.5 4K Mixed 0.6 119% 0.9 MB/s
Poor: 16% ↑ This bench: 31.5% Great: 32%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB-$43 606,405 User benchmarks, average bench 82% 2 of 4 slots used 16GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2133 MHz Performing as expected (42^nd percentile)	76.5% Very good	MC Read 27.3 MC Write 29.1 MC Mixed 24 77% 26.8 GB/s	SC Read 17.6 SC Write 29.9 SC Mixed 24.4 68% 24 GB/s	Latency 63.3 63% 63.3 ns
Poor: 58% ↑ This bench: 76.5% Great: 104%

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System Memory Latency Ladder

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

SkillBench Score 28: 0P 5R 0G 3B (High Scores)

Measures user input accuracy relative to the given hardware

Score	Hit Rate	Shots	EFps	0.1% Low	Refresh Rate	Screen	Resolution	Monitor
28%	12%	69	216	60	60	23.5"	1920 1080	PLN2485 PCT2485

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Typical Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) Builds (Compare 2,314 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	819x
Core i5-6600KIntel $130Bench 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 $97Bench 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 $269	Nvidia RTX 4060 $295	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