MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results

Benchmarks - missing GPU
Gaming 0% Incomplete	Desktop 0% Incomplete	Workstation 0% Incomplete


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing above expectations (70th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 30 performed better. The overall PC percentile is the average of each of its individual components.
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 91.5%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is excellent.
Boot Drive	116% 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.

Very high background CPU (71%). High background CPU reduces benchmark accuracy. How to reduce background CPU.

Run History

5 years ago, 5 years ago, 5 years ago, 5 years ago, 5 years ago, 5 years ago, 5 years ago.

System	MSI MS-7978
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) (all builds)
Memory	11.4 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	Mar 16 '19 at 02:10
Run Duration	161 Seconds
Run User	CAN-User
Background CPU	71%

Watch Gameplay: 1060-6GB + 9600K How to compare your gameplay

PC Performing above expectations (70^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 4.5 GHz (avg) Performing way above expectations (100^th percentile)	91.5% Outstanding	Memory 91.4 1-Core 144 2-Core 278 95% 171 Pts	4-Core 528 8-Core 533 71% 531 Pts	64-Core 533 33% 533 Pts
Poor: 57% ↑ This bench: 91.5% Great: 85%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 1060-6GB-$117 1,368,019 User benchmarks, average bench 56% PNY(196E 119F) CLim: 2012 MHz, MLim: 2115 MHz, Ram: 6GB, Driver: 419.35 Relative performance n/a - benchmarks incomplete		Lighting 74 Reflection 75.1 Parallax 65.8 60% 71.6 fps	Gravity 70.2 Splatting 69.7 62% 69.9 fps
Poor: 51% Great: 60%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
WD Blue 3D SATA M.2 500GB-$113 27,087 User benchmarks, average bench 97% 344GB free (System drive) Firmware: X61190WD SusWrite @10s intervals: 364 381 390 400 392 398 MB/s Performing way above expectations (95^th percentile)	116% Outstanding	Read 503 Write 423 Mixed 291 SusWrite 388 90% 401 MB/s	4K Read 38.2 4K Write 113 4K Mixed 51.3 184% 67.6 MB/s	DQ Read 379 DQ Write 314 DQ Mixed 285 230% 326 MB/s
Poor: 72% ↑ This bench: 116% Great: 116%
Tcsunbow X5 120GB 102 User benchmarks, average bench 96% 18GB free Firmware: Q0607A Relative performance n/a - sequential test incomplete		Read 472 Write 422 Mixed 377 94% 424 MB/s	4K Read 38 4K Write 121 4K Mixed 54.9 192% 71.2 MB/s	DQ Read 350 DQ Write 333 DQ Mixed 103 143% 262 MB/s
Poor: 71% Great: 118%
Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB-$37 339,020 User benchmarks, average bench 54% 22GB free Firmware: 608ABBF0 SusWrite @10s intervals: 112 108 115 106 106 102 MB/s Performing way above expectations (94^th percentile)	71.1% Very good	Read 237 Write 137 Mixed 206 SusWrite 108 38% 172 MB/s	4K Read 31.7 4K Write 114 4K Mixed 43 164% 62.9 MB/s	DQ Read 105 DQ Write 106 DQ Mixed 57.6 56% 89.5 MB/s
Poor: 30% ↑ This bench: 71.1% Great: 73%
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 1TB-$33 1,562,409 User benchmarks, average bench 89% 78GB free Firmware: CC41 SusWrite @10s intervals: 100 100 100 101 101 100 MB/s Performing way below expectations (15^th percentile)	70.9% Very good	Read 147 Write 146 Mixed 74 SusWrite 100 86% 117 MB/s	4K Read 0.7 4K Write 1.6 4K Mixed 0.7 137% 1 MB/s
Poor: 55% ↑ This bench: 70.9% Great: 112%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Kingston HyperX DDR4 2133 C14 4x4GB 11,542 User benchmarks, average bench 76% 4 of 4 slots used 16GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2133 MHz Performing as expected (47^th percentile)	73.7% Very good	MC Read 26.2 MC Write 27.3 MC Mixed 24.2 74% 25.9 GB/s	SC Read 16.6 SC Write 27.9 SC Mixed 23.4 65% 22.6 GB/s	Latency 65.2 61% 65.2 ns
Poor: 62% ↑ This bench: 73.7% Great: 99%

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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 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 $160Bench 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) $35	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