MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results


Gaming 61% Destroyer	Desktop 81% Aircraft carrier	Workstation 47% Yacht


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing as expected (52nd percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 48 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. Additionally this processor can handle very light workstation, and even some very light server workloads. Finally, with a gaming score of 74.8%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is good.
Graphics	82.6% is a very good 3D score, it's the business. This GPU can handle recent 3D games at high resolutions and ultra detail levels.
Boot Drive	39.8% is low SSD score. With a better SSD this system will boot faster, make applications more responsive and reduce IO wait 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 (47%). High background CPU reduces benchmark accuracy. How to reduce background CPU.

System	MSI MS-7978
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978) (all builds)
Memory	9.9 GB free of 16 GB @ 2.4 GHz
Display	1440 x 900 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20180704
Uptime	0.2 Days
Run Date	Feb 19 '21 at 22:01
Run Duration	183 Seconds
Run User	IDN-User
Background CPU	47%

Watch Gameplay: 1070 + 9600K How to compare your gameplay

PC Performing as expected (52^nd percentile)

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

Processor	Bench	Normal	Heavy	Server
Intel Core i5-7500-$89 149,467 User benchmarks, average bench 67% U3E1, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 4 threads Base clock 3.4 GHz, turbo 3.6 GHz (avg) Performing way above expectations (89^th percentile)	74.8% Very good	Memory 80.4 1-Core 109 2-Core 216 76% 135 Pts	4-Core 403 8-Core 385 53% 394 Pts	64-Core 353 22% 353 Pts
Poor: 45% ↑ This bench: 74.8% Great: 78%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 1070-$132 1,459,281 User benchmarks, average bench 80% Gigabyte(1458 3701) CLim: 1999 MHz, MLim: 2002 MHz, Ram: 8GB, Driver: 461.40 Performing below potential (79^th percentile) - GPU OC Guide	82.6% Excellent	Lighting 103 Reflection 110 Parallax 101 84% 105 fps	MRender 91.9 Gravity 102 Splatting 97.8 80% 97.4 fps
Poor: 71% ↑ This bench: 82.6% Great: 88%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
WD Green 240GB (2018)-$34 156,194 User benchmarks, average bench 45% 110GB free (System drive) Firmware: UF450000 SusWrite @10s intervals: 192 40 2.3 3.8 27 126 MB/s Performing below expectations (24^th percentile)	39.8% Below average	Read 431 Write 350 Mixed 303 SusWrite 65.3 64% 287 MB/s	4K Read 19 4K Write 17.6 4K Mixed 13.1 55% 16.6 MB/s	DQ Read 44.2 DQ Write 45.3 DQ Mixed 35.9 29% 41.8 MB/s
Poor: 34% ↑ This bench: 39.8% Great: 55%
WDC WDS500G2B0A-00SM50 500GB 97,462 User benchmarks, average bench 93% 236GB free Firmware: 401000WD SusWrite @10s intervals: 384 332 413 420 419 425 MB/s Performing above expectations (68^th percentile)	99.4% Outstanding	Read 402 Write 366 Mixed 196 SusWrite 399 76% 341 MB/s	4K Read 20.2 4K Write 87 4K Mixed 46.3 136% 51.2 MB/s	DQ Read 386 DQ Write 318 DQ Mixed 158 171% 287 MB/s
Poor: 68% ↑ This bench: 99.4% Great: 111%
Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB-$78 81,608 User benchmarks, average bench 59% 427GB free Firmware: CC3C SusWrite @10s intervals: 83 87 87 86 87 84 MB/s Performing way below expectations (19^th percentile)	47% Average	Read 78.2 Write 87 Mixed 60.4 SusWrite 85.7 57% 77.8 MB/s	4K Read 0.6 4K Write 0.9 4K Mixed 0.7 119% 0.73 MB/s
Poor: 38% ↑ This bench: 47% Great: 75%
WD WD40NPZZ-00PDPT0 4TB 198 User benchmarks, average bench 54% 553GB free Firmware: 01.01A01 SusWrite @10s intervals: 60 61 59 60 59 60 MB/s Performing way below expectations (7^th percentile)	34.5% Below average	Read 60.5 Write 57.7 Mixed 53.6 SusWrite 59.7 43% 57.9 MB/s	4K Read 0.6 4K Write 1.1 4K Mixed 0.2 68% 0.63 MB/s
Poor: 34% ↑ This bench: 34.5% Great: 68%
StoreJet Transcend 2TB 4,473 User benchmarks, average bench 31% 1.5TB free, PID 5106 Operating at USB 3.0 Speed SusWrite @10s intervals: 97 95 97 97 97 96 MB/s Performing above expectations (76^th percentile)	39.3% Below average	Read 86.7 Write 88.6 Mixed 49.2 SusWrite 96.7 109% 80.3 MB/s	4K Read 0.6 4K Write 1.8 4K Mixed 0.8 91% 1.07 MB/s
Poor: 13% ↑ This bench: 39.3% Great: 52%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Unknown CT8G4DFS8266.M8FD 04CB DDR4 2400 16GB 2 User benchmarks, average bench 48% 2400, 2400 MHz 8192, 8192 MB Relative performance n/a - insufficient samples	35.2% Below average	MC Read 11.4 MC Write 12.6 MC Mixed 11.7 34% 11.9 GB/s	SC Read 8 SC Write 9.3 SC Mixed 12 28% 9.77 GB/s	Latency 79.7 50% 79.7 ns
Poor: 35% ↑ This bench: 35.2% Great: 61%

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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 2,319 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	316x
GTX 1070Nvidia $132Bench 80%, 1,459,281 samples	307x
GTX 970Nvidia $200Bench 49%, 834,238 samples	223x

SSD
850 Evo 250GBSamsung $100Bench 103%, 951,591 samples	117x
850 Evo 500GBSamsung $90Bench 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 $254	Nvidia RTX 4060 $293	Crucial MX500 250GB $39
Intel Core i5-12400F $133	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $175	Nvidia RTX 4070 $550	Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52

HDD	RAM	USB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $45	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