MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results


Gaming 9% Tree trunk	Desktop 71% Battleship	Workstation 9% Tree trunk


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing as expected (48th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 52 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 71.9%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is good.
Graphics	3.07% is too low to play 3D games or use CAD packages. (Note: general computing tasks don't require 3D graphics)
Boot Drive	224% 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	12GB is enough RAM to run any version of Windows and it's more than sufficient for nearly all games. 12GB 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 (31%). 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	7.3 GB free of 12 GB @ 2.4 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20161221
Uptime	0.3 Days
Run Date	Sep 21 '22 at 09:15
Run Duration	175 Seconds
Run User	PHL-User
Background CPU	31%

PC Performing as expected (48^th percentile)

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

Processor	Bench	Normal	Heavy	Server
Intel Core i5-7400-$91 234,266 User benchmarks, average bench 64% U3E1, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 4 threads Base clock 3 GHz, turbo 3.3 GHz (avg) Performing way above expectations (93^rd percentile)	71.9% Very good	Memory 84.4 1-Core 100 2-Core 198 73% 128 Pts	4-Core 341 8-Core 361 46% 351 Pts	64-Core 346 21% 346 Pts
Poor: 43% ↑ This bench: 71.9% Great: 73%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
AMD Radeon HD 5500 5,613 User benchmarks, average bench 3% PwrHis(1787 2314) 2GB Driver: aticfx64.dll Ver. 15.201.1151.1008 Performing as expected (50^th percentile)	3.07% Terrible	Lighting 3.8 Reflection 3.6 Parallax 3.8 3% 3.73 fps	MRender 2.9 Gravity 3.4 Splatting 4.4 3% 3.57 fps
Poor: 3% ↑ This bench: 3.07% Great: 4%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
Kingmax PCIe SSD 1TB 135 User benchmarks, average bench 225% 872GB free (System drive) Firmware: V2.11.0 Max speed: PCIe 16,000 MB/s SusWrite @10s intervals: 1100 1260 1257 1318 1315 1316 MB/s Performing as expected (49^th percentile)	224% Outstanding	Read 1,801 Write 1,481 Mixed 998 SusWrite 1,261 310% 1,385 MB/s	4K Read 43.2 4K Write 102 4K Mixed 37.9 168% 61.1 MB/s	DQ Read 541 DQ Write 551 DQ Mixed 70.6 184% 387 MB/s
Poor: 133% ↑ This bench: 224% Great: 291%
Kimtigo 1TB 1TB 87 User benchmarks, average bench 206% 923GB free Firmware: SN08 SusWrite @10s intervals: 352 367 359 371 370 373 MB/s Performing way below expectations (6^th percentile)	66.6% Good	Read 361 Write 370 Mixed 333 SusWrite 365 81% 357 MB/s	4K Read 19.1 4K Write 32.6 4K Mixed 22.2 75% 24.6 MB/s	DQ Read 161 DQ Write 136 DQ Mixed 151 112% 149 MB/s
Poor: 67% ↑ This bench: 66.6% Great: 322%
Toshiba HDWQ140 4TB 4,700 User benchmarks, average bench 92% 2.5TB free Firmware: FJ1M SusWrite @10s intervals: 164 161 163 160 164 164 MB/s Performing below expectations (40^th percentile)	90.2% Outstanding	Read 151 Write 166 Mixed 93.2 SusWrite 163 105% 143 MB/s	4K Read 1.6 4K Write 3.2 4K Mixed 0.9 226% 1.9 MB/s
Poor: 64% ↑ This bench: 90.2% Great: 112%
WD WD101EFBX-68B0AN0 10TB 547 User benchmarks, average bench 99% 9TB free Firmware: 85.00A85 SusWrite @10s intervals: 202 205 201 204 203 203 MB/s Performing way above expectations (91^st percentile)	116% Outstanding	Read 200 Write 193 Mixed 108 SusWrite 203 129% 176 MB/s	4K Read 2 4K Write 5.9 4K Mixed 1.3 337% 3.07 MB/s
Poor: 62% ↑ This bench: 116% Great: 118%
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016)-$39 1,120,098 User benchmarks, average bench 92% 121GB free Firmware: CC43 SusWrite @10s intervals: 97 97 98 98 98 99 MB/s Performing way below expectations (6^th percentile)	60.6% Good	Read 113 Write 115 Mixed 74.1 SusWrite 97.8 74% 100 MB/s	4K Read 0.8 4K Write 1.4 4K Mixed 0.6 126% 0.93 MB/s
Poor: 60% ↑ This bench: 60.6% Great: 113%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Unknown KMKU8G868-2666V 12GB 2400, 2400 MHz 8192, 4096 MB Relative performance n/a - insufficient samples	56.7% Above average	MC Read 21.6 MC Write 20.9 MC Mixed 16.4 56% 19.6 GB/s	SC Read 12.9 SC Write 22 SC Mixed 17.9 50% 17.6 GB/s	Latency 72.8 55% 72.8 ns

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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 2,320 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	308x
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