MSI Z170A GAMING M3 (MS-7978)

Performance Results


Gaming 12% Tree trunk	Desktop 69% Battle cruiser	Workstation 10% Tree trunk


PC Status	Overall this PC is performing way below expectations (13th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 87 performed better. The overall PC percentile is the average of each of its individual components. Use the charts in the benchmark sections of this report to identify problem areas.
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 64.2%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is above average.
Graphics	11.6% is a very low 3D score (RTX 2060S = 100%). This GPU can only handle very basic 3D games but it's fine for general computing tasks.
Boot Drive	57.4% is a reasonable SSD score. This drive enables fast boots and responsive applications.
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 (46%). 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	8.4 GB free of 16 GB @ 2.4 GHz
Display	1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors
OS	Windows 10
BIOS Date	20160223
Uptime	16.2 Days
Run Date	Jan 02 '18 at 20:18
Run Duration	120 Seconds
Run User	ROU-User
Background CPU	46%

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

PC Performing way below expectations (13^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 4.1 GHz (avg) Performing way below expectations (15^th percentile)	64.2% Good	Memory 71.3 1-Core 116 2-Core 202 73% 130 Pts	4-Core 324 8-Core 360 45% 342 Pts	64-Core 276 17% 276 Pts
Poor: 57% ↑ This bench: 64.2% Great: 85%

Graphics Card	Bench	3D DX9	3D DX10	3D DX11
Nvidia GTX 1060-6GB-$117 1,368,019 User benchmarks, average bench 56% Asus(1043 85A4) CLim: 1911 MHz, MLim: 2002 MHz, Ram: 6GB, Driver: 388.71 Relative performance (0^th percentile) - GPU OC Guide	11.6% Very poor	Lighting 5.27 Reflection 4.65 Parallax 2.75 4% 4.22 fps	MRender 34.6 Gravity 29.2 Splatting 30.8 26% 31.5 fps
Poor: 51% ↑ This bench: 11.6% Great: 60%

Drives	Bench	Sequential	Random 4k	Deep queue 4k
Kingston SSDNow UV400 240GB-$89 105,079 User benchmarks, average bench 71% 115GB free (System drive) Firmware: 0C3J96R9 Max speed: SATA 3.0 600 MB/s Performing way below expectations (13^th percentile) (ID) Attribute Now Worst Value (01) Raw read error rate 100 100 0 (05) Reallocated sector count 100 100 0 (09) Power-on hours count 100 100 3825 (0C) Power cycle count 100 100 632 (64) Unknown 100 100 3753632 (65) Unknown 100 100 512096 (AA) Unknown 100 100 0 (AB) Unknown 100 100 0 (AC) Unknown 100 100 0 (AE) Unknown 100 100 43 (AF) Unknown 100 100 0 (B0) Unknown 100 100 0 (B1) Unknown 97 97 1106 (B2) Unknown 100 100 0 (B4) Unknown 100 100 1407 (B7) Unknown 98 98 11 (BB) vendor-specific 100 100 0 (C2) HDA temperature 34 100 201864380450 (C3) Hardware ECC recovered 100 100 0 (C4) Reallocation count 100 100 0 (C5) Current pending sector count 100 100 0 (C7) UDMA CRC error rate 100 100 0 (C9) Soft read error rate 100 100 0 (CC) Soft ECC correction 100 100 0 (E7) Temperature 97 97 3 (E9) Unknown 100 100 6762 (EA) Unknown 100 100 2708 (F1) Unknown 100 100 5296 (F2) Unknown 100 100 8024 (FA) Read error retry rate 100 100 0	57.4% Above average	Read 460 Write 258 Mixed 259 72% 325 MB/s	4K Read 27.1 4K Write 37.2 4K Mixed 10.4 74% 24.9 MB/s	DQ Read 31.3 DQ Write 57.5 DQ Mixed 10.4 18% 33.1 MB/s
Poor: 49% ↑ This bench: 57.4% Great: 88%
WD Blue 1TB (2015)-$40 52,322 User benchmarks, average bench 67% 229GB free Firmware: 01.01A01 Max speed: SATA 3.0 600 MB/s Performing below expectations (22^nd percentile) (ID) Attribute Now Worst Value (01) Raw read error rate 200 200 0 (03) Spinup time 130 128 4483 (04) Start/Stop count 99 99 1348 (05) Reallocated sector count 200 200 0 (07) Seek error rate 200 200 0 (09) Power-on hours count 95 95 3816 (0A) Spinup retry count 100 100 0 (0B) Calibration retry count 100 100 0 (0C) Power cycle count 100 100 656 (C0) Power-off retract count 200 200 40 (C1) Load/Unload cycle count 177 177 71463 (C2) HDA temperature 109 98 34 (C4) Reallocation count 200 200 0 (C5) Current pending sector count 200 200 0 (C6) Offline scan uncorrectable count 200 200 0 (C7) UDMA CRC error rate 200 200 0 (C8) Write error rate 200 200 0	56.3% Above average	Read 98.2 Write 97.7 Mixed 92.5 72% 96.1 MB/s	4K Read 0.89 4K Write 2.34 4K Mixed 0.29 113% 1.17 MB/s
Poor: 45% ↑ This bench: 56.3% Great: 87%

Memory Kit	Bench	Multi core	Single core	Latency
Kingston HyperX 2400 C15 2x8GB 122,822 User benchmarks, average bench 76% 2 of 4 slots used 16GB DIMM DDR4 clocked @ 2400 MHz Performing way below expectations (5^th percentile)	48.9% Average	MC Read 16.1 MC Write 20.2 MC Mixed 17.2 51% 17.8 GB/s	SC Read 8.4 SC Write 13.4 SC Mixed 14.1 34% 12 GB/s	Latency 98.4 41% 98.4 ns
Poor: 53% ↑ This bench: 48.9% Great: 90%

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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 2,313 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	818x
Core i5-6600KIntel $81Bench 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 $90Bench 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

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Value: 86% - Excellent

Total price: $589

CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $273	Nvidia RTX 4060 $300	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 $45	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