[Review] MSI Trident 3 - i5 7400 & 1060 3GB Version

[RDilux]

Want the smallest gaming PC?

Well there are many options but not that small as the MSI Trident 3!

 

So i got the one with the i5 7400 and the 3Gig version of the 1060, but you can upgrade is with the 6Gigs if you want or even a RX 480 8Gigs (if you can find one that is max 17cm long).

To bad you CANNOT AND NEVER WILL upgrade the GPU much higher then those 2 options since the PC is limited with max 230w and so far i know there is no overcurrent protection...what that means you might blow up the pc if you try to fit in a GTX 1070 what is possible with the mini version of it, but it use 30w more then the GTX 1060 so yeah...things might go bad plus it have only a 6 pin connector.

But you can upgrade the GPU if newer comes out so that is a plus for me.

 

Now on the CPU side of things.

You can upgrade that also to max i7 7700 for the time being no K sku tho since they use 30w more? (atleast on spec sheets) even if it will work it is useless because the bios won't allow any overclocking or anything.

The only think you can do is undervolting the CPU in Intel XTU but that is all.

 

What about memory?

This is a tricky one...the site will tell you it only support max 2133Mhz but the one i got shipped to me have 8Gigs 2400Mhz memory so yeah don't know what is going on there?

Will it support higher speed? To be honest i don't know, but i will test it if i get faster memory (3000Mhz) soon.

The mainboard/bios don't have XMP options and the memory it self are SODIMM's same stuff you will find in your laptop.

 

Mainboard

Custom H110 Chipset with kaby lake support nothing special.

 

Storage Options
1 SATA 2.5 Drive for either SSD or HDD and 1 m.2 slot nothing more.

 

Does it run hot and what about noise?

No...not in my case atleast.

But i only got the i5 model so the i7 one might get hotter.

GPU temps are around 65c (in overwatch Epic settings 1080p) with max temp around 77c in furmark

The cpu in Prime95 never hit above 74c for 6 hour run with furmark also running.

My room temp is around 19c so i was impressed by the cooling design and it really works.

For noise on max load 37db max with Prime95 and furmark running what is also decent not silent but not that load either.

 

Benchmarks...none we all know how the GTX 1060 performs but if you really want to see FPS numbers leave a comment.

 

Overall, i really like the Trident 3!

It small size what fits in my backpack it a great lan party PC and can be upgraded in some extend the only limiting factor in 3 years would be the CPU because intel always change the socket...

If you are planning getting this macine pre-installed with windows 10...REINSTALL WINDOWS the CPU was underpeforming thanks to all the bloatware even when i removed everyhing so reinstalling windows 10 is recommended!

 

 

[Mohenjo]

Holy fuck you can upgrade the gpu? I was not aware of this, ive been telling customers you cant lmao. 

[RDilux]

1 minute ago, Mohenjo said:

Holy fuck you can upgrade the gpu? I was not aware of this, ive been telling customers you cant lmao. 

You must be trolling?

[Mohenjo]

2 minutes ago, RDilux said:

You must be trolling?

No, my manager told me you cant so i just rolled with it, though i understand you cant go 1070 but something like a future 1260 is possible, shit. 

[RDilux]

1 minute ago, Mohenjo said:

No, my manager told me you cant so i just rolled with it, though i understand you cant go 1070 but something like a future 1260 is possible, shit. 

yes it is

[Mohenjo]

1 minute ago, RDilux said:

yes it is

thanks though, never gonna buy it but it gave me a lot more info and how surprisingly up gradable this thing is. 

[RDilux]

1 minute ago, Mohenjo said:

thanks though, never gonna buy it but it gave me a lot more info and how surprisingly up gradable this thing is. 

Funny thing is...MSI even have a video how to upgrade all the parts

[Mohenjo]

1 minute ago, RDilux said:

Funny thing is...MSI even have a video how to upgrade all the parts

Heres my situation, we sell like 30 different gaming desktops and it changes all the time,i never really bother to research the computers unless it catches my eye lol. 

[PCGuy_5960]

5 minutes ago, Mohenjo said:

No, my manager told me you cant so i just rolled with it, though i understand you cant go 1070 but something like a future 1260 is possible, shit. 

You can't install a 1070 in this thing, it simply wouldn't fit!

[RDilux]

2 minutes ago, PCGuy_5960 said:

You can't install a 1070 in this thing, it simply wouldn't fit!

yes you can fit in a 1070

http://www.gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-N1070IXOC-8GD#kf

[PCGuy_5960]

2 minutes ago, RDilux said:

yes you can fit in a 1070

http://www.gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-N1070IXOC-8GD#kf

Isn't it too wide for this thing? But still, you can't install one, because of the 6 pin PCIe connector...

[RDilux]

1 minute ago, PCGuy_5960 said:

Isn't it too wide for this thing? But still, you can't install one, because of the 6 pin PCIe connector...

nope the only thing that is holding it back is power limit

[Gl1nt]

On 15/02/2017 at 11:34 PM, RDilux said:

nope the only thing that is holding it back is power limit

Would it be possible by increasing the PSU wattage. A new frosty version announced looks exactly same but has a larger 330w psu and a 1070. Can we not just replace the PSU and add in the 1070. It should be feasible right?

 

[Neofactor]

16 hours ago, Gl1nt said:

Would it be possible by increasing the PSU wattage. A new frosty version announced looks exactly same but has a larger 330w psu and a 1070. Can we not just replace the PSU and add in the 1070. It should be feasible right?

 

I just bought this version (with the i5) and was wondering the exact same thing. I don't think the new one had any major changes to the hardware and the plugs should be the same right? So buying the newer PSU should allow us to install a micro gtx 1070 or the like. But I don't know if there are other hardware changes that could make it impossible.

 

I like how much this computer feels like a console. It's so small and very quiet. But I was hoping it could retain some upgrade potential as a PC. I haven't seen much anywhere regarding it. I was hoping for a thorough review somewhere. 

[Gl1nt]

I was hoping there would be someone wanting to do this . There could be a lot of people wanting to do this.

 

My order is still being shipped. Really excited. Though this isn't very future proof, I got this because it is still the most upgradable pre built mini PC, in this form factor (I could be wrong).

 

You can find lot of reviews on many sites. Some are very detailed. But yeah, nothing concrete on GPU upgrades.

[Gl1nt]

Linus mentions in this video: 

That GPU upgrade to 1070 is possible. This is authoritative enough.

 

Cheers

[RDilux]

On 4/3/2017 at 8:00 PM, Gl1nt said:

Linus mentions in this video: 

That GPU upgrade to 1070 is possible. This is authoritative enough.

 

Cheers

problem is...we don't know nothing about the PSU no model or part number and msi won't give it to me either the mainboard and such is the same so it as simple as replacing the PSU and the PCI-E power cable

[gabbajoe]

I have the MSI Trident3 with a i7-7700 since 2,5 month. I ask the german MSI support about the PSU if I wane Upgrade to a 1070 and the told me I just need to buy this http://citosoft.com/prshop16/en/netzteile/168-netzteil-fuer-msi-gt80-ms-1812-330w.html?search_query=330&results=1

I I'm good to go.

[Lucy Flame]

On 2/15/2017 at 11:42 AM, RDilux said:

-snip-

For my case quite strange though, i use CPU-Z check, mine is Samsung 2400 RAM.

Any possibility?

[Spoonablehippo]

Sorry to drag up this old thread, but has anyone been successful in upgrading their 1050TI/1060 version to a 1070 buy just buying the larger 330W PSU?

 

On the MSI forums, one particular MSI mod is insisting the motherboard for the 1050Ti/1060 version has a voltage lock so even with the 330W PSU it wont supply the GPU with the power required. He says the 1070 Trident 3 has a revised motherboard :-(

 

This is really crappy if true.

[tareqq8]

hello gus any news for upgrade 1070 ihave 1060 3gb if you have any idea

[Spkt0r]

For some reason My post disappeared?  here it is again.

 

 I was able to upgrade my MSI Trident 3, I5 7400, 1060 3gb version. I purchased a used ex-mining GPU MSI GTX 1070 Aero Itx  version ($232 shipping included from ebay), I purchased a (PCIe 6 Pin Male to 8 Pin (6+2) Male PCI Express Power Adapter Cable for Graphics Video Card 20-inches TeamProfitcom from amazon $8.99, I could not find a smaller cable with the same flatness) before removing the 1060 3gb i ran Heaven benchmark 3x on 1080p, and 3 x 1440p I saw that in  HWiNFO64 the most watts it used was 137+watts and then I played Doom and similar results as far as wattage was concerned.  So I removed the 1060 3gb (duh) with its small 6pin to 6pin power connector and put the new 8pin to 6pin cable on the 1070 first and had to bend the cable at the 1070 end to fit into the very small space, you will have to wrestle it in a little so be-careful.  Started up the Trident with the 1070 and ran heaven for shyts and giggles and of course system restarted did the same with Doom and was like ok hit power limit.  Started Trident again and this time I used MSI afterburner to lower the Power Limit % to 70% and ran all the same as above and lo and behold was only using 100watts in heaven and 105watts there about in Doom 1440p locked 60fps ultra settings, I was able to go from 70% to 78% for my particular card for a 5-8watt increase. oh just to be on the safe side I used Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (Intel XTU) to Undervolt The CPU by 0.140V.  Strangely I was hitting over 2ghz on the GPU with the under-volt on Doom, when I used the 1070 on my work rig with a I6700k and a 750wat platinum PSU i was floating around 1980ish and stabilized at 1886ghz on the 1070 dont know what up with that but.   Is it worth doing? this only you can decide and I have not had the opportunity to test other games like rise of the tomb raider which sends wattage to max lvls on a few gpus I have.  OK so I tested ROTTR and I had to lower the Power Limit slider to 65% to be able to run the game at 1440p very high setting locked 60fps.
s. 

Make sure to tape the flat cable to the frame as shown if the cable is to close to the GPU you will see an increase of at least 5c to 6c degree

[SkylineGTRpro]

If someone has a trident 3 can you help me access the M.2 drive It wont open the to the back of the mobo for me