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MSI Trident 3 Gaming Desktop (Kaby Lake)

cadaveca

cadaveca

My name is Dave
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
17,244 (2.47/day)
MSI's Trident 3 is a compact SFF system that can provide a console-like gaming experience. Equipped with an Intel Core i7-7700, a custom mITX MSI GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB GAMING, 16 GB of RAM, an M.2 SSD and a mechanical HDD for storage duties, it is small yet extremely capable.

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I tend to more and more like their attempts at a console-size gaming rig. This would be enough for most as long as they are not hardcore FPSers. If they kept their formfactor of the GFX and provided alternative for upgrading I can see this working for alot of people in the future! :0
 
Nice review. My interest in SFF products has risen throughout the last years and I'm glad that TPU seems to have taken note as well.

Tomorrow marks the release of the Dan Cases A4-SFX. I wonder if TPU has plans to review said case as well.

One more thing: the dimensions and volume don't really add up.
 
Dethroy said:
One more thing: the dimensions and volume don't really add up.
Click to expand...
That's likely because all four sides of the case (if horizontal) are angled. So the volume should be less than the dimensions would lead you to believe. Measurements include the spaces above/below those angles where the space is not actually occupied by the case but air.
 
What was the temperature during your gaming sessions ? MSI afterburner readings for GPU and CPU cores would have been a very valuable information .
 
raptori said:
What was the temperature during your gaming sessions ? MSI afterburner readings for GPU and CPU cores would have been a very valuable information .
Click to expand...
I personally do not think this is a priority for systems that are not overclocked; the system needs to not throttle only (similar to a laptop) and noise is the consideration (and this system barely emitted any noise at all). If it was a system that offered overclocking, then that might be something of value for sure. In a system that does not support OC or even XMP, and the parts are under stock clocks, thermals should never present an issue to part life, even if the system throttles; although that is dependent on the BOM of the supporting components. It's no different than any other consumer electronic device that might be placed in a living room.
 
cadaveca said:
I personally do not think this is a priority for systems that are not overclocked; the system needs to not throttle only (similar to a laptop) and noise is the consideration (and this system barely emitted any noise at all). If it was a system that offered overclocking, then that might be something of value for sure. In a system that does not support OC or even XMP, and the parts are under stock clocks, thermals should never present an issue to part life, even if the system throttles; although that is dependent on the BOM of the supporting components. It's no different than any other consumer electronic device that might be placed in a living room.
Click to expand...

Yeah but even then temps would be nice. Maybe if we felt temps were to high and we wanted it to increase longevity we could replace TIM or something. Plus as systems sit around and age their thermal capabilities can decline...dust and material degradation will have an effect over time.
 
ZenZimZaliben said:
Yeah but even then temps would be nice. Maybe if we felt temps were to high and we wanted it to increase longevity we could replace TIM or something. Plus as systems sit around and age their thermal capabilities can decline...dust and material degradation will have an effect over time.
Click to expand...
Agreed 100%. Honestly if I thought that might be an issue, I would have mentioned it. Yet again, that's no different than a XBOne or PS4, which is where this PC is really targeted at. Console-sized with better performance and greater functionality.
 
cadaveca said:
Honestly if I thought that might be an issue, I would have mentioned it.
Click to expand...
You did say "Can get hot under some extreme workloads", that it has 1.25V on the core at stock and no voltage control, and we see console-like low profile blowout cooler ... I suspect people are just not used to completely stock cpu turbo settings (only 3.6 GHz when all cores are loaded) because most boards "cheat" with stock turbo multipliers on bios defaults.
 
@cadaveca
What do you use for the audio performance results? Meaning,How do you get those numbers that are in the review pg12 " Board performance"/Audio?

Ty

rmaa.jpg
 
Not a big fan of the design, but I love its footprint. It's the perfect PC for me.
 
Hoping someone might have some insight as a consider buying this machine. I noticed that the Intel wireless chip inside only offers 1x1, but see that one can purchase a 2x2 with higher throughput on amazon for about $30; is swapping the pieces out easy/possible in the Trident 3? Would it make a noticeable difference in daily use?
 
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