MSI Trident 3 - i7 7700 and GTX 1060 6GB - Review

In the world of PC Gaming, many are the players who decide to invest their time studying the various components and then, after days and days spent comparing every single piece of Hardware, make a mega order and start assembling every single component before finally being able to get your hands on the new PC. In all of this, with the ever-growing sector and among the various most prestigious brands, MSI continues to expand its aggressive lineup of PC devices dedicated to Gaming and even more, to those who simply want a gaming PC without compromise and without having to go crazy in the difficult choice of components.

We recent had the opportunity to test the Trident 3, a powerful mini gaming PC with formidable performance and similar in size to modern gaming consoles. During the review we will analyze the product starting with the technical specifications and exclusive features, we will then take a 360 degree look through a photo gallery, we will present our benchmarks regarding the performance on the most recent titles and, finally, we will close everything with our final thoughts on the product.  technologywebdesign

Technical Specifications and Features

Analyzing the technical specifications, the various configurations available are highlighted. The model we test is equipped with an i7 7700 CPU, 6GB Nvidia GTX 1060 and 16GB of 2400MHz DDR4 RAM. To be noted well, before moving on to talk about the various exclusive features, the extremely small size and a case capable of holding 4.72 liters. When it comes to PC Small Form Factor, it is often necessary to sacrifice a bit of performance in order to achieve the desired result. This is not the cases with the Trident 3, which manages to be a perfect machine for Gaming and VR, guaranteeing very high portability.

Turning now to the features:

•             VR Ready - The Trident 3 was meant to be the perfect device when it comes to VR. In doing this, MSI has created a VR Link port available on the front of the PC to which you can connect the HDMI cable of your VR viewer. In addition to avoiding a lot of hassle during the installation phase, the VR Link port is optimized for the data flow required by a viewer like the HTC Vive. The software side is also optimized, thanks to the "Gaming Center" application we can, with a simple click, optimize our system.

•             Mystic Light - The personalization of your device is an aspect not to be underestimated. Mystic Light allows the player to change the light emitted by the PC by selecting a custom color or by setting one of the various effects available.

•             Vertical Stand - The Trident 3 is designed to be used both horizontally and vertically thanks to the stand included in the package.

•             Easy to upgrade - When it comes to PC gaming, component upgrades are serious business. Disassembling the Trident 3 is child's play and accessing the components to upgrade them is absolutely no problem despite its small size.

•             Cutting - edge audio - MSI is well aware of the importance of audio in games, to do this it has equipped the Trident 3 with Audio Boost 3 technologies, which amplify the signal via Jack increasing the audio quality, and Nahimic 2 for 7.1 Surround audio. uncompromising both in VR and in the most intense gaming sessions.

•             Software for Real Gamers - In addition to the MSI Gaming Center, for total control of the PC, and the Dragon Eye to watch videos from Twitch or Youtube while playing, with the PC you receive a year of XSplit premium, the famous streaming software , and 2 Months of WTFast, a network optimized for gaming and MMOs.

•             Military Class V Certification - The components of the Trident 3 are Military Class V certified, these are capable of withstanding longer than standard components, both in the event of humidity or high temperatures.

•             Super Charge - The front USB port of the Trident 3 is equipped with Super Charge technology, which allows you to quickly recharge your devices such as smartphones or tablets.

•             Ready for 4K - Thanks to its state-of-the-art hardware, MSI prepares its Trident 3 even at the highest resolutions.

Front Ports:

1x Headphone, 1x Microphone, 1x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C, 2x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A (The left port supports Super Charger 2), 1x VR-Link.

Rear Doors:

1x Microfono/ Line-in / Line-out, 1x Gaming LAN, 1x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A, 4x USB 2.0, 1x HDMI-out, 1x Alimentazione, 1x VR-Link

Photo Gallery - The Keyboard

Among the accessories available when purchasing the MSI Trident we have the Interceptor DS4200 keyboard . It is an excellent membrane keyboard with a mechanical feel, LED backlit and full RGB with three different modes (off, static and breathing). Among other interesting features, the keyboard is designed to withstand any splashes of water, while the anti-ghosting supports the simultaneous pressing of 20 keys without conflict.

Photo Gallery - The Mouse

The Mouse, also available as an accessory, is a DS B1 Gaming Interceptor . An excellent product equipped with a weight adjustment system, 1600DPI easily adjustable via the central button before the wheel, and the inevitable LED lighting.

 Test – 3D Mark

When it comes to Benchmark, 3D Mark is the number one software to be able to determine the performance of your PC and compare it with the results of an immense community, made up of simple enthusiasts or professional overclockers. The software is developed by Futuremark and allows you to determine the performance of the CPU and GPU by carrying out special tests that ultimately produce an overall score. The higher the value, the higher the performance of the PC. In 2013, the latest version of 3D Mark was released and from July 2017 a benchmark was added in DirectX 12.

We tested the Trident 3 on the most demanding tests offered by the software : Firestrike (DirectX 11) and TimeSpy (DirectX12).

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Test – Unigine Heaven

Unigine Heaven , is a test designed to highlight the functionality of DirectX 11 . A main feature, on which the test is based, is that of Tasellation , adding depth to the various models of the application that would otherwise remain flat and without details. We tested the Trident 3 at 1080p at Ultra with Tasellation Extreme.

 In-Game Performance - Gears of War 4

Moving on to testing new games, we tried Trident 3 on Gears of War 4 , all rigorously set for maximum details. The Coalition game offers a very precise in-game benchmark that allows us to test the performance of our PC on the chosen settings. The game takes advantage of DirectX 12 , we tested it by setting various render resolutions with maximum details, below are the results.

[chart id=”42207″]

Ultra 1080p performance is no problem for the GTX 1060 in Trident 3, a graphics card born for uncompromising 1080p and ultra-high framerates. Same thing goes for 2K, however, where performance rightly begins to drop, you will have to make some compromises in order to enjoy 60fps. For 4K the situation gets complicated enough, we are required a lot of compromises in order to run smoothly.

* The game was tested on 1080p monitors by manually raising the game resolution. Actual performance on higher resolutions may vary by a few frames. As usual, the data are indicative only and it is up to the reader to interpret them correctly.

In-Game Performance - Forza Horizon 3

Forza Horizon 3 is one of the flagship titles from Microsoft and Xbox in general. It offers some of the most spectacular scenery ever seen in a racing game and boasts first-rate technical detail thanks to the hard work of the PlayGround Games team . The game takes advantage of DirectX 12 and keeping it at the highest level of detail can be a tough challenge for many PCs, this is how MSI's Trident 3 fared.

[chart id=”42205″]

Having no dedicated benchmark, for Forza Horizon 3 we are committed to doing the same race from time to time trying to replicate the same results over a given period of time. Results may therefore vary depending on circumstances and situations, again, performance is purely indicative and may produce different results than other sources.

Speaking of performance, at 1080p once again nothing to report, the Trident 3 does not accept compromises, recording only a few slight drops that can be easily remedied with some settings or by setting the dynamic resolution. As far as 2K gaming is concerned, serious compromises will be required for a 60fps experience, while 4K is unfortunately still a difficult result to achieve on a title like this.

* The game was tested on 1080p monitors by manually raising the game resolution. Actual performance on higher resolutions may vary by a few frames. As usual, the data are indicative only and it is up to the reader to interpret them correctly.

SSD and HDD performance

The MSI Trident is equipped with a 256GB Kingston Custom SSD (RBU-sns8152S3256GG5) and a 1TB 7200RPM HGST HDD . We tested storage devices to get an idea of the write and read performance. The first test concerns the SSD on AS SSD , an interesting software that, in addition to the speed in the various tests, provides us with an overall score, excellent for comparing various devices.

 

Let's then move on to a quick test on the Crystal Disk Mark , this time we also include the HDD for a quick performance comparison. For those still wondering how much difference an SSD makes in an operating system, the answer should be clear.

 Temperature Operative

We tested the Trident 3 keeping HWMonitor in the background , a software that tracks in detail the temperatures of the various devices inside our PC. The data we report comes from test environments and may not be reached in normal gaming sessions. However, it is interesting to understand how the Trident 3 behaves in stressful situations.

 

Speaking of the CPU and reading the data above, it tends to reach particularly high operating temperatures, staying around 50 during normal use and going up to 100 in stressful situations. The whole thing has a very specific reason, the Trident 3's dissipation system keeps its fan at a low number of revolutions in order not to make noise . As soon as the temperature touches 100 degrees, the fan runs at its maximum capacity, causing the CPU temperature to plummet quickly . A small compromise to guarantee noiseless gaming sessions, fortunately it happens rarely and only under CPU stress conditions.

On the other hand, the temperatures of the GPU are excellent , which even in a stressful environment do not rise much above 70 degrees .

Gallery - MSI Software

As already mentioned, MSI provides an extensive software bundle with the purchase of the MSI Trident 3 . Today we limit ourselves to showing the Dragon Eye interface , which allows you to overlay a video from an external source (Twitch, Youtube etc ...) and from Gaming Center . The latter is a software that allows us to fully manage our PC, program Marco for mouse and keyboard, manage the lighting of the PC, optimize performance and so on. Below is a gallery.

The VR experience

Together with the Trident 3, we received a kit with HTC Vive , to make the most of the potential of the device. When it comes to Vive, a huge amount of space is required to be able to exploit its full potential. In this regard, given the small size of MSI's Mini PC, transporting it from one room to another and connecting everything needed to make our VR work was a breeze. A moment before we are in our room playing with the pad in hand, a moment later we are in the living room sharing the magic of VR with friends and family.

As we have already mention, it is a VR Ready product and designed specifically to optimize performance on the viewers. This does not mean that its GTX 1060 does the whole thing, the Trident 3 is in fact equipped with VR Link, a port on the front of the PC to connect our VR to. To activate the VR Link , simply connect the GPU output to the HDMI input on the back of the PC with a special HDMI cable. The advantages of having a port on the front when it comes to VR must be sought precisely at the level of practicality, most likely we will not have our viewer connected 24/7 to the PC, being able to disconnect and reconnect the VR without having to access the back of the PC. it is nothing but a small advantage.

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