Upgrading your Trident 3

[lionvandenbrand]

Hi all,

Since there are so many posts about this topic I thought it would be nice to have somewhat of an overview.

Let me start by saying that upgrading your Trident 3 (whatever Gen) is possible. BUT, there is a catch: it depends on what kind of motherboard and power supply you are using.
Trident 3 now comes in 7 versions:

Versions	Chipset	PCB versions	BIOS version(s)	Power	Product page
7th Gen	H110	1.0/2.1	520/A20	230W	https://www.msi.com/Desktop/support/Trident-3
7th Gen Arctic	H110	2.1	A20	230W	https://www.msi.com/Desktop/support/Trident-3-Arctic
8th Gen	H310	1.0/2.1	840	230/330W	https://www.msi.com/Desktop/support/Trident-3-8th
8th Gen Arctic	H310	?	840	230/330W	https://www.msi.com/Desktop/support/Trident-3-Arctic-8th
9th Gen	H310	?	950	230/330W	https://www.msi.com/Desktop/support/Trident-3-9th
9th Gen Arctic	H310	?	950	230/330W	https://www.msi.com/Desktop/support/Trident-3-Arctic-9th
10th Gen	H410	?	800	230/330W	https://www.msi.com/Desktop/support/MPG-Trident-3-10th

Note: This data comes from the datasheets on the specification page within the product page. You can find them in the attachments.

Here is an overview of posts with tested upgrades:

Trident Gen	What's tested?	Working?	Link
7th Gen	I7 7700+GTX1060 3G+230w power supply. Two friends with same model but difference in PCB version (1.0 and 2.1). Version 1.0 tries upgrade 1070 GTX (NOT WORKING with 230W and 330W), version 2.1 tries 1080 GTX (WORKING with 330W)	NO/YES	https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/316727
7th Gen	1TB M.2 SSD, GTX1070 Aero 8GB OC graphics card	YES	https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/333227
7th Gen	i7-7700 upgraded with Nvidia RTX 2060-6GB and Samsung 970 Evo NVMe PCIe M.2 250GB with 230W using Throttlestop, later 330W without Throttlestop and with Afterburner. NOTE: PCB version 2.1 and BIOS A20	YES	https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/313929
8th Gen	Upgraded with ASUS PHOENIX 1660 SUPER (also noted that 1660 Ti works)	YES	https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/327434
7th Gen	i5-7400 MSI GTX 1070 Aero using Afterburner and Intel Extreme Tuning Utility. NOTE: did not fit very good	YES	https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/298545
7th Gen	i7-7700 Gigabyte GTX1080 Mini ITX using Afterburner	YES	https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/298545
7th Gen	i7-7700 Arctic version GTX 1070 upgraded to Gigabyte RTX 2070 ITX version	YES	https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/298545
8th Gen	GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1660 Ti	YES	https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/298545
7th Gen	I7-7700+GTX1060 3G 230w power supply, upgraded to GTX1070 ITX (also tested with 330W)	NO	https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/298545
9th Gen	i7-9700f, 16gb of ram and nvme ssd and gtx 1660 ti with a 230w PSU upgraded to 2060 mini ITX	NO	https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/334433

The next question is: which Motherboards and GPU cards work with 230W without additional programs? Which work with 230W using Throttlestop and/or Afterburner? And which work only with 330W?

I have to work now so I'm posting this now, will update this later on.
Feel free to suggest an improvements!

Lion

 

[largemouthtbas15ba02e6]

Scrolled thru this entire thread and didn't see a match for what i have, i don't think. I have a Trident 3 7th gen, i5-7400 currently with a 1060 stock gpu, and I want to upgrade. What success has anyone had with this upgrade and what did you have to do to make it work. I don't need a massive upgrade, just enough to make HydroSim look a little better, I am not a massive gamer because I am old. lol

 

[evgeniy.myakishe15fc02ec]

Scrolled thru this entire thread and didn't see a match for what i have, i don't think. I have a Trident 3 7th gen, i5-7400 currently with a 1060 stock gpu, and I want to upgrade. What success has anyone had with this upgrade and what did you have to do to make it work. I don't need a massive upgrade, just enough to make HydroSim look a little better, I am not a massive gamer because I am old. lol

Hi, an old man . I've upgraded recently the same trident 3 with palit 5050 single fun. 4060 single fun also would work fine.
And 5060 does not fit space in the trident 3 as I concluded.
You need to consider power consumption limit of 130 watt and gpu size.
And just to let you know:
1. Even modern cards can provide 4K video, it's better to stay with uHD with anti-aliasing.
2. With the high workload on gpu it becomes pretty noisy.
3. You need 6 pin to 8 pin adapter to connect videocard to onboard psu. Not a big deal to find it on marketplaces.

 

[largemouthtbas15ba02e6]

Hi, an old man . I've upgraded recently the same trident 3 with palit 5050 single fun. 4060 single fun also would work fine.
And 5060 does not fit space in the trident 3 as I concluded.
You need to consider power consumption limit of 130 watt and gpu size.
And just to let you know:
1. Even modern cards can provide 4K video, it's better to stay with uHD with anti-aliasing.
2. With the high workload on gpu it becomes pretty noisy.
3. You need 6 pin to 8 pin adapter to connect videocard to onboard psu. Not a big deal to find it on marketplaces.

I'm only looking to upgrade to a 2070, would you suggest going to the 330W power brick? This game HydroSim is growing larger with more hydroplane physics and water physics, and I've been good up to this point, but just need a little boost, so maybe go better than the 2070? Motherboard i believe is a 2.1, so not knowing worries me.

 

[evgeniy.myakishe15fc02ec]

Imho it's better to consider modern new graphic cards instead of old used one.

I'm only looking to upgrade to a 2070, would you suggest going to the 330W power brick? This game HydroSim is growing larger with more hydroplane physics and water physics, and I've been good up to this point, but just need a little boost, so maybe go better than the 2070? Motherboard i believe is a 2.1, so not knowing worries me.

In reality modern RTX cards provide pretty the same outcome as RTX of previous years, but with more power efficiency (this is due to the smaller size of the transistors in the chipset), less heating. And thus, no need to upgrade your PSU. For me new 4060 or 5050 is the best option for upgrade 7gen trident 3. These cards are pretty same for gaming performance. You also may look for review on them.
And I have not tried with powerfull GPUs and PSU upgrade, so can not confirm that this would work.

 

[largemouthtbas15ba02e6]

Imho it's better to consider modern new graphic cards instead of old used one.

In reality modern RTX cards provide pretty the same outcome as RTX of previous years, but with more power efficiency (this is due to the smaller size of the transistors in the chipset), less heating. And thus, no need to upgrade your PSU. For me new 4060 or 5050 is the best option for upgrade 7gen trident 3. These cards are pretty same for gaming performance. You also may look for review on them.
And I have not tried with powerfull GPUs and PSU upgrade, so can not confirm that this would work.

Ok, thanks for the advice. I just have a 2070 not being used, and free is always a better option, sometimes. Haha Question though, with your 5050, did you have to use a 330W psu or was the 230w sufficient?

 

[largemouthtbas15ba02e6]

Hi MattyRidley.
I've been very busy (just moved and still in boxes for the most part).
The short answer is yes but I haven't had time to update the post with my findings.
If you've got a PCB (Printed Circuit Board or motherboard) version 1.0 you can't upgrade your power supply (the motherboard will not allow more than 230W). So you're stuck with a GPU that has the same TDP (Thermal Design Power) without using Throttlestop or Afterburner.
See an example of the TDP values of popular GPU's in this image:
[attachthumb=1]

Example: my Trident 3 8th Gen i5-8400 has a PCB version 1.0, I cannot upgrade my power supply (230W) so if I want to upgrade my videocard (1060 mini ITX 6G), my best option would be the 1660 Ti mini ITX since it has the same TDP. Again, this is without using programs like Throttlestop and/or Afterburner.

A user on this forum (https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/313929) succesfully installed a 2060 mini ITX 6G with a 230W power supply using Throttlestop.
Throttlestop is a program that allows you to cut down the power to either the CPU and/or GPU as to prevent them taking in too much power. If you don't, your system will crash. Since I'm new to this, I'm not an expert in this program and would recommend to watch tutorials on Youtube as to how you can get this to work on your system.
The user also notes that after succesfully installing the 2060 mini ITX, he was able to switch to a 330W power supply without any programs. NOTE: this user has a PCB version 2.1.

So, if you've got a PCB version 2.1 or higher you're able to make use of a 330W power supply and GPU's with a higher TDP, like the 2060, 2070 or 1070 Ti (as seen in the chart) without having to use any programs (I think .

You can find out which version of PCB you have using CPU-Z: https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html
Under the tab 'Mainboard' you will find your PCB version behind 'Model' which should also be 'MS-B9201'. Here's what mine looks like:
[attachthumb=2]

A small disclaimer in place here: I'm totally new into this computer stuff but read the forumtopics I've noted and decide for yourself if you think there's a chance you can get your Trident 3 an upgrade or not. There are probably a few forum members that know a lot more about this then me. Should you want any help, please ask them for extra help!

Best,
Lion

Is it odd that in CPU-Z it says my mainboard is MS-B9061 ver 2.0 but printed on the motherboard it say MS-B9061 ver 2.1? Now I am confused.

 

[evgeniy.myakishe15fc02ec]

Ok, thanks for the advice. I just have a 2070 not being used, and free is always a better option, sometimes. Haha Question though, with your 5050, did you have to use a 330W psu or was the 230w sufficient?

I've run palit rtx 5050 with 230w psu.
You can estimate yourself, actually. 5050 consumes up to 130w, whereas motherboard CPU something like 70w. So my PC is stable since it can not reach limit of PSU power.
With your 2070, I think you would have 175 + 70 = 245, which means system consumption can overcome power of your 230w PSU. Most likely you would be able to run your PC after upgrade, but stability is not guaranteed. It would shut down, when be pushed to the limit