Upgrading your Trident 3

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lionvandenbrand

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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:

VersionsChipsetPCB versionsBIOS version(s)PowerProduct page
7th Gen H1101.0/2.1520/A20230Whttps://www.msi.com/Desktop/support/Trident-3
7th Gen ArcticH1102.1A20230Whttps://www.msi.com/Desktop/support/Trident-3-Arctic
8th GenH3101.0/2.1840230/330Whttps://www.msi.com/Desktop/support/Trident-3-8th
8th Gen ArcticH310?840230/330Whttps://www.msi.com/Desktop/support/Trident-3-Arctic-8th
9th GenH310?950230/330Whttps://www.msi.com/Desktop/support/Trident-3-9th
9th Gen ArcticH310?950230/330Whttps://www.msi.com/Desktop/support/Trident-3-Arctic-9th
10th GenH410?800230/330Whttps://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 GenWhat's tested?Working?Link
7th GenI7 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/YEShttps://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/316727
7th Gen1TB M.2 SSD, GTX1070 Aero 8GB OC graphics cardYEShttps://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/333227
7th Geni7-7700 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 A20YEShttps://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/313929
8th GenUpgraded with ASUS PHOENIX 1660 SUPER (also noted that 1660 Ti works)YEShttps://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/327434
7th Geni5-7400 MSI GTX 1070 Aero using Afterburner and Intel Extreme Tuning Utility. NOTE: did not fit very good
YEShttps://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/298545
7th Geni7-7700 Gigabyte GTX1080 Mini ITX using AfterburnerYEShttps://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/298545
7th Geni7-7700 Arctic version GTX 1070 upgraded to Gigabyte RTX 2070 ITX versionYEShttps://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/298545
8th GenGIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1660 TiYEShttps://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)NOhttps://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/298545
9th Geni7-9700f, 16gb of ram and nvme ssd and gtx 1660 ti with a 230w PSU upgraded to 2060 mini ITXNOhttps://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
 

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Newbie here? Need some advice and inputs about the unit I have. I have 9th gen i7 9700 with gtx 1660 gpu. Main board is MS-B9201 (2.0). I'm thinking of upgrading my GPU to aero 3060 and 330w PSU. is my unit compatible with this upgrade? I have attach photos of mainboard, cpu and gpu for reference.
 

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You might not even have to update your bios actually. Just looked at your images.
a_triplett158302dd was on the same bios as you I think.
 
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Wanted to say thanks too all the great info here that was super helpful and give another data point.

9th Generation MSI Trident 3
Original Config: i5-9400f, GTX 1650, Motherboard 2.0, 230w power supply

Upgrade: MSI Aero RTX 3060 ti, 330W Power supply

Successful. Power draw is currently about 300w during stress testing.
 
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Hi everyone,

I need help upgrading my Trident 3 11th Gen model# 11TC-067US...

I want to:

-Get the RAM to 32gb (16gb now, I think it has 2 slots)

-Add a second SSD, it has 512gbs now. (if it has space for a second one o replace with a single bigger one if necessary).

Any other recommended upgrades to up my performance on this model?? (I play mostly Call of Duty MW2 @ 144p)

How do I do this? Thank you in advance.
 
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aurelianouguet15e302eb said:
Hi everyone,

I need help upgrading my Trident 3 11th Gen model# 11TC-067US...

I want to:

-Get the RAM to 32gb (16gb now, I think it has 2 slots)

-Add a second SSD, it has 512gbs now. (if it has space for a second one o replace with a single bigger one if necessary).

Any other recommended upgrades to up my performance on this model?? (I play mostly Call of Duty MW2 @ 144p)

How do I do this? Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...

Can anyone help me with this? To clarify, I need the exact parts (recommended by you guys) that I need to buy to achieve this, thanks!
 
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aurelianouguet15e302eb said:
Any other recommended upgrades to up my performance on this model?? (I play mostly Call of Duty MW2 @ 144p)
Click to expand...

I have the same model or similar anyway. 4060 Ti 16GB is a decent upgrade right now, might be a lack of single fan options available though, only 1 available atm.
I know the price of the 4060 Ti is pretty shite, better buying a different system with a 3080 or something :p a 3060 Ti is an option as well if you find one, ideally pick one that stops it's fan when idle. MSI Aero 30 series don't do it!

Also update your BIOS and check for any updates to your graphics card in MSI Center (under advanced scan) and enable Resizable Bar in the BIOS.

If you haven't upgraded your RAM then you're likely not running dual channel (I looked at your model specs), it's really a must, there's a solid 10% odd improvement there alone.
Ideally some Kingston Fury Impact 3200 which runs at CL20, that's the best you'll get.. it's going pretty cheap these days, make sure you grab 32GB.

You can unlock a fair chunk of performance on the CPU as well by using Throttlestop. I boosted by Multi-core benchmarks by about 15% by setting 'Power Limit 4' to 0
Out of the box it was gimping my i7 to only ~95W. ATM I have it running with 100mW less voltage with set PL1 to 75W and PL2 to 125W. It's pulling the same amount of power as my previous 10thgen i7 at the wall about 138-140W under CPU stress testing.

Worth noting, the genuine 330W power brick can run up to 400W without issue. I'm hoping for a 4060 Super 12GB at some stage, fingers crossed.
 
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I hope it's OK to add my question to this post. I've read through the post but am a little confused.

I was gifted a MSI Trident 3 vr7rc-020us that currently has a NVIDIA GTX 1060 3gb card. Can I upgrade the video card to a NVIDIA GTX 1060 6gb card or possibly a 8gb card?

Thanks,

Rob
 
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rtondevol157902df said:
I was gifted a MSI Trident 3 vr7rc-020us that currently has a NVIDIA GTX 1060 3gb card. Can I upgrade the video card to a NVIDIA GTX 1060 6gb card or possibly a 8gb card?
Click to expand...

I believe this model only has the 230W brick right? You could upgrade to the 6GB 1060 as it has the same power draw, a 4060 8GB would be ideal as it uses the same power as your 1060 and is quite fast. Unless you have PCB 2.1 and the 330W brick then other cards are likely off the table, you can use Throttlestop to reduce the power requirements of your CPU or Afterburner or something to underclock the GPU. MSI hasn't released any Aero 40 series cards.


 
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rythestamped152602db said:
I believe this model only has the 230W brick right? You could upgrade to the 6GB 1060 as it has the same power draw, a 4060 8GB would be ideal as it uses the same power as your 1060 and is quite fast. Unless you have PCB 2.1 and the 330W brick then other cards are likely off the table, you can use Throttlestop to reduce the power requirements of your CPU or Afterburner or something to underclock the GPU. MSI hasn't released any Aero 40 series cards.


Click to expand...
Thank you very much!
 
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Hi, I have the trident 3 11400f model and was thinking of upgrading my gpu to the 4060. It would appear from specs online to be running on similar wattage to the 1660. Would this likely work without a change in power supply? I currently have an original 230w which i would be happy to change if I could find an oem 330, which was been hard in the UK. Thank you.
 
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