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

 

[kemoniwilliams9152a02d1]

1. Has anyone tried to force a MSI Trident 9th BIOS (9.50) on an 8th (MB v1)?

2. Also, anyone ever tried to upgrade the CPU on an 8th (v1 or any other version)?
I have always wondered if an i9-9900K or non-K would work on an 8th (v1.0) or even what was the highest CPU (other than i7-8700) was achieved on this specific variant.

 

[bobdabaumast159302e3]

hi everyone,
i upgraded my trident 3 7gen (i7-7700 + gtx1060) with a palit RTX3050 stormX 6GB DDR6 .
ist very easy without the need of any modifications. no new power supply, no 6pin to 8pin adapter (because there is no need for extra power supply for this card).
no software tweaks. of course its not the fastest card, but still a good upgrade to the old 1060 to my mind.
depending on the game i get 15% to 30% better framerate and the power consumption is even less then with the old card.

here are the specs of the card https://eu.palit.com/palit/vgapro.php?id=5137&lang=de&pn=NE63050018JE-1070F&tab=sp

 

[kemoniwilliams9152a02d1]

How

hi everyone,
i upgraded my trident 3 7gen (i7-7700 + gtx1060) with a palit RTX3050 stormX 6GB DDR6 .
ist very easy without the need of any modifications. no new power supply, no 6pin to 8pin adapter (because there is no need for extra power supply for this card).
no software tweaks. of course its not the fastest card, but still a good upgrade to the old 1060 to my mind.
depending on the game i get 15% to 30% better framerate and the power consumption is even less then with the old card.

here are the specs of the card https://eu.palit.com/palit/vgapro.php?id=5137&lang=de&pn=NE63050018JE-1070F&tab=sp

Wow! Last GPU from this series I have tried was a 3050 MSI AERO (8 PIN) and all I got was a black screen. Which motherboard version is your machine?

 

[bobdabaumast159302e3]

MS-B9061 (U3E1) Version 2.0 is at least what software reads out. i forgot again to look up the version printed on the motherboard.
as every time i open the case if i got it right here in the thread, the version printed on the mobo can differ from the one read by software.
bios is A.20 btw.

 

[0x800129f02b0]

Hi, I have managed to upgrade my MSI Trident Arctic 7th gen, from GTX 1070 to RTX 4060 Ti (Gainward). Motherboard version 2.1 (2.0 according to BIOS). It seems everything worked smoothly, not mentioning the necessity to unscrew almost the whole case, which is a bit tricky. Will run some stress tests, but so far everything works fine.

Also changed the SSD to 1 Tb Samsung 980 and got rid of the second HDD.

The question is if it is possible to upgrade the CPU. The motherboard in the 7th generation is based on H110 chipset, so the highest possible CPU is already installed. Is there any standard ITX motherboard to be installed in this case, compatible with its back panel? Or the 2nd option: is it possible to use a motherboard from later generation of MSI Trident, like the 8th in particular, or any later generations?

 

[girhankasa15a602e3]

Hello guys. I checked the forums, and apparently, other Trident generations with motherboard 1.0 versions won't work with 4060 graphics cards. However, is that the same with the 11th generation too? My motherboard also has a 1.0 version like others, but my PC is 11th-gen, so newer. Did anyone try 4060 with the motherboard 1.0 version in Trident 3 11th gen? Did it work, or is the result the same with any other generations? I want to upgrade my GPU, but no one sells single-fan 3060 cards in my country, so, I'm stuck. That's why I wanted to ask just to be sure. If it doesn't work, then, I'll guess I'll be stuck with buying 3050. My power supply is 330W, so, that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[madm15ae02e3]

Hello guys. I checked the forums, and apparently, other Trident generations with motherboard 1.0 versions won't work with 4060 graphics cards. However, is that the same with the 11th generation too? My motherboard also has a 1.0 version like others, but my PC is 11th-gen, so newer. Did anyone try 4060 with the motherboard 1.0 version in Trident 3 11th gen? Did it work, or is the result the same with any other generations? I want to upgrade my GPU, but no one sells single-fan 3060 cards in my country, so, I'm stuck. That's why I wanted to ask just to be sure. If it doesn't work, then, I'll guess I'll be stuck with buying 3050. My power supply is 330W, so, that shouldn't be a problem.

Hi, I am a 10th generation Trident 3 user,
here are the characteristics I originally had: i5 10400f, 16Gb ddr4 So-DIMM Samsung, MSI 1660S AERO.
Here are the characteristics I was able to upgrade to: i7 10700, 32Gb ddr4 So-DIMM Kingston Fury, MSI RTX 4060 AERO, and I bought a 330 watt power supply, since my original one was at 230 watts, my motherboard also revision 1.0 Everything works and it's wonderful

 

[alexyhl15b802e9]

Hi everyone,
First off, fantastic thread! I've pretty much found 99% of the answers to my questions reading all the responses.
I've got a 9th gen Trident that came with a GTX1650 and I bought a MSI RTX4060 to upgrade with. Only problem I ran into was that the 1650 didn't come with a power cable. From what I found online, the 1650 gets enough power from the PCIe slot.
I just wanted to get some confirmation on the power cable I need is a 6-pin male to 8-pin male. Not the easiest one to find, so if anyone has any recommendations that'll be much appreciated.

 

[alexyhl15b802e9]

Hi everyone,
First off, fantastic thread! I've pretty much found 99% of the answers to my questions reading all the responses.
I've got a 9th gen Trident that came with a GTX1650 and I bought a MSI RTX4060 to upgrade with. Only problem I ran into was that the 1650 didn't come with a power cable. From what I found online, the 1650 gets enough power from the PCIe slot.
I just wanted to get some confirmation on the power cable I need is a 6-pin male to 8-pin male. Not the easiest one to find, so if anyone has any recommendations that'll be much appreciated.
View attachment 197748View attachment 197749

I managed to get a cable on eBay. Hooked everything up and everything works without any additional works. Only thing I did beforehand was updated the BIOS.
I ended up upgrading the RAM and all the HDDs as well. Only mistake I made was I didn't know about the motherboard limiting the speed on the RAM, so I got a 3200MHz set, but it was actually easier and cheaper to get 3200MHz than 2667MHz anyway.
I was contemplating upgrading the CPU as well but obviously not gonna be able to find a new i7-9700 now, so might just stick with i5-9400, unless you guys reckon it's worth it to upgrade that too.

 

[caswell_m_anderso154902d5]

FYSA - I can confirm that the Zotac RTX 4060 does work in the Trident 3 Gen 10 (w/ 230W). I upgraded from the GTX 1660 Super. I did upgrade the RAM from 16 to 32 first. Then I upgraded to the latest version of the BIOS. No issues. Easy install.

 

[kainnonbooke158302dc]

Looked through 70-90% of this thread. Not sure if I missed the info I needed but….

Is there a difference for v1.0 and v1.1 for 8th gen?
Wanting to get a little more out of the gpu slot but also didn’t come with a 6 to 8 pin connector (or stand or vr cable.)
(3rd hand pc.) A solid/reputable link to replacement parts is very appreciated.

Currently rocking the 230 psu and I think a 8700k and msi 1060 aero.

Not trying to sink too much into this aging platform. But I can do some mental gymnastics to justify a cost efficient upgrade.
I intend to use it as a mobile pc for (vr) game design while I travel for a few months.

 

[tmprober156302dc]

Hi all - I have a 10th Gen /w 2060 super, i7-10400, and 330w psu. Motherboard is B9321 (1.0) with H410 chipset. I'm researching on potential GPU upgrades, and this forum and MSI's recommendations has shown that the 3060 Ti MSI Aero ITX can be installed successfully with the 330w psu.

While weighing between the 3060 ti and 4060 ti, I came across a 4070 itx card (Zephyr Sakura Itx), which is only available on ebay from China. It has a 200w TDP, which is the same as the 3060 ti. The Sakura Itx also has the 8-pin power connector (same as my 2060 super), and the card size is smaller than the 2060 super.. It's hard to find great info about this card, and there seem to be a lot of red flags with thermals, but generally speaking is it possible for it to work with the Trident 3 10th Gen? What should I look for in specs to determine so?

 

[lacqsterliv130902bb]

Hello, please tell me, I have a computer : Msi Trident 3 8th i7 8700 gtx 1060 6gb 16gb with a 230w power supply and a version 1.0 motherboard, which graphics card can I connect? They write on the form that the rtx 4060 will not work (black screen and no image) and the 330w power supply will be useless, because the motherboard limits the power supply, but they write that the rtx 3060 works quietly without any problems, can I replace the video card with the rtx 3060 or rtx 3050??? Thanks!))
GTX 1070 consumes 150w, RTX 3060 170w, and RTX 3050 130w, therefore, in terms of consumption, 3050 should be suitable, 3060 too, but with a reduction in the power limit??
I think the information on the GPU compatibility on the site is not up to date, please do not respond in this way, thank you!!))

 

[Lubuggatt161c02f0]

1. Has anyone tried to force a MSI Trident 9th BIOS (9.50) on an 8th (MB v1)?

2. Also, anyone ever tried to upgrade the CPU on an 8th (v1 or any other version)?
I have always wondered if an i9-9900K or non-K would work on an 8th (v1.0) or even what was the highest CPU (other than i7-8700) was achieved on this specific variant.

Just wanted to throw my two cents in here. I have an MS-B9201 V1.1 board (8th gen CPU), MSI Trident 3. Recently, because of my dumb mistake, I shorted the board and killed my i7-8700 and 1 stick of 16 GB DDR4 RAM. I replaced/tried with both i7-9700f 65w and i7-9700 65w (spares) and 1x16 GB DDR4 stick since the PC won't boot with dual channel 2x16 GB. I can load into the BIOS, but as soon as I try to load into Windows 10, 11, or any sort of Rufus and media creation tool on my USB, the system instantly bluescreens with a Machine_Check_Exception. I thought it was because my motherboard shorted, so I ordered a used 8th-gen motherboard from eBay (same B9201 V1.1 board). And just installed it, only to be met with the same Machine_Check_Exception blue screen error. I even updated the motherboard to the latest 950 2019-11-15 bios by extracting the bios from the .exe through 7-Zip and successfully flashing with M-Flash, but that also doesn't work. Which leads me to the final conclusion that the B9201 V1.1 board doesn't support 9th-generation CPUs of any kind. I would try my i9-9900k from another build, but I would guess that this would also throw out the Machine Exception blue screen. I have a 330W power brick btw.
Im currently trying to source another i7-8700 to test my suspicions, but Ill have to wait a little to find one for a reasonable price.

 

[arpit.dhuri157e02dd]

Just wanted to throw my two cents in here. I have an MS-B9201 V1.1 board (8th gen CPU), MSI Trident 3. Recently, because of my dumb mistake, I shorted the board and killed my i7-8700 and 1 stick of 16 GB DDR4 RAM. I replaced/tried with both i7-9700f 65w and i7-9700 65w (spares) and 1x16 GB DDR4 stick since the PC won't boot with dual channel 2x16 GB. I can load into the BIOS, but as soon as I try to load into Windows 10, 11, or any sort of Rufus and media creation tool on my USB, the system instantly bluescreens with a Machine_Check_Exception. I thought it was because my motherboard shorted, so I ordered a used 8th-gen motherboard from eBay (same B9201 V1.1 board). And just installed it, only to be met with the same Machine_Check_Exception blue screen error. I even updated the motherboard to the latest 950 2019-11-15 bios by extracting the bios from the .exe through 7-Zip and successfully flashing with M-Flash, but that also doesn't work. Which leads me to the final conclusion that the B9201 V1.1 board doesn't support 9th-generation CPUs of any kind. I would try my i9-9900k from another build, but I would guess that this would also throw out the Machine Exception blue screen. I have a 330W power brick btw.
Im currently trying to source another i7-8700 to test my suspicions, but Ill have to wait a little to find one for a reasonable price.

Did you anyway try changing mico code?somehow i could run i3 9100f with 0xB4 as shown in CPUZ with 840 bios

 

[Lubuggatt161c02f0]

Did you anyway try changing mico code?somehow i could run i3 9100f with 0xB4 as shown in CPUZ with 840 bios

I haven't messed with the microcode. But I did buy an i7-8700k and the PC booted perfectly fine to before I shorted the motherboard. Now, the Pc runs games and runs tasks the way it's suppose to. So my final statement is that no, it is not plug and play going from an 8th gen CPU to a high-end 9th gen (like the i7-9700(k) or the i9-9900(k) CPU on the B9201 V1.1 motherboard unless you know how to modify the motherboard's bios via microcode or have another motherboard that supports both 8th gen and high end 9th gen cpu's. With that in mind, I do not know why the i3-9100f works with the 840 BIOS. I am assuming that some 9th-gen CPUs might be supported because they are lower-powered compared to the other 9th-gen CPUs. I don't have a spare i3 or i5 9th-gen CPU with me, so I can only tell from my own experience as to what works and what doesn't.

 

[ryjkell15cd02de]

Hi, I am a 10th generation Trident 3 user,
here are the characteristics I originally had: i5 10400f, 16Gb ddr4 So-DIMM Samsung, MSI 1660S AERO.
Here are the characteristics I was able to upgrade to: i7 10700, 32Gb ddr4 So-DIMM Kingston Fury, MSI RTX 4060 AERO, and I bought a 330 watt power supply, since my original one was at 230 watts, my motherboard also revision 1.0 Everything works and it's wonderful

Did your upgrade work? I have a 10th Gen that came with the i7, I am trying to upgrade it to a 3060 ti Aero ITX. I bought a 330 watt power supply. My motherboard is v1.0. And my computer immediately crashes (the power supply needs to be unplugged from the wall) anytime I try to boot a game (iRacing). I've tried reducing the power draw with Afterburner and it still crashes instantly.

 

[acid0160e02f8]

FYI - I was able to put an Inno3D RTX 4060 8GB Compact on MSI Trident 3 with 1.0 PCB with no extra tweaks. The GPU is 115-125W TDP (depending on where you read). It's runs perfectly.
Now my system is still with the i5-6400 so it's heavily CPU bottlenecked now. I intent to upgrade to i7-7700.
I was wondering if the M.2 E-key slot in this card actually be used for another SATA SSD through an adapter (or who knows, even NVMe? but everything says the 1.0 PCB doesn't support). Anyone has ever tried this mod?

 

[evgeniy.myakishe15fc02ec]

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	Mini Desktop PC - Small But Not Compromised | MSI Trident 3 Trident , MSI's first mini desktop gaming pc, is built with NVIDIA GTX 10 Series . It's excellent for home computer, 4K HTPC, and VR gaming system. www.msi.com
7th Gen Arctic	H110	2.1	A20	230W	MSI Global - The Leading Brand in High-end Gaming & Professional Creation As a world leading gaming brand, MSI is the most trusted name in gaming and eSports. We stand by our principles of breakthroughs in design, and roll out the amazing gaming gear like motherboards, graphics cards, laptops and desktops. www.msi.com
8th Gen	H310	1.0/2.1	840	230/330W	MSI Global - The Leading Brand in High-end Gaming & Professional Creation As a world leading gaming brand, MSI is the most trusted name in gaming and eSports. We stand by our principles of breakthroughs in design, and roll out the amazing gaming gear like motherboards, graphics cards, laptops and desktops. www.msi.com
8th Gen Arctic	H310	?	840	230/330W	MSI Global - The Leading Brand in High-end Gaming & Professional Creation As a world leading gaming brand, MSI is the most trusted name in gaming and eSports. We stand by our principles of breakthroughs in design, and roll out the amazing gaming gear like motherboards, graphics cards, laptops and desktops. www.msi.com
9th Gen	H310	?	950	230/330W	Console-sized Trident 3 with 9th Gen CPU and RTX graphics | Gaming Desktop | MSI Meet the new generation of the small in size (10 liters) but packed with power Trident 3. A premium console-sized desktop featuring 9th Gen Intel Core processor and RTX 20 series GPU. Trident 3 is built for true gamers and fulfills all your gaming needs. www.msi.com
9th Gen Arctic	H310	?	950	230/330W	Console-sized Trident 3 Arctic with 9th Gen CPU and RTX graphics | Gaming Desktop | MSI Meet the new generation of the small in size (10 liters) but packed with power Trident 3 Arctic . A premium console-sized desktop featuring 9th Gen Intel Core processor and RTX 20 series GPU. Trident 3 Arctic is built for true gamers and fulfills all your www.msi.com
10th Gen	H410	?	800	230/330W	Console-sized MSI MPG Trident 3 with 10th Gen CPU and RTX graphics | The centerpiece of gaming Shattering traditional design and norms, the MPG Trident 3 series is the most powerful mini gaming desktop with the latest 10th Gen Intel® Core™ processor. Tailored to your gaming setup, the MPG Trident 3 can be placed vertically or horizontally with the www.msi.com

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

Hi everyone.
Trident 3, gen7, pcb 2.1, bios A10. Psu 230w.
Palit rtx 5050 stormX single fun works fine (req power supply 130w). Form factor fits its place.
Just two minor points to take care:
1) I swapped 1060 6gb. Had to buy 6 to 8 pin adapter for GPU power supply. Now i have old cable from 1060 connected with adapter and then to the GPU.
2) Also plastic GPU card holder designed for 1060 is not good for 5050. But can be adopted by cutting some edges, which don't allow it to be used for 5050.
For me it looks critical to have this plastic holder to protect GPU from the metal of the Trident 3 box. Bottom of the stormX has no any protection, which means you need to take care about this yourself.

Most likely 7+ gen trident 3 should work fine with palit 5050 stormx.

P.S. I also considered msi 5060 inspire itx, but it has +5 mm height (in comparision to palit card) and looks like can not be placed inside trident 3 box. Also requirement for 145 watt power supply can be an issue unless you upgrade PSU to 330w.
I just wonder if someone tried with msi 5060 itx inspire for trident 3 7gen.

 

[acid0160e02f8]

Update: my Inno3D RTX 4060 8GB Compact is working fine since October. I also upgraded the CPU to i7-7700 and it works great. Finally, with an adaptor I could put an NVMe SSD on the Wi-Fi slot (and replaced it with an external antenna USB one). The NVMe drive actually works, but it's not bootable but works perfectly inside Windows. Only caveat: the slot is 1x lane PCI express 2.0. So even though it's NVMe the speed is still about only 500mb/s.