First off, I’ve never really written about the systems I’ve used since such hardware is really a personal preference (as well as what one can afford). Some folks for example don’t believe in buying pre-built and saving the price premium, others don’t have the technical knowledge to build their own and buy an already made PC, others like myself prefer turnkey SFF (small form factor) solutions where the price premium isn’t a big deal (so long as it’s not an unreasonably huge premium); I just want something that I can pull out of a box, plug in, and (besides the data/settings migration) just go. And then there are platform specific preferences (some folks prefer console like PlayStation or Xbox) while on the desktop side, there are folks who despise Windows and choose either Linux or Mac.
Myself, I also own a PS4 and used to compute primarily on Mac Pro workstations (primarily for BSD Unix stuff as well as video editing, post processing, and encoding) while I used a Windows box for games. So I’m one of those who hasn’t been a stranger to using different systems and understanding their respective strengths and weaknesses (unlike many who have this irrational and cult-like love/hate for specific platforms). I’m still using my nearly 10 year old Mac Pro that cost $4K back then (and has paid for itself well over a hundred fold during that time period) for web browsing, email, the occasional video editing/transcoding/encoding; basically anything but gaming. There was no way I was going to jump through hoops with trying to get a more than competent gaming GPU that worked well in Windows (and to a lesser extent in macOS), to do the same in that box (it just makes more sense to put that money into an actual Windows game system). There’s just not a lot of MMORPG’s written natively for macOS and dual booting to Windows tends to become too much of an unappealing hassle after awhile.
This is why I ended up becoming partial to SFF gaming PC’s; I just needed something small but capable enough to run the select few PC only games that I played. The systems I chose tended towards the mid-range in terms of both power and size. So systems like the ASUS ROG G20 series (no longer manufactured), MSI’s Trident series, Origin Chronos, etc.
While my ASUS ROG is still more than capable, I wanted more GPU performance than what the system could handle. The biggest issue is the GPU power draw followed by the thermal envelope of the case; it is limited by the 2nd external brick that is used (so the limit is a collectors edition of the NVIDIA GTX 1080). Sure, I wouldn’t have run into this if I’d just gone with a full tower system in the first place. But as noted, I don’t really need something like that unless I decide to dispense with my Mac Pro (it’s the huge “cheesegrater” box version) and just migrate to Windows completely.
So after spending several months deciding between a custom built Origin Chronos or MSI Trident X, I went with the latter (approximately $300 cheaper for nearly the same configuration).
Most reviews in print or on YouTube tend to refer to it as “console” sized but that really is pushing it. Even my ROG G20 is larger than my PS4 (the ROG GR8 II is closer in size to a PS4) and the Trident X is several inches taller than the ASUS ROG G20 even when subtracting the mandatory stand (this system can only be vertical). Compared to my Mac Pro though, it could fit completely inside the Mac Pro’s case (if gutted).
I picked up the $2,600 version (16GB DDR4 RAM, 512GB NVMe M.2 SSD, 2TB HD, 3.6GHz 8-core Core i7-9700, NVIDIA RTX 2080Ti 11GB). The system comes well packed (sturdy external box with a handle, coated non-crumbly form fitted foam that holds the system, keyboard, accessory box, and glass door box firmly in place) with the PC itself in a thin “carrying” bag. The keyboard and mouse are serviceable (basically, sticking with my Logitech Proteus and Apple Wired Keyboard).
I know that for the average PC user, the pricing I mentioned comes as a sticker shock (from both a DIY and pre-built ATX tower perspective). For myself, it’s not a big deal since this is nothing compared to the price premium that I’ve paid for higher end Mac desktops in the past (yes, I knew about that “Apple Tax” but part of the rationale back then was based on turnkey vertical integration as well as software workflow). But that was for a different time and different needs.
Similarly, I have no issues with paying a reasonable premium for a well built SFF system such as this Trident X. The main downside is the factory installed 5400RPM mechanical hard drive which is understandable since there really aren’t much options for 7200RPM drives at this capacity that would not tack on $240+ to the price. The system has space for another 2.5″ drive and comes with a SATA cable that can be attached to the spare port on the motherboard (those with really big hands may have trouble seating the cable into the motherboard port since it is inside the small space between the power supply and the CPU fan (where a thick bundle of cabling is also routed).
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| Unoccupied 2.5″ SATA driver holder on the left (right drive holder removed since I was cloning my original data to it) |
This is where the 3.5″ bay in the ASUS ROG G20 is an advantage (the system has a single 3.5″ bay, a single 2.5″ bay, a laptop style optical drive, and an unoccupied NVMe slot which can only handle a 250GB blade due to thermal constraints) since there is a wider array of capacity options for 3.5″ drives along with the higher rotational speed. I plan to transplant the 1TB 860EVO SSD that I had recently installed into the ROG G20 into the spare drive bay in the Trident X to use initially (since most of my main games are on that drive) and later upgrade the NVMe blade to a larger 2TB capacity while using the 2TB mechanical drive temporarily for OBS recordings (will upgrade it to a 2 or 4TB SSD in the future when prices drop again).
Build quality is pretty good. The sides are metal (though somewhat thin) and the right side panel can be replaced with the tempered glass door that is also included. The top and front panel are plastic and of similar quality to the ROG G20’s durable plastic case. Like most SFF systems, every spare space is used internally. The ROG G20 actually uses laptop technology (besides the full size GPU) which results in a lot less cable routing like what exists in the Trident X. The in-case PSU for the Trident X also means the sacrificing of 3.5″ bays as well as a built-in optical drive (which honestly isn’t a big deal since I only used the optical drive once on my ROG G20).
Where the Trident X wins hands down is easy access to the drives (both 2.5″ holders and the NVMe slot). The ROG G20 needs to be partially disassembled (GPU, blower assembly, and processor heat sink need to be removed) to gain access to the drives, the NVMe slot, and even the RAM slots. While this is to be expected in these smaller designs, it is still nice to have easier access to the parts which can be upgraded.
The MSI software is so-so; Dragon Center is about equal to ASUS’ AEGIS III. MSI’s MysticLight however is inferior as far as offering granular control over the system lighting
Most of my main games really won’t benefit a whole lot since they are bound by their coding of the game client where they don’t take advantage of multiple cores or the GPU. The clear benefit however has been the better airflow/cooling where the system so far hasn’t ramped up the fans (which was common on the ASUS). Monster Hunter World will benefit from the RTX 2080 though since I couldn’t utilize the high resolution pack due to lack of video RAM on the GTX GPU in the ROG G20.
UPDATE: I jacked up all the graphic settings in TERA and it actually looks crisper (details and depth); I guess this GPU is overkill for the game and does help a bit to make up for the poor optimization.
