MSI MEG Trident X2 14th Gaming PC Review – Core i7 14700K + RTX 4070 Ti

Desktop Prebuilts by popular PC brands such as MSI aren’t really popular and are well-received by enthusiasts due to their notorious pricing. As the years go by, the price premium of these prebuilt PCs has lowered to the point where certain PCs now serve a niche depending on their unique feature set. In this review, we’ll dive into the MSI MEG Trident X2 14 Gaming PC featuring an Intel Core i7 14700KF and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GPU.

MSI MEG Trident X2 – Intel Core i7 14700KF + RTX 4070 Ti Ventus 3X

The MSI MEG Trident X2 can be configured with up to an Intel Core i9 14900KF CPU and up to an RTX 4090 Ventus 3X. Our specific review unit sports the Core i7 14700KF and RTX 4070 Ti Ventus 3X. Our unit also has 32GB 4,400MHz memory and 1 TB SSD. It uses a 240mm AIO and an MSI MAG A1000G 1000W Gold-rated PSU. We commend MSI for using an F variant for this gaming PC as it brings the overall cost down

A Closer Look

The MSI MEG Trident X2 14th is neatly packed with a black and gold design which reminds me of the earlier color scheme of MSI’s Stealth gaming laptop.

As far as prebuilt PCs go, you have the bare minimum inclusions on the MEG Trident X2 14th. There are extra toolless rails, PCIe 5.0 power cable, and some screws included.

The left side of the MSI MEG Trident X2 14th is clean with only a glossy highlight in the form of the trident logo and a golden MSI badge on the side of the case.

The opposite side shows a 3D-style panel with a mesh bump on the center for optimized airflow. While we weren’t able to open the side panel, the 280mm radiator is what’s exposed on the mesh cutout.

The back shows an inverted layout of the case where the GPU is positioned on top where it takes in air on the top side panel.

MSI used an RTX 4070 Ti Ventus 3X GPU for the MEG Trident X2 14. While the Gaming X variant would’ve been a better option in terms of performance and build quality, the extra features such as RGB lighting would’ve been a waste on the chassis. That said, there’s also the cost involved in using such flagship-tier GPU .

Based on the number of PCIE slots on the back, MSI used an mATX motherboard for the Trident X2 14th. It also looks like its a custom motherboard made for MSI’s PreBuilts as it has an absurd amount of USB ports. There’s also dual ethernet connectivity as well as a type-c port.

The front panel has two more USB ports, 3.5mm audio for mic and audio as well as another USB Type-C port.

The front design rounds it all up together with a dual-chamber like look thanks to the boxy and angular design aesthetic. The front RGB lighting adds to the seamless cut of the dual-chamber design.

One of the MSI MEG Trident X2 14th’s highlight apart from the powerful specs is the HMI 2.0 screen. While I wished MSI came up with a much better name, the HMI 2.0 is a touch panel which shows system monitoring stats, gaming monitor OSD control, shortcuts, performance switching, and display video, image, or GIFs. All of these settings can be set-up using the MSI Center Software.

Displaying photos and videos is a way to personalize your PC further but the implementation on the MEG Trident X2 could be better. For starters, you need to upload the exact requested resolution as the MSI Center App poorly downscales the file to fit the 800×600 maximum resolution. Uploading a higher-resolution image especially video will result in a pixelated output. Also, the cropping and zooming element needs improvement as you virtually have no way of getting the zoom you’d like on photos and on videos.

MSI Center Software

MSI Center is MSI’s all-in-one monitoring and customization app. HMI 2.0 settings can be accessed via MSI Center. Unfortunately, the HMI 2.0 while being a “screen” can’t be used as a second monitor.

Benchmark Setup and Test Methodology

Gadget Pilipinas’ testing philosophy is to provide detail-oriented results as accurately as possible so that our readers can replicate our tests given that these conditions are met. Different benchmarking apps and sequences are used depending on the component or device being tested.

We use CapFrameX 1.7.2 Beta as our primary FPS capture and analysis tool for all our gaming benchmarks. The latest build version of Windows 11 Pro and WHQL-certified drivers are used for our benchmarks. Readings such as temperatures and power draws are recorded using HWINFO64, and other relevant software for cross-checking.

For more information read our Benchmark Methodology article.

MSI MEG Trident X2 14 Gaming PC Synthetic and Productivity Benchmarks

OCCT Benchmark

OCCT is a popular benchmark and stability testing tool among overclockers, enthusiasts and system integrators

CINEBENCH 2024

Maxon’s Cinebench benchmark is one of the most iconic benchmark applications used by reviewers and enthusiasts. The latest Cinebench 2024 uses the latest rendering architectures, including Intel’s Embree ray tracing technology and other advanced features from AMD and Intel that allow users to render the same scene on the same hard. 

PCMark10

From the same developers of the popular game benchmarking tool 3DMark, PCMark 10 is a benchmarking app for measuring a whole PC’s performance. It covers a wide variety of tests to reflect common tasks performed in a modern workplace. We selected PCMark 10’s extended benchmark and reported both the overall score and Digital Content Creation Score. 

V-RAY 5

V-Ray Benchmark is a stand-alone version of V-Ray developed by Chaos Group. It is designed to test the CPU and GPU by rendering sample scenes at a fixed amount of time. V-Ray is a plug-in mostly utilized by 3D computer graphics software applications mainly for industrial design, product design, architecture, film, and video game production. V-Ray is not limited to 64-threads as it supports multi and mega-threading. 

BLENDER

Blender is a widely used, free, open-source 3D creation suite. It supports the whole 3D pipeline process from modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, and even motion tracking. Blender has become a standard for CPU benchmarks with the BMW27 and Classroom Scene most used. This prompted the company to release Blender Open Data Benchmark in 2018, a benchmark-specific version allowing users to run a preset benchmark and share the results online like 3DMark.

SuperPI 32M 

SuperPI is a single-threaded benchmark application that lets the CPU calculate Pi(π) to the nth digit. In this benchmark, we selected the Pi calculation to 32M, the highest available for the app. 

wPrime 1024M

wPrime is a benchmark tool similar to SuperPI, but the former takes on finding prime numbers using Newton’s Method. The benchmark is set to calculate 1024 million prime numbers, and the performance is measured according to calculation time.

GeekBench 6.3

Geekbench is a multi-platform benchmark used to gauge CPU performance and compare them across Windows, Mac, and Mobile. Geekbench 6 is the latest version and doesn’t rely on memory more than the previous Geekbench 4, making it a great tool to measure both single-core and multi-core CPU performance.

3DMark Firestrike and TimeSpy

3DMark is the go-to benchmark for gamers because of the ability to share and compare results online. We test GPUs both in DX11 Firestike and DX12 Timespy to get a gauge of the performance.

CORONA RENDERER

Corona Renderer is an unbiased photorealistic render available for Autodesk 3Ds Max, Maxon Cinema 4D, and as a stand-alone application. Its popularity, similar to Blender, led Chaos Group to develop a benchmark version of the app which runs using Corona Renderer 1.3. Workstation systems, especially CPUs, can utilize Corona Benchmark as up to 72 threads can be used in the benchmark, making it very suitable for CPUs with various price segments. 

BapCo CROSSMARK

Crossmark is one of the few native cross-platform benchmark tools available for Windows, Android, Linux ChromeOS, iOS, and macOS. It measures overall system performance and system responsiveness using models of real-world applications making it a great comparison point across multiple platforms.

MSI MEG Trident X2 14 SSD Benchmark

MSI used WD SN560 Gen4 SSD for the Trident X2 14th. It’s rated at 5,000MB/s read and 3,000MB/s write. Our CrystalDiskMark 1GB and 16GB benchmark run confirms the rated speed although having a larger file size cripples the write performance significantly. That said, the custom motherboard on the MEG Trident X2 14th is PCIe Gen 5 ready so you at least have the option to upgrade to a much faster storage should the time come.

MSI MEG Trident X2 14 Gaming PC Gaming Benchmarks

RETURNAL

Returnal is one of the most technologically advanced game since the launch of Cyberpunk 2077. Released last April 2021 on PS5 and February 2023 on PC, it uses Unreal Engine 4 and supports multiple technologies such as Ray Tracing, DLSS, VSR, and FSR.

COUNTERSTRIKE 2

CounterStrike 2 or CS2 is a the successor to the now retired CSGO and now uses the Source 2 Engine – the same engine used on DOTA 2. CS2 is a great FPS game to test out CPU performance. Our benchmark process uses a the replay function of the game.

DOTA 2

Dota 2 is a good repesentation among F2P titles especially MOBAs and RTS as it lands on the demanding side of the spectrum. Its gameplay and quality of life updates are far more frequently than most F2P titles thanks to its vast popularity. Our benchmark sequence is based on a replay of OG vs. Gaimin Gladiators in the ESL ONE Berlin Major Finals Game 4 from the team fight that happened from 23:00 to 24:00. 

SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony is one of the most popular PC port titles last 2022. It’s one of the few modern game titles that support upscaling technologies FSR, DLSS, and XeSS making it a great title to use for benchmarks.

F1 23

F1 23 is the official video game of the 2023 Formula One and Formula 2 championships developed by Codemasters. F1 2023 is the sixteenth installment in the franchise and uses the Ego Engine 4.0. F1 233 is a good representation of racing games thanks to its realistic graphics and fairly demanding spec requirements as well as support for Ray Tracing and the latest upscaling technologies such as DLSS, XeSS, and FSR.

ASSASSIN’S CREED: MIRAGE

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is the latest Assassin’s Creed game from Ubisoft making it the thirteenth major installment in the franchise. It uses the AnvilNext 2.0 game engine and is the very first AC game to support the latest upscaling technology such as XeSS, FSR, and DLSS.

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 is arguably the most hyped game of 2020. Developed by CD Projekt Red, the dystopian open-world, action-adventure RPG sports is one of the most demanding titles to date. Cyberpunk 2077 also supports three Ray Tracing settings as well as DLSS which makes the game a great tool to measure Ray tracing performance for both AMD and Nvidia graphics cards.

Far Cry 6

FarCry 6 is an FPS game published by Ubisoft and uses the Dunia engine. It heavily relies on and takes advantage of DirectX 12 to render a realistic environment that makes it taxing to both the CPU and GPU. It’s also the first game of the franchise to support Ray Tracing.

Rainbow Six Siege

Rainbow Six Seige is one of the few popular AAA games that’s still popular in 2021 due to its competitive gameplay mechanics. R6S uses the AnvilNext game engine, which the game’s publisher, Ubisoft, developed. As of writing, Rainbow Six Siege is currently the most popular Tom Clancy title beating out Wildlands, Breakpoint, and even Division 2.

Metro Exodus

Metro Exodus is the third Metro game trilogy based on Dmitry Glukhovsky’s novels. The game is a first-person shooter with survival horror and stealth elements. The post-apocalyptic game uses 4A Engine by 4A games. Released last 2019, Metro Exodus remains to be one of the most graphically pleasing and demanding games that’s popular to date.

HORIZON ZERO DAWN

Horizon Zero Dawn is one of the most popular console-port RPG developed by Guerilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Horizon Zero Dawn is a multi-award-winning action RPG, and its popularity resulted in an exclusive Complete Edition game bundle on Steam.

MSI MEG Trident X2 14 Gaming PC Temperatures

MSI did astonishingly well on the cooling performance of the MSI MEG Trident X2 14th. The MSI RTX 4070 Ti Ventus 3X only peaked at 79.3°C while the Intel Core i7 14700KF maxed out at 97°C. SSD and DDR5 memory temperatures were on the cool side as well.

Performance Summary Conclusion

The MSI MEG Trident X2 14 is a 4K capable gaming PC with over 60FPS at high settings on our gaming benchmarks. The superb framerates are thanks to the well-rounded specs brought by the balance of the CPU and GPU. That said, one major complaint in the MEG Trident X2’s specs is its memory speed. In our productivity tests, the 4,400MHz memory seems lacking despite the 32GB capacity. At the price of Php 179,999, CPU and GPU aside, I would’ve expect at least the 5,600MHz memory as even gaming laptops of this price range sport even faster speeds. Then again, this is only a concerning factor if you plan on using the MEG Trident X2 14 other than for gaming.

Overall, the MSI MEG Trident X2 14th presents a “good enough” value if you’re in the market for a Prebuilt gaming PC. Its specification is fairly balanced except for the memory speed but it’s worth noting that this is only an issue if your workload apart from gaming is CPU-intensive or RAM-heavy. Apart from getting to enjoy the perks of having a Prebuilt such as the included cost of the Windows license. Moreover, the Php 179,999 price tag may seem exorbitant especially if you’re only looking at the Core i7 and RTX 4070 Ti tag as Php 180k could easily bring you an i9 + RTX 4070 Ti Super DIY PIC. But to MSI’s defense, a portion of the almost Php 180k comes from the HMI 2.0 touch panel, the customized motherboard, and the convenience package of having a Prebuilt namely the Windows license, and “assembly”: – the point is the premium is actually being allotted somewhere, not just because of branding.

The MSI MEG Trident X2 14th is not the best but it is one of the better-value prebuilt PCs available in the market. With that in mind, the Php 179,999 price tag becomes “bearable” especially if you find value in the HMI 2.0 setup to personalize your PC further. Apart from that, it’s better to build your PC to save you some buck – check out our PC Build Guides here.