Product: MSI MEG Trident X2 13NUI-007AU (13th Gen Intel i9, GeForce RTX 4090)
Type: PC (Gaming Desktop)
Price: AUD 12,499
Availability: Now
Where to Buy: Harvey Norman | JB HI-FI

It’s no secret that the GeForce RTX 4090, NVIDIA’s flagship GPU for its new Ada generation of graphics cards, is an absolute beast. As per our review of the Founders Edition model, it can double the performance of the previous generation flagship GeForce RTX 3090, which is pretty amazing when you factor in that the RTX 3090 is still very much a beast in its own right.

Throw in new CPUs from Intel, specifically the 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13900K processor, and you’ve got the ingredients for a rig that will let you game and ray-trace for many years to come.

And when it comes to putting together a PC from scratch, MSI is one of those brands that delivers when it comes to GPUs, motherboards, SSDs, and other peripherals. I’ve been rocking nothing but MSI motherboards for several years now, and there’s no question that MSI parts offer excellent performance and features.

The new MSI MEG Trident X2 for 2023 is an exciting proposition, as it’s an all-in-one solution that blends cutting-edge hardware from Intel, NVIDIA, and MSI into a sleek and stylish PC aimed at delivering the very best in all categories.

It’s pricey for sure, but the build quality is uniformly excellent, with a case design that is supremely stylish and packed with its own vibrant 4.5-inch IPS touch panel that communicates directly with MSI’s robust Dragon Center software suite. Not to mention airflow that is impressive and unique in how it manages to keep the GeForce RTX 4090 cool in a reasonably small mid-tower build.

Let’s dig in.

Design and Specs

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The MEG Trident X2 is an impressive PC. The angular design and glossy reflective finish blend with gold accents, brushed metal, and tasteful RGB lighting. The glass side panel isn’t see-through, so this isn’t an RGB-laden PC where you watch rainbow patterns on the motherboard, CPU cooler, and exhaust fans. It’s sleek, modern, and indicative of the premium price point.

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The new MSI MEG Trident X2 for 2023 is an exciting proposition, as it’s an all-in-one solution that blends cutting-edge hardware from Intel, NVIDIA, and MSI into a sleek and stylish PC aimed at delivering the very best in all categories.

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It feels like a high-end rig, the sort of first-class device you’d find in a Deus Ex-inspired world or in Blade Runner 2049’s stunning vision of the future. Weighing in at roughly 14kg, it’s solid, too, with no corners cut regarding the overall case and hardware inside. Even though it’s an all-in-one, there’s still plenty of room for upgrading, though as per the specs below, the model we tested shouldn’t require opening up anytime soon.

Well, maybe add some extra storage for all those game installs.

MSI MEG Trident X2 13NUI-007AU

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CPU: Intel Core i9-13900KF (with MSI AIO Liquid Cooling 280mm)

GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 4090 Ventus 3X OC 24GB

Motherboard Chipset: Intel Z790

Memory: 64GB (32GBx2) DDR5 SDRAM 4800MHz

Storage: 2TB PCIe GEN4x4 NVMe

I/O Ports (Front): 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C

I/O Ports (Rear): 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type C, 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A

Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, BT, and LAN

PSU: 1000W, 80PLUS GOLD

Dimensions: 487.15 x 222.63 x 453.84mm

Weight: 14 kg

As per above, there’s plenty of room for expansion and peripherals. In terms of the inbuilt Wi-Fi 6E, when unboxing the PC in a low-signal WiFi location, we didn’t need to connect the wired LAN because it obtained a full-speed signal right away. This is indicative of the entire build; MSI has put together a quality rig.

And with the best CPU and GPU combo money can buy, the MSI MEG Trident X2 is built for high-end 4K gaming. On that front, we tested this PC with the MSI Optix MAG281URF 4K monitor that features a 144Hz high refresh rate IPS panel. With the GeForce RTX 4090 capable of pushing performance into this region for pretty much any game - you could consider it a great pairing option for the MSI MEG Trident X2.

Game Performance

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Greatness was the expectation, and the 4K gaming benchmark results for the MSI MEG Trident X2 paint that picture. Triple-digit 4K performance in all games, including Cyberpunk 2077, thanks to DLSS 3’s impressive Frame Generation technology. With the cutting-edge DLSS 3 being limited to the GeForce RTX 40 Series, the results are magnitudes ahead of what’s possible on the GeForce RTX 3090.

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Triple-digit 4K performance in all games, including Cyberpunk 2077, thanks to DLSS 3’s impressive Frame Generation technology.

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Over 100 frames-per-second with Cyberpunk 2077 using the DLSS Quality Mode with Ultra ray-tracing settings and Frame Generation enabled looks incredible in motion, easily one of the most visually impressive PC games available today. DLSS 3 is magic, and as it's becoming more prevalent in the games we play, it’s the sort of feature that makes the next generation of NVIDIA graphics tech enticing.

The good news with the MSI MEG Trident X2 is that the performance is similar to what you’d get if you selected high-end parts and put together the build. One of the drawbacks of all-in-one prebuilt PCs is that they generally fall behind custom rigs regarding performance and the quality of parts, and that’s not the case here.

Being lucky enough to already go hands-on with a GeForce RTX 4090, the results weren’t surprising, but what was surprising was how cool and quiet the MSI MEG Trident X2 remains while playing games. Per the 3DMark synthetic benchmarks, which showcase a massive leap over the GeForce RTX 3090, the GPU temperature maxed out at around 70 degrees when stress testing while mostly sitting in the 60-degree region. Likewise, the CPU mostly sat in the 80-degree area while under full load, topping out in the high 80s.

And due to the closed nature of the case itself, there’s very little in the way of noise. No rattling either, thanks to the rock-solid build.

A Pricey 4K Powerhouse

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MSI’s Dragon Center is the company’s all-in-one app to monitor hardware, manage lighting, change profiles, and even enable game modes and capture footage. It’s fully modular and customisable, so you don’t need to install everything. Still, as it is fully integrated with the impressive HMI 2.0 touch panel on the MSI MEG Trident X2 - it’s well worth fully setting up to control and monitor the PC directly from the case’s display.

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With the rise in hardware prices over the past couple of years, the AUD 12,499 price point is eye-opening.

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Of course, the HMI 2.0 touch-panel technology on the case is a luxury item, but that’s probably the best way to describe the MSI MEG Trident X2. With the rise in hardware prices over the past couple of years, the AUD 12,499 price point is eye-opening (though JB HiFi has it listed for AUD 9,999). And over a quarter of the cost goes directly to the GPU itself, let alone the CPU, stunning case, cooling, memory, and storage. Being able to justify spending so much on a luxury item comes down to the individual and how much they’re willing to spend on a gaming PC in 2023.

But there’s no denying that the MSI MEG Trident X2 not only looks fantastic thanks to its stylish design, but it backs that up with incredible 4K gaming performance and content creation potential thanks to the hardware inside, cooling, and additional features. Still, for the price, we would have loved to see MSI throw in a custom-designed high-end keyboard and mouse combo using the Trident X2 aesthetic to round out the package - and double down on the all-in-one angle.