I'll wait patiently for your review to discuss heat/throttling situation in this notebook. If it's under control, seems like we have a winner on our hand!
I've had the Blade 2014 for around 8 months now. With fans set to max, running Furmark on the dGPU and 8 threads of Prime95 max CPU/GPU temps don't exceed 80C at room temperature.
Did you read the review for the 2014 version? No throttling with an 870m. The increase in TDP on the processor side might be a bit of a concern though.
If both the RAM and the SSD are upgradable, the 1080p version would be compelling. Given that a cheap 512 GB, 80mm M.2 can be had for $225, and 16GB of DDR3 for $125, it would only cost $2350...
Looking at Razer's product page for this, it says "onboard" memory which would suggest that it's soldered on. It also shows an m.2 ssd (which the previous version also used), so at least that's upgrade-able.
I agree wholeheartedly. I can't imagine a modern gaming rig with only 128GB of storage. That's just the OS and a couple of modern games.
I'm assuming the argument is to carrying around an external HDD? I think that is silly... the added bulk, clutter, and reduced performance make that option seriously degrade user experience.
I guess I could see the 128GB option being viable to save a few bucks on the original purchase if the end user intends to upgrade the SSD anyway, but then you end up with an extra 128GB SSD that has no home.
The nVidia 9xxM line is supposed to support HDMI 2.0, which would allow it to handle 4k video @ 60 Hz. I'm still trying to determine if there's something else that needs to be done by the manufacturer of the HDMI port, or it'll automatically support anything the video card is capable of.
I am guessing it is restricted to HDMI 1.4a by the CPU's GPU so it can support the NVIDIA Optimus feature. If this laptop had HDMI 2.0 support I would be all over it. Alas...
That 1080 Blade is 500 dollars and 1lb. away from being my perfect laptop PC, hopefully nvidia next gen will finally have a node shrink and combined with Broawell or Skylake at least the 1lb "problem" will be fixed :)
I will just keep waiting for a 15.6" 1080p non-touch laptop from them I guess. Internal hardware is great, but as it is Gigabyte and MSI have thin offerings that are more appealing.
Also, can the 8GB of RAM be upgraded or not? If it can who cares? If not, that laptop is unbuyable.
These do allow for a M2 SSD with a 2.5" mechanical hard drive don't they?
nah, i believe it only has a single M.2 slot. No 2.5" The original Blade 14" had 2 mSATA slots, but the later revisions only have 1 M.2 for some reason
It doesn't matter if the memory is soldered on, as long as there is another slot it should be fine right, and since the QHD+ variant has 16gigs the of ram if the 1080p variant uses the same chasis then there should be one free slot
No, it does matter if it's soldered on or not. There may not be a DIMM slot on the motherboard at all, it's totally possible with laptops today. They could just be manually soldered on, which means no DIMM slot to install RAM later.
I find this exciting but I think the resolution is just a bit high. Think about it for those shopping for new monitors.... the new 34" curved screens are 3440 x 1440. Scaling wise its time we saw some displays that were a higher res / higher refresh rate / larger than 30"
Still only an OK battery capacity. I think it's going to be a while until the Ativ Book 8 I have is replaced. I'm also interested in what AMD will be offering this year before I consider upgrading.
I know it's nothing to really complain about, but I was really hoping to see a PCI-E M.2 SSD in the next generation of the Razer Blade. They seem to really be pushing the envelope on specs everywhere else.
I guess that'd have required a larger change to the system as a whole and would have also increased BoM cost.
I'd really like to see OEMs start to use PCI-E M.2 SSDs in their builds to bring down costs of the formfactor.
Meh. This is pretty much the same as the MSI Ghost Pro, except a couple hundred more expensive, and the Ghost Pro has a 2.5" drive bay. Good luck Razer. 970m does run cooler than the 870m considerably, but it still a lot of heat to dissipate between the CPU and GPU. Only saving grace is if the battery life is better than 2.5 hours browsing.
Oops. Also note that the 1080p version only comes with 8GB RAM not 16GB. Plus the Ghost Pro has two M.2 slots and one 2.5" drive bay, not to mention user upgradable RAM, all weighing less than the Blade and with a 15.6" screen not 14".
I don't know why people find the Razer laptops so great. Other than ultimate thinness, they're always lagging behind the competition in specs. I'm not impressed Razer. Offer this same laptop with dual M.2 SSD slots with stock 16GB + 256GB and with user ability to add their own, and price it at $1500, then I'll be impressed.
The ghost pro is quite an awesome laptop on paper but there are a lot of users complaining of poor build quality, backlight bleed, pathetic trackpad, faulty units, low quality SSDs etc.
V900 - Thursday, February 05, 2015 - link Beautyful machine, though I'd prefer it a tad bit smaller in an ideal world. But you cant get a better laptop than this or a MacBook Pro.
Unfortunately, just like with the MacBook you have to sacrifice some upgrade-ability to get a machine down to this size.
A 128 gb hard disk may feel a little small. (As even a 256&512gb HD would, if you plan to have a lot of games on there!) but its not a Big problem these days. Besides online storage, an external flashHD through USB3 is way faster than internal HDs used to be anyways.
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37 Comments
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kenansadhu - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
I'll wait patiently for your review to discuss heat/throttling situation in this notebook. If it's under control, seems like we have a winner on our hand!JoshHo - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
I've had the Blade 2014 for around 8 months now. With fans set to max, running Furmark on the dGPU and 8 threads of Prime95 max CPU/GPU temps don't exceed 80C at room temperature.Khenglish - Wednesday, February 4, 2015 - link
Furmark causes a ton of throttling though. The gpu was probably at ~550MHz.dragonsqrrl - Wednesday, February 4, 2015 - link
Did you read the review for the 2014 version? No throttling with an 870m. The increase in TDP on the processor side might be a bit of a concern though.krumme - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
Is the gfx supplied with extra ram on SD-cards?eanazag - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
Ugh, I wish I had the money. I would buy before the review.bill.rookard - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
Me too, that is one sexy beasty of a machine.nodak - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
If both the RAM and the SSD are upgradable, the 1080p version would be compelling. Given that a cheap 512 GB, 80mm M.2 can be had for $225, and 16GB of DDR3 for $125, it would only cost $2350...jpak725 - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
Looking at Razer's product page for this, it says "onboard" memory which would suggest that it's soldered on. It also shows an m.2 ssd (which the previous version also used), so at least that's upgrade-able.JarredWalton - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
They need to axe the 128GB SSD model at these prices. Other than that, this looks like a winner. :)MrCommunistGen - Wednesday, February 4, 2015 - link
I agree wholeheartedly. I can't imagine a modern gaming rig with only 128GB of storage. That's just the OS and a couple of modern games.I'm assuming the argument is to carrying around an external HDD? I think that is silly... the added bulk, clutter, and reduced performance make that option seriously degrade user experience.
I guess I could see the 128GB option being viable to save a few bucks on the original purchase if the end user intends to upgrade the SSD anyway, but then you end up with an extra 128GB SSD that has no home.
Taneli - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
RAM is soldered to the MB.Ortanon - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
That's fine. 16GB will do the trick for a very long time for anyone who isn't creating studio-grade content.recurrence - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
Wow, this looks awesome! Well done if it benches like it appears it will!invinciblegod - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
Anyone know why they put a HDMI port that can't handle 4k well and 5k at all instead of a mini displayport?Solandri - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
The nVidia 9xxM line is supposed to support HDMI 2.0, which would allow it to handle 4k video @ 60 Hz. I'm still trying to determine if there's something else that needs to be done by the manufacturer of the HDMI port, or it'll automatically support anything the video card is capable of.dumbfire - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
I am guessing it is restricted to HDMI 1.4a by the CPU's GPU so it can support the NVIDIA Optimus feature. If this laptop had HDMI 2.0 support I would be all over it. Alas...Winterblade - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
That 1080 Blade is 500 dollars and 1lb. away from being my perfect laptop PC, hopefully nvidia next gen will finally have a node shrink and combined with Broawell or Skylake at least the 1lb "problem" will be fixed :)abrowne1993 - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
The $2000 FHD model still has 8GB RAM.nerd1 - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
Now single game installation takes as much as 50GB, and razer is selling 128GB version of the laptop at $2199? WHAT?Hrel - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
I will just keep waiting for a 15.6" 1080p non-touch laptop from them I guess. Internal hardware is great, but as it is Gigabyte and MSI have thin offerings that are more appealing.Also, can the 8GB of RAM be upgraded or not? If it can who cares? If not, that laptop is unbuyable.
These do allow for a M2 SSD with a 2.5" mechanical hard drive don't they?
Ancillas - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
It sounds like the memory is soldered on.Your question about the m.2 + a 2.5" is the same question I'd like answered.
technerdx6000 - Thursday, February 5, 2015 - link
nah, i believe it only has a single M.2 slot. No 2.5"The original Blade 14" had 2 mSATA slots, but the later revisions only have 1 M.2 for some reason
Ancillas - Thursday, February 5, 2015 - link
Bummer. I need to run a bunch of VMs, and disk space becomes an issue. Plus, games are not small these days.Anirudh Suresh - Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - link
It doesn't matter if the memory is soldered on, as long as there is another slot it should be fine right, and since the QHD+ variant has 16gigs the of ram if the 1080p variant uses the same chasis then there should be one free slotHrel - Thursday, February 12, 2015 - link
No, it does matter if it's soldered on or not. There may not be a DIMM slot on the motherboard at all, it's totally possible with laptops today. They could just be manually soldered on, which means no DIMM slot to install RAM later.DPOverLord - Wednesday, February 4, 2015 - link
I find this exciting but I think the resolution is just a bit high. Think about it for those shopping for new monitors.... the new 34" curved screens are 3440 x 1440. Scaling wise its time we saw some displays that were a higher res / higher refresh rate / larger than 30"MamiyaOtaru - Wednesday, February 4, 2015 - link
would much prefer matte but sucks I can only get it with the lower res screenTams80 - Wednesday, February 4, 2015 - link
Still only an OK battery capacity. I think it's going to be a while until the Ativ Book 8 I have is replaced. I'm also interested in what AMD will be offering this year before I consider upgrading.zodiacfml - Wednesday, February 4, 2015 - link
One of the emotional buys that I could put on my list.MrCommunistGen - Wednesday, February 4, 2015 - link
I know it's nothing to really complain about, but I was really hoping to see a PCI-E M.2 SSD in the next generation of the Razer Blade. They seem to really be pushing the envelope on specs everywhere else.I guess that'd have required a larger change to the system as a whole and would have also increased BoM cost.
I'd really like to see OEMs start to use PCI-E M.2 SSDs in their builds to bring down costs of the formfactor.
htwingnut - Wednesday, February 4, 2015 - link
Meh. This is pretty much the same as the MSI Ghost Pro, except a couple hundred more expensive, and the Ghost Pro has a 2.5" drive bay. Good luck Razer. 970m does run cooler than the 870m considerably, but it still a lot of heat to dissipate between the CPU and GPU. Only saving grace is if the battery life is better than 2.5 hours browsing.htwingnut - Wednesday, February 4, 2015 - link
Oops. Also note that the 1080p version only comes with 8GB RAM not 16GB. Plus the Ghost Pro has two M.2 slots and one 2.5" drive bay, not to mention user upgradable RAM, all weighing less than the Blade and with a 15.6" screen not 14".I don't know why people find the Razer laptops so great. Other than ultimate thinness, they're always lagging behind the competition in specs. I'm not impressed Razer. Offer this same laptop with dual M.2 SSD slots with stock 16GB + 256GB and with user ability to add their own, and price it at $1500, then I'll be impressed.
Anirudh Suresh - Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - link
The ghost pro is quite an awesome laptop on paper but there are a lot of users complaining of poor build quality, backlight bleed, pathetic trackpad, faulty units, low quality SSDs etc.read the feedback of users on newegg
V900 - Thursday, February 5, 2015 - link
Is it just me, or is the 1080p model crazy overpriced? 2-300$ is a normal price difference for a 8gb memory upgrade, but for 8 gb AND a QHD screen?!?V900 - Thursday, February 5, 2015 - link
Beautyful machine, though I'd prefer it a tad bit smaller in an ideal world. But you cant get a better laptop than this or a MacBook Pro.Unfortunately, just like with the MacBook you have to sacrifice some upgrade-ability to get a machine down to this size.
A 128 gb hard disk (or even 256&512
V900 - Thursday, February 5, 2015 - link
V900 - Thursday, February 05, 2015 - linkBeautyful machine, though I'd prefer it a tad bit smaller in an ideal world. But you cant get a better laptop than this or a MacBook Pro.
Unfortunately, just like with the MacBook you have to sacrifice some upgrade-ability to get a machine down to this size.
A 128 gb hard disk may feel a little small. (As even a 256&512gb HD would, if you plan to have a lot of games on there!) but its not a Big problem these days. Besides online storage, an external flashHD through USB3 is way faster than internal HDs used to be anyways.