New Razer Blade & Razer Blade Pro

The extra thickness is supposedly from the screen only. Not sure about this graphics card as its suppose to be older tech, but I thought Maxwell was leading to less power use and thus cooler temps.

 

I was assuming that the extra thickness and weight was due to the fact that touch panels are thicker and heavier. Hopefully they bolstered the cooling system. If the fans are loud it would be worse than the panel problem of the old one. For me anyway.

 

perhaps they used copper fins this time around instead of aluminum ones?

 

I didn't expect they're placed monster(870M) in such small machine like that. it require good circulation to handle those temp.
well if they're made extra vent on the each side like the blade pro? what do you think? will it be ruin the design?

 

perhaps the extra thickness comes from thicker fans, which could move more air per RPM, and would have larger exhaust vents as well?
as for the design, a couple of side vents wouldnt ruin it. noise would be much more devastating to the design.

 

Well, the msi gs60 ghost will get same panel and 870m. So i think there is something more we don t know about temp or cooling.
I ordered my New Razer from Japan. I used a us address service. I ll let u know how it goes.

 

Isn't the GS60 Ghost 2,880 x 1,620? Can't be the same panel.

 

Not same panel because it s 15. I think asia, us don t have the same 15 panel. Nvidia put a config for the ghost different from msi us.Msi was the first with gaming 3k panel in last gen. No IGZo though. Anyway, the razer has it all, so no worry

 

I simply cannot believe that Razer got these machines so mixed up.

The 14" Razer Blade was screaming out to have an IPS 1080p panel and the 860M becaue it is a small machine and so the 1080p screen would have been perfectly fine, and the 860M would have kept it cool with good battery life.

Conversely, the 17" Razer Pro was screaming out to have the QHD+ panel and the 870M, where the large screen size would definitely see dpi benefit from that resolution, and the increased chassis and airflow would have greatly suited the hot 870M.

By bizzarrely doing the opposite, Razer have effectively made the Razer Pro underpowered and redundant vs the smaller and more portable laptop. The designers really need to get a slap on the wrist for that, because it is going ot lose then a TON of Blade Pro sales.

 

They had good reasons I'm sure. One is I don't think there's a suitable 17" HiDPI panel, so they were looking at 1080p as a top target. And I would imagine the 14 is by far the more popular unit. As interesting as the switchblade ui is, it seems more a tool I wouldn't use. I'd rather have a smaller unit that's 1.5lbs lighter.

 

This. Plus the obvious fact that putting a higher deff screen on a smaller machine is easier: it requires less power to run properly. Hell, I don't even think there are 17" QHD screens for notebooks, and, if there are, it'd be pretty damn hard to find anything that could play games on them...

 

I love the way 17" is just is. No reason to go beyond HD panel and Maxwell is a better overall choice than extreme Kepler in 14". Like I said before my only gripe and very big one that makes me stay away from it is the lack of proper touchpad and it's proper placement on the chassis.

 

My guess is that they did think about putting a hi res 17 inch display in the Blade Pro but no manufacturer makes those panels. Have you ever seen any 17 inch notebook with a display beyond 1080p? So they went with the 14 because they can. They weren't going to let the lack of a part for the flagship prevent them from making their next model better, would they? Then I guess they made the decision to squeeze a 870m in there so the screen and GPU justify each other.

/just my 2c

 

An SLI 780 ti is struggling to run an 1800p monitor native in modern games, what makes you think a mobile kepler 870m can?? Razer should've just put a high quality IPS 1080p panel and a Gtx Maxwell 860m on the Razer 14.

And the argument of just cutting the resolution in half by downscaling to 900p so games becomes playable isn't really the perfect solution.

All they had to do to make it perfect was Maxwell 860m + IPS 1080p display.

 

He said they couldn't find one that met their response time requirements. Him being Min-Liang Tan.

 

All valid points but think about this from a business perspective, if you had the ability to put a hi res display in a laptop as well as a reasonably powerful GPU in and sell it for bucket loads of money, why wouldn't you?

Razer have different target customers with the different models, buyers of the Pro are ideally the ones that want media, good quality film watching and high productivity with the big display, and some increased functionality with the Switchblade interface and buyers of the 14 will be gamers on the go or those that want the small powerhouse they can do everyday tasks with (helped by the touch screen) like a college student that wants a nice capable machine with a very good screen.

I'm not saying that the downscaling to 900p solution is perfect, I'm just saying that it is a method in which the compromise factor is almost unnoticeable.

Would the 14 have been a perfect notebook with a 1080p display? Maybe. Would it be perfect with the 860m Maxwell? In my opinion no because knowing now they can squeeze a 870m in there (which will perform similar to a GTX 680m) a 860m seems a bit of a low.

I like the 14 for what it is. The hi res display is going to be great for me for photo and video work, films etc and when gaming I will stick to my plans to use 1600x900 because I think at that resolution with details cranked to max is perfect for the 870m.

 

I was also puzzled by this. I think a really good quality 1080p panel on the 14 inch model would make more sense for gaming. I'm not sure the 870m can handle any game well enough at 3200x1800.

 

Most current-gen games won't run at an acceptable framerate at native resolution. I think we can all accept that. Though some settings downgrades may allow for native-res. gaming with some games, 1600x900 is probably the sweet spot.

Having run some games at non-native on an rMBP, the result is better than expected. Aspect ratio matching will be key, and how the panel handles non-native resolutions is important and yet to be judged.

 

It's quite funny. Last year I had concerns with the display being not too great. This year I have concerns that the display is too great. I must be getting old. Turn down that damn music you whippersnappers!

 

I'm with you. Porridge too hot, porridge too cold...

 

Well, eventually it'll be just right... But ya, I also agree. The criticisms (most notably those in the overclock.com forum) have been laughable considering the general points about the old Blade.

The real issue with blade products is that people can't choose the specifications, so you are going to inevitably have complaints about the choices people feel forced into. That said, let's see how the in-depth reviews pan out: if people agree that because the Blade has such a hi-res screen there is more fan noise and shorter battery life, then it probably wasn't the best move to go for a QHD+ touch screen...

 

The display resolution is definitely a little bit overkill, but if I get this machine, I'll be gaming at 900p anyway. The 3k resolution will be great for all but games, I'm excited to see how everything looks on it. The heat may be a little bit much, but I usually use a G13 and Naga when I'm playing, so I wont feel the heat at all. As long as it doesn't throttle, I'll be happy. That said, if they underclock the 870m a bit for noise and heat I'd still be happy since I didn't expect anything more than an 860m. May even just underclock it myself if they don't. For fan noise, the 2013 version did a great job keeping quiet but I don't think it'd bug me if it was a little louder. It'd just make it on par with other notebooks out there

 

That's what I'm thinking to cause I cannot see why they updated the 14 the way they did and basically just gave the 17 a bump with the GPU which is still less powerful then what they gave the 14.

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

 

Any news on if the 17" still has space and connection for a 2.5" drive? I've been trying to keep up but there's a whole lot of information to slog through in 200+ pages. While I hate the idea of having to slip in a new drive and take it out should I need the warranty, it makes the Blade Pro actually tempting over the MSI GS70.

 

I'm not sure if anyone that has it wants to take it apart and find out. I'm curious myself.
About the Warranty... It really depends on the country and the laws.
However Razer will unofficially support opening it up and repairing it yourself while under warranty with the caution that if you damage the components you void the warranty.
Again i'm not legal expert, but here's an article with a wink and nod from the CEO stating exactly what i said above:
“The best possible product, no matter the cost”: Razer’s CEO on the Blade laptop, losing money, and why he’s okay with us bypassing the Australia tax | games.on.net
Part that's important:
GON: If I took a hacksaw to the back of it — totally ruining my warranty, let’s just say I didn’t care — could I swap my SSD out? You’re just using a standard SSD right, nothing proprietary? No wacky Apple-style bizarro-screws holding it in?

Min-Liang: Yes. You could. Nothing… well most of it is soldered on. And you know, I’m pretty active on the hacking forums myself, and we’re actually okay with people opening it up — uh, I shouldn’t say that (glances at PR minder) — but uh, we know people open it up. We’re not picky about it.

Our only fear is that people who don’t know what they’re doing will start opening it up. That’s when I’m afraid we will step in and start saying “WARRANTY VOID” and all that kind of stuff. But if the guy is doing what he is supposed to be doing, I mean… we’re PC gamers ourselves.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/raz...sfully-added-2-5-drive-razer-blade-pro-3.html
Here it is. Thanks to GamerFanatic, I added a 1TB 7mm 2.5inch HDD. Based on my experience, I believe a 9mm 2.5inch HDD will also fit, though I did not measure with a ruler. It means you can add a 2TB HDD there.
By the way, SATAIII is supported by the HP cable.
The whole installation process takes about 15 min, if having the right tool, and know that you are doing.
Good luck.


I need to say it definitely worth a try to install a secondary drive in 2.5 inch format, whether SSD or HDD, 7mm or 9mm. My original mSATA is only 128GB. After installing the drive, of course you need to go to "disk manager" to create this drive, before you can see it in "my computer". It should not be any problem since we have google.
Also you need to find a way to firmly secure the drive in place. I used foam, maybe a zealot can machine an aluminium frame to hold that sweet second drive.

For those who are interested in going back to win7 on razer pro like me, my experience is that except for "keyboard hot key for controlling screen lightness" not working, all other functions seems to be working perfectly. Maybe getting bluetooth to work is a bit tricky.

 

just out of curiosity for the new blade pro owners, what temps are you seeing while gaming? I expected low to mid 80c range, and so far the thing has peaked at 92c! [TECHNICALLY within spec, but I'd be a lot more comfortable if that 9 was an 8]

Working on getting her loaded up and updated presently, looking forward to a fun afternoon of torturing her

 

I take it this is the 2013 model.
My curiosity is if the 2014 has the same bay/connector.

 

90 for CPU isn't uncommon.

 

Interesting that you're just talking about CPU temps.

Lately I notice the fan on my Blade Pro (2013) to be on a lot of the time. Right now I'm just downloading updates on Steam, with a load of around 25% on just one core in the CPU, and Core Temp says the processor is at 57*C, and the fan is on, naturally. Ambient temperature is around 22*C, by the way.

Does that seem reasonable?

EDIT: The Steam updates have finished. Right now it's idling at 43*C, doing nothing at all.

 

Actually while downloading/installing seems to be the magic task. I loaded D3 on my son's inherited G73 last night, and that was ALSO running in the 55-60c range. All my higher than average temps came while loading updates/programs. I don't know WHY all that was pushing my CPU temps into the 90c range, but that's why I was specifically asking about CPU. I don't know what the correlation is, but your temps at that stage are approximately in line.

As far as your idle temps, they're more or less within range, but if you haven't hit the fans/exhasut ports with compressed air in awhile it probably wouldn't hurt to blow the dust out. Ultimately what matters is temps under heavy load, so as long as your temps THERE are good, I wouldn't overly stress.

Since I got everything setup tho, my idle temps are peaking around 83c on the processor [hottest core] and a pretty firm 75c on the 860m. . not too shabby all in all.

 

I have the same make and model as you. My ambient temps would hover around 26c to 28c and that's during night time. When my unit is absolutely doing nothing, just booted up from a cold start, it would idle around 38-40c. Let it sit awhile and it will generally sit around 40c-41c. Using Intel(R) Extreme Tuning Utility to force a max load stress test for 5 mins, the highest it would go is 89c-91c. As for GPU wise, i have mine overclocked @ +135 core and +500 mem. Max temp i have seen it climb up to while playing game with that overclock would be 76c. Without the overclock it would peak at around 74c. Having said all that, i did have my unit repasted with some aftermarket paste already.

So judging by what you have reported, i would say your temps are fine. Take a can of compressed air and blow out your vents if that helps you feel better about it. Either way, your laptop would love you for it.

 

Just out of curiosity, what overclocking software are you using, and what kind of improvements do you see?

 

I'm using Nvidia Inspector 1.9.7.2

Depends on the game actually. Some i see an improvement of 10fps, some i see more and then some i see lesser. While some would be able to hold 60fps during high graphic loads in certain parts of the game when before the overclock it would drop to 48-50fps. All for just 1c up in the gpu temp.

 

Hmm.. Razer is already shipping the New Razer Blade Pro 128 and 256gb but for the 512gb version I need to wait still 1-2weeks? What's up with that?

 

Probably a shortge of 512Gb SSDs, I'd guess.

 

Opened by 2014 pro, the layout is exactly the same as the 2013. Bay is still there and same with the connector. The msata drive was replaced with a m.2 connector, but it occupies the same location.
On that HP connector that you need for the 2.5" drive, it's kind of odd. It kind of pushes into it from the top of the motherboard (which when you open it from the back means it's a bit odd).
The back of the case annoyed me. There are torq screws (t-6 or t-8) with vinyl protectors. Two of which aren't really screws, just look fakes. I thought i stripped them until i figured, what the hell, let me try and pry it apart and found out that they don't screw into anything.

 

On the m.2 slots does it look like the PCIe slot (middle big one) is complete? Pins and everything? I'm hoping Razer didn't gimp it to just mSATA.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

I'm really starting to wonder if Gigabyte is making both of these notebooks for Razer and MSI. . I wonder if the G60 HDD connector would work in the Blade Pro.
Also, only ONE M.2 slot, or are there 2?

Thanks for the warning. Was there any possibility of salvaging the vinyl stickers, or are they intentionally too brittle to remove without damaging?

I'm itching to take mine apart, but the SECOND I do some unrelated problem is going to pop up, and I'm afraid it's gonna bite me in the kiester...

 

I compared it to the 2013, honestly it looks like the ssd is in the same exact location as where the msata one was. The size even looks the same. There are some cables that i thought were just tape across the backside of the ssd. When i tried to move them out of the way, i saw that they weren't just tape on the ssd so i didn't mess with it too much. I think one of the cables said gig e (ethernet maybe?).
I can't really tell the difference between the m.2 pcie and sata3. If it's in the same location i'm venturing to guess it's a sata3 connection. Benches would show otherwise if it was a pci-e. Also when i looked at the drive in the control panel it said samsung 256 gig.
As for the vinyl stickers... I doubt they can be saved. It's that kind of material like very thin electrical tape so even if you're really careful and try and peel them first with your nails, you'll end up tearing them.
I wouldn't worry about voiding the warranty to be honest. The CEO said as long as you don't break it they're fine with it. It's not their official stance, but it's a laptop, not a console. If you know what you're doing it would be really up to them to prove you somehow broke it. And i broke it in playing games and whatnot, tested everything on it before i opened it. I doubt i have a lemon and if it does break, it'll be way after the warranty period of a year.
You might be able to find replacement stickers if you're really that paranoid. I don't see anyone that sells it, but it's something like a vinyl torx screw cover. Almost like electrical tape that has been make into a small circle with a very small hole in the center.
Also there's some blue locktite on the screws themselves, but it seems fairly sloppy (some had more and others didn't have any) and they really don't make it any harder to open the case.

 

Hey all,

I'm planning to buy either one of razer blade pro or the 14" one,
But I'm super picky about framrates on games.
I play stracraft2 on medium setting on full resolution.
Can somebody out there who can help me to compare which one I should get?

1. razer blade pro 2014 medium setting on full resolution
2. New razer blade 14" medium setting on full resolution
3. New rezer blade 14" medium setting on 1980x1080 resolution

Thanks, much help appreciated

 

If you're super picky about framerate then don't get a blade...
and if you must the razer blade has a gtx 870m while the razer blade pro has a gtx 860m

 

Based on what Starcraft 2 demands graphically, i think any of the two 2014 versions could run the game at 50+ fps at maximum settings.

 

Omg, I have so many problems with Razer Blade Pro 2013, its graphics burning out, now its headset input never working, after all the keyboard is so bad. And you know what now? The battery has burned out! And now, there are no batteries on the market like this, and you cant even order one. So now all I do is play/work with it pluged in to the wall. And I've payed 3200$ for this kind of ..

 

So...
If I purchase a Razer Brade Pro 17 this month, do I have the option of just going with the 128gb model from factory, then installing my own ssd?

Sounds pretty good to me. I really like the 860m maxwell chip. I reckon its more than enough for my gaming rig.

(will be downgrading from p157sm + 780m)

 

Been having issues with my blade pro since I got it about a year ago

You can see videos below:
http://1drv.ms/1rKUSQ8

Anyone else experiencing these problems?
Also whats with the early voiding of warrantees on 2013 Blade Pros?

Also, I haven't been able to access the developers forums for the SBUI lately...

 

Those are some odd issues for sure.

Just FYI. I purchased a Blade. Wasn't aware about the 8GB RAM which is kind of disappointing. And to everyone complaining about their stuff failing, you do not have my sympathy. Razer offers an extended 1 year warranty for $300 or you can get an extended warranty for $400 for 3 years from SquareTrade and ST refunds you your purchase price if they are unable to repair within 48 hours.

 

Razer Support sucks. Also my issues are software and hardware. The software sux. SYNAPSE SUCKS. I have a blade pro and it never works right. RAZER ALSO ONLY OFFERS 6 MONTHS EXTRA. My computer lost its warranty early b/c they discontinued it and there's a statement in their tos. Go to the support page and then systems. You will see that they discontinued their devices and ended warranties early.

 

How are the clevo laptops? They any good compared to Razer, MSI?