Razer Blade 14" (1060 GPU/late 2016) Owner's Lounge

Excellent! Hopefully that means that Microsoft will have them soon too and I can swap out for a new one.

 

Could someone quickly tell me the pros and cons of Touch Gloss screen vs Matte non-touch... I'm inclined to go with the non-touch but I just want to be sure I'm not missing something that I don't already know about the touch experience in conjunction with Windows 10.

 

I have a 2015 Blade QHD and have literally never touched the screen once. In fact, I have it disabled. It's useless if you ask me. Also, the resolution is nice for movies but useless for gaming. I can only game at 1080p. That combined with the fact that there are still Windows apps which aren't HiDpi compliant is why I went FHD this time

 

Thanks Mario! that's what I needed to hear, I assumed as much but thought it would be best I ask just in case because since apple released their touchbar I started wondering if there is this wave of touch that I'm perhaps missing out on and should consider, lol. But guess not moving right along

 

Got it in. Unfortunately I cannot find a tube of thermal paste at the moment, so repasting will have to be postpone for now. I went ahead and opened it up to swap the SSD for a 950 Pro, the factory 256 GB unit in this one is a Samsung PM 951.

Razer Blade 14 (2016) FHD 256 GB by Micaiah posted Oct 28, 2016 at 1:57 PM

Razer Blade (2016) FHD 256 GB by Micaiah posted Oct 28, 2016 at 1:56 PM

 

So you're going to attempt to repaste it? Good luck and please get good information to compare stock vs your repaste as it seems to be hit or miss attempting to repaste.

 

If you repaste, use a HDT-specialized paste. Assuming they're still doing direct pipe contact (which is really ****ty, imo), of course.

 

Good to know, thank you for the heads up. I may not do a repaste for now, as the temperatures seems to be okay. I've managed to play GTA V for a few hours and the fans have stayed in the mid-40 decibels range, much better fan noise control compared to my 2015 FHD model.

 

I canceled my order through Razer and went through amazon so I should have my blade on nov 4th. I went with FHD as I have the QHD Blade now. FHD will be the overall better experience.


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Repasting has generally turned out quite poorly for those who have tried it on Razer Blades. There was a pretty infamous one sometime in 2014 that even the CEO of Razer chimed in on. I wouldn't recommend it, as you are definitely blowing your warranty if you do so...

 

Will any current owners recommend a potential buyer like me to get this laptop (the late 2016 version)? Is the keyboard still comfortable to use after being under heavy load for a while?

 

We're so close to kaby lake HQ... plus, tomorrow the alienware 13 is out with OLED touch and good cooling. I'd wait.

 

My 2 main gripes with the AW13 is the size and weight of it. It is a smaller screen size, but significantly thicker and heavier and it looks like the other dimensions are bigger as well. I love AW and would love to end up with another AW laptop especially an OLED screen but I can't see myself getting rid of my 17 inch because I don't like the thickness and weight of it to go down to a thick and bulky 13 inch = \. As of right now I really think I am sold on the Razer and cannot find anything imo that wins over what I personally am looking for. Now just to decide if I should go down to the MS store tomorrow and get a FHD version or wait and see if they get the QHD+.

 

I hope they come with red version.

 

Well my MS store has the 512gb FHD version in stock in the store if I want to go down and get one. Was really looking forward to QHD+ and touch screen and I've had this money burning a hole in my pocket the past month or 2 while trying to decide between Razer or MSI so I just want to buy something and get my hands on it lol, and I have no idea when MS might get the screen in stock that I want so now I cannot make up my mind on what to do. Cave and buy the FHD and get it now or continue trying to hold off and wait for the QHD+ from Microsoft.

 

Are you talking about the upcoming Razer blade pro? Also, I've never been a fan of Alienware. Nothing screams flashy and overpriced like an Alienware system.

 

Pretty sure the MS stores still have the old gen in stock. With the 970m gpu. The new one isn't on MS web store yet and Razer still has them on back order for mid November.

 

The new ones look a lot better. The AW 13 looks relatively good, though I'd prefer it was smaller.

 

I've read somewhere (I can't remember where) but I believed it to be official and it could either be an excuse or a legitimate reason. But the Alienwares are that thick because Dell understands that the large portion of their users are in Asia operating in computer shops or cafes where room temperature isn't as ideal as what you'd typically see within the United States. Also, a large number of their users are Military who are stationed in less then ideal locations. Lastly, Dell/Alienware prefers having parts shipped with on-site technicians to repair systems as compared to having entire systems shipped from user back to the facilities espiecally when dealing with overseas. This could also be why Razer has been so late to get their systems into Europe or Outside of the US. (Because they couldn't support the system and the hardware breakdowns, not that they couldn't sell it to them but because they didn't have the infrastructure to warranty repair/fix them when they broke down)

I could be completely wrong here, but this was the reason for the Dell/Alienware Systems to be as thick as they are.

 

The cooling performance of Alienware vs Razer are not even comparable. While Alienwares are thick, they tend to keep things on the cool side after a proper repaste. This was not the case with Razer, unless they fundamentally changed their heatsink design in this latest interation. I remember seeing a teardown of either the 2014 or the 2015 blade and thinking to myself, how cheap and poorly designed the cooling is if they couldn't afford to mate a flat,gapless copper surface to the heatsink-cpu surface, instead opting to pass double pipes and no proper surface over it. Hopefully this has changed, I have a friend about to pull the trigger on one of these.

 

I know what you're saying as when you look at the Razer Blade you wonder if the whole thing is a pipe dream, like they took Apple Computers Ideas on how to deal with thermals and throw in Most Powerful Gaming Parts and thus we have a pipe dream, and EASON has often posted on these forums confirming that pipedream. However... the 1060 seems like it's been getting fairly positive reviews on both temps and how it deals with thermals.



This review was the first one I saw that mentions it and as these systems become more and more readily available I'll be checking to confirm these results.

I will note that I'm actually at the crossroads trying to pick either between the Razer/Macbook or just wait for either something better or a better price on one of the systems. But from my perspective I've noticed that Apple has been going with lower and lower GPU's from what the public has been asking (Hence the complaints with their latest release) however this only confirms the idea of how hard it is to thermally cool a system that thin, that small etc. Which makes me wonder if Razer is going to an area or territory that Apple doesn't want to go in and if that's because it's either too costly or too unstable?

 

I think the best thing to do is wait for cooler chips (and a better screen). Undervolt a kaby lake HQ chip and temps should be okay even with razer's anemic cooling. Imo it's silly to buy a laptop with a 6700HQ right now if you are a performance nut.

 

I'm torn between the 3200x1800 and the FHD one. It's to replace the gf's 2011 MBP, who isn't very tech savvy or into video/photo editing. FHD can't be that grainy on a 14" at normal ±15 inches viewing distance can it? 3200x1800 seems like overkill unless you have the edge of the laptop against your chest laying in bed, plus anything above 200 ppi doesn't scale well on laptop screens. More importantly the FHD is matte (we live in a perpetually sunny area), and would consume less battery life which would add to that mediocre aspect of the blade. I'm leaning towards the FHD, but I don't want to buy a premium aluminium unibody laptop only for the screen to look lacklustre. What's your experiences been with FHD at this size?

 

Want to buy this as a compromise between a work machine (development) and a gaming rig (not gonna load it with the newest AAA though). Got a few questions/worries though.

What kind of VR is this actually compatible with? I'm not too big on VR so it's not very important, but would be good know if I decide to procure a headset. Since it has Optimus it doesn't sound as if it's as VR Ready as it claims to be...

What's the battery life like for non-gaming tasks? Browsing, coding (CPU load), that kind of stuff. Can I expect something like ~5 hours?

How terrible is the temp and noise situation? Especially interested, again, for non-gaming, like how annoying is it going to be for co-workers?

 

I think it'll be full VR as the 1060 is a very doable card to do VR with. However if this is going to be your main machine for all of these tasks I'd perhaps suggest going with an Alienware 13. That system seems alot more rugged and probably has a battery life and more potential for future upgrades. I'm inclined to believe that the Razer Blade is a great system for users who have secondary machines either another laptop or desktop to go along with their portability option.

 

According to this:



He says he's getting 70C while in game, so I don't know it's looking pretty good and I'm starting to wonder maybe that 1080 is going to work out... Maybe... lol...

 

I played a game of CSGO last night and my temps hit a max of maybe 75 degrees during it? (It was mid 70s, do not remember exactly) and an average temp of 67. I feel that is pretty good although I have not spent any very long sessions gaming on this laptop yet or anything other than CS. The fans do get pretty loud during gaming as plenty of other people have said in the past but it doesn't bother me. In my completely silent room it was a little annoying but if you have the speakers on, or headphones/headset on you probably won't even notice it at all.

When it is idling, the fans are moving and in my room with things as silent as they could be I could faintly hear the fans spinning the whole time. In a work environment I feel like there's other things going on, other people doing other things in general and it's not something you are going to hear over anything else going on. Now if you load up a game or a 3d application...then yeah people are probably going to take notice and ask what's going on.

One thing that concerns me a little is my performance in CS:GO. I was getting an average of about 200-220 FPS sitting idle in CT spawn on Dust2, where as on my Alienware I get about 280+. When I start running around the map and playing it can dip down to the mid 100s and go up to maybe 220-250 max but on my other laptop I typically never see it drop below 250 or 200 (except for maybe Nuke). I'm just curious if these are average numbers for a 6700HQ and 1060? I figured the 1060 would be better than a 780m, and the 6700hq runs .2ghz faster unless the 4700MQ is capable of boosting higher? (these were on the lowest settings btw).

Either way this laptop is far lighter, smaller, and more portable than my 17 inch Alienware, but I guess I kind of thought that it would be at least noticeably more powerful and give me the same, if not better performance in everything I do or play.

 

Interesting that razer included the same 165w adapter while other manufacturers are using 180w. Someone on the Razer forums posted his firestrike score and it's significantly lower than what I get on the gs73. GPU-z says it was throttling due to power. I'm wondering if anyone here is having the same issue.

 

There's a few people posting on the Razer forums that are getting significantly lower fps in The Witcher and Battlefield 1 compared to MSI laptops with the same exact specs, one user has both the Blade and GS63VR and says he gets almost double the FPS as the Blade in BF1. Unfortuently I do not own Witcher or BF1 so I am looking for other games I have to compare with other people.

Some people also reported getting significantly better FPS when they would remove the charger from the laptop and run it on battery (which in theory should never happen) and 1 or 2 of them posted the video of it happening in GTA V I believe and he'd be running at like 40 fps and then unplug the charger and go up to 70, plug it back in down to 40. There seems to be random weird issues people are having and that's why I am trying to get as much testing done as I can on the machine to try and figure out if mine is good and worth keeping before I lose my chance to return it.

When I get home from work today I will run Firestrike and try and get some numbers to compare to you and other people with the MSI laptops and Blades. When I felt my CS performance was low yesterday I tried unplugging my charger and I instantly dropped down to 30 fps like it was locked there and could not get above it, plugged it back in and up to 200. When I ran GTA V I unplugged my computer and again dropped from about 80 during the initial intro down to 30 and it seemed locked there as well so I don't think I am having that issue others are having. I also was getting steady clock speeds across all of my cores it looked like when running CS and what not but I want to check on that as some people reported it seemed like it was only boosting 1 core unless they tweaked something.

Maybe my initial thoughts about the laptop were a little over zealous but am I wrong for thinking a 1060 should be better than a 780m and a 6700HQ should be better than a 4700MQ and in theory both of them together should perform in everything better? I have not had a whole lot of time to sit down and test everything but tonight I'd like to get any software downloaded and set up I might need to start testing, I am downloading 3dmark and 3dmark 11 right now to run later, and can get anything else if I should.

 

If we have a power limit throttle issue could you technically use a 180w power adapter instead? I've seen it done before on other laptops.


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I'm waiting to hear if anyone tests it on the Razer forums to see if that helps at all. I also don't know where I would necessarily get a 180w adapter that will be compatabile with the blade. Does Razer make one you can purchase or would you have to find a brand like MSI and hope the tips are the same size? Might be worth asking the guy on the Razer forums with both a GS53VR and Blade if the tips are the same and if it is possible to try the MSI adapter with the Blade and rerun some of his tests.

Edit: I see on their website 165w is the biggest power supply Razer themselves offer.

 

It won't hurt as long as the voltages are the same. Unfortunately the only guy on that forum who has both machines isn't willing to try it out. He thinks it will fry the system unfortunately, which isn't realistic, but I can understand his caution. Hopefully someone tries it out though because I'd like to know if it's really the case. I'd also like to know how the thermals are affected if it is.

 

It's unfortunate the one person we know of with both systems isn't as willing to test everything as one might hope but at least we're getting some benchmarks and other information from him. I know I've used more powerful Dell and Lenovo chargers with less powerful computers before when they all shared the same tips but had 65w/95w versions of the power supplies or whatever the exact specs were and never had an issue so I can't see it frying the system but I definitely understand his concern with machines this expensive.

 

Well I know for sure that MSI and Razer use the same connector size. I used a 150w Razer adapter for my GS60 and I also used an aftermarket 150w MSI PSU for my 970m Razer Blade when I was hooking it up with the Core. The same adapter powers my GS73VR on the Razer Core and Razer is using the same exact adapter for the 1060 version as they did for the 970m. Under all that logic, they are interchangeable and you just have to make sure you have the right wattage. Really, as long as the voltages are the same and the connector fits, it should charge. It's just a matter of having enough amps to make sure all the components get sufficient power.

 

Also for what it's worth I posted on the Razer forums I ran Firestrike this morning on my machine and received a 9,229 score which is higher than some people I have seen on those forums, but still seems to be lower than the MSI I saw posted over there which was around 9,9xx. My friend had an old MSI 15 inch laptop that the motherboard fried on, I wonder if his adapter might be 185w or if it would be lower. I believe it had a GTX 765m in it. I might be able to get my hands on that at some point to try and test if no one else is able to.

 

Maybe you could ask this guy

 

Someone (Yuri? I think?) replied on the Razer forums thread that he tested a 180w adapter and did not see any difference in performance or thermals and does not think that is the issue with peoples machines, and that seemed to be everyone elses thoughts on the reasoning for differences in performance so....back to the drawing board?

 

The tips are the same but it still has to be tested to see if it makes any difference performance wise. I will check that out.

 

Is there anyway to get more than 1 year warranty in UK? This is one of the main things that is making me weary of purchasing the machine.

 

Just get a warranty from 3rd party companies; I did that and I'll be covered even on accidnetal damages for 3 years and it feels so good.

 

May i ask are you in the UK? if so where did you get your extended warranty from?

 

I've bought it from the US, from B&H photos, who offer an international extension.

There's many companies in EU who offer warranties on newly bought stuff and which you can ust buy online providing the original bill to prove the value of the item (and that it's new).

 

You main problem is that you playing on low settings. Even a weaker card than 780m could prob do equal or close to it on low. The only time the difference is going to show when you put the settings on ultra. The difference will show. But like I say. I've even seen in different game benchmarks that mid range matches or performed better than top end in lower settings. So for me It's pointless testing a game set on low settings.



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So... Anyone tried some repasting on these bad boys? I heard the temps and noise are not so good so thought a good repaste could make it into a perfect buy

 

Temps are actually better than the 970m version. I would often hit 85c on my 970m blade gpu but for the 1060 it hasn't gone over 80c.


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And the noise? Also how about cooling pads or this Opolar external fan solution? Any experience in how they fix it?

Also does anyone know the life expectancy of these things? I need a laptop that will last me a couple of years..

 

Hmm good shout.

 

Is there any way to unlock power limit or OC voltage on the blades? I don't believe afterburner works for voltage. If Razer has it locked via bios is there any way around it?


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Picked mine up today. Very nice upgrade over the 2015. Keyboard feels different, and this time I have the FHD. It looks pretty good, but I miss the touch screen. Never realized how much scrolling I did with it until now. Only issue is that I cant get above 9000 in Firestrike without overclocking. Hopefully I am just missing something.

I cant recommend buying from the Microsoft Store and getting a Complete Warranty enough. My original blade was purchased in Feb 2015, but since the LCD was having issues now, they replaced it with this one (and I could have chosen anything up to the purchase price of the original), no questions asked. Options are limited (FHD/512GB) but given the security blanket, this is great. I know people mention credit card warranties, but Amex was useless to me, and wanted me to ship it for repairs, which would have been 4-6 weeks of downtime.

Now I have to decide on keeping this or the P650RS .... Power vs. size ...

 

I had to choose power vs size on my aw15 with 4K and 1070 vs aw13 qhd and 1060. Without seeing either. I cancelled my aw15 in favour of size and not to be spoilt by its performance. But on the plus side I finally get to actually have a laptop with touch screen. But both laptops would of costed the same price.


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