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

Since my RB came with the 256gb PM951 NVME and it is small for me for this laptop, I removed my Samsung Pro 512gb from my Vaio Z clam, and put the original SM951 256gb back in it. The Samsung 950 Pro works great in the RB, the original PM951 besides small was getting good read speeds but only 300Mbs write speeds, which slower than most Sata3 drives, like the 850evo. Now I am getting sequential 2577 read and 1515 write.

 

I really like the keyboard, especially coming from the vaio z clam, where the keys are a bit stiff.....the chroma lighting is awesome...I just don´t understand why the symbols don´t light up....I mean I can´t see the multimedia keys in the dark....guess I will just memorize them...kkk.

 

Was thinking about selling my Alienware 15 R3 and picking up one of these guys. Besides some coil whine and screen flickering on some are there any other issues to worry about? I was going to order through the Microsoft store to use my student discount and snag up the extra warranty as well.

 

I don't hear coil whine on mine. One issue is the fans stay running no matter what. Mine idles at 33c and the fans are still running. My fans arent loud at all, cool mode fans is the less noisy than the 15r3. gaming at wow temps are low 60s and all the temps are +-2c. I do notice windows 10 has a weird lag effect. When i click start it freezes for a second or so and on the battery when I try to adjust the modes.

 

The fans are definitely not silent at little to zero load though. They get even louder if you plug into an external monitor. This is not the same as the 970m 2016 model which is unfortunate as I am almost positive they have the same integrated graphics and processor thus should be silent at idle.

 

This is has to be some type of software issue. Hopefully another update comes soon.

 

Picked up one tonight, going to do some testing tonight with some games to see if it's worth keeping over my Alienware 15 R3.

 

I never had an Alienware and this is my first Razer Blade. I would say they are a different class of laptops, even if specs can be the same. The Razer Blade is a really nice laptop, even for those that don´t game....while the Alienware is obviously a laptop for gamers in terms of look. I think my fans are pretty quiet in quiet mode, when not gaming, and yes they don't actually don´t turn off but doesn´t bother me.
The main issue from what I read is if you have a problem with the machine, razer support is very weak...Microsoft store warranty will definately help with that weakspot. Also for gaming, it does run pretty cool considering the size of the machine, but for some reason the GTX1060 is gimped compared to other machines with the same specs. For me it is powerful enough and the looks and build quality are just as important. So If you don´t mind having a slightly lower performance and you use it other than gaming where the you value the looks and build...it might be worth it. Also I think it costs more at the same specs....nothing upgradable though expect for the ssd and wireless card.

 

Update on the screen flickering/flashing issue:
It turns out it's definitely a hardware or firmware issue, as I tested it on Ubuntu, and it still occurs. But I managed to temporarily fix it. For anyone that encounters this, I suggest you return it/RMA it as soon as possible, but if some reason you can't here are the steps for a temporary fix (for FHD version):

1. Right click on the desktop and enter Intel Graphics Settings
2. Press Display
3. Go to the Custom Resolutions tab
4. You will get a warning, press yes
5. Enter the following values: Width: 1920 - Height: 1078 - Refresh Rate: 60
6. Press Add to add the custom resolution
7. Switch to the new resolution from windows or from the Intel Graphics Settings
8. Your screen should no longer flicker/flash.

The issue is caused by any SSD Activity above 1%, while the two top pixel rows of the screen are white-dominant.

If anyone else encounters this, please tell me.

 

Be interested to know your thoughts also, I have an r3 AW I'm still on the fence with it.

 

Going to return it and possibly try out the Alienware 13 R3. The laptop is fantastic however it had a few things I was not a fan of:

1. Keyboard: I actually prefer the Alienware style keyboard over this chicklet style. Out of all the laptops that I have ever used a chicklet keyboard though this it the best one so far.

2. Power brick: Man that thing get's hot when gaming. Played The Division for an hour and the fans were loud as expect but the power brick was super hot.

3. Missing Ports: Missing the microphone port and network port are kind of key for me.

4. Expandability: Only having one m.2 port. If they could have squeezed 2 in that would have helped.


Overall the laptop is great and it was my first time ever trying a Razer laptop. However the minuses hurt it in the long run for me. I think I will give the AW 13R3 a try next.

 

hmmm.... thanks for this

my thinkings been over the last few weeks i need portable more than size

I'm leaning towards 14" models now the New gigabyte aero (shipped arriving tomorrow - testing this out) and I have ordered a blade

pretty much decided although not a bad device the AW15r3 is going back just too bulky for me

so the key board i think i could live with, and the power brick hmmm... not sure I'd have to see

But the headphone port?? whats the deal there it does have one right? is it just thats its a mic / headphone combo that the problem?

yeah and I'm kinda resigned to 1x m2 port now but i have a 1tb drive so can live with that

I think I will let the RB14 ship and decide which one to keep

regards the AW13 its pureley the OLED that lures me in there but i think that 13" is just too small for decent gaming still not sure 14 will be ok?

 

I also didn´t understand the comment about not having a heaphone port? Yes there is no ethernet port, but most thin laptops don´t come with it as well....but a simple USB3.0 to ethernet does the job....or a thunderbolt3 USB-C dongle...or something.
And as far as 2 m.2 ports, not that many offer that....and with the new nvme drives...they are so fast that one should be plenty. In terms of space, of course the 1tb can be expensive, but so is the laptop in that sense. The new 960 pro 1tb should be around 630 dollars and are rated at 3500Mbs read and 2100Mbs write....also great 4k speeds compared to previous generations. I have a 500gb Samsung ssd usb3.0 drive to deal with the space issue, since I have a 512gb samung 950 pro in mine. It works great...very fast...of course limited to usb3.0 speeds, but very fast nonetheless when transfering large files. Sooner or later we should be getting external enclosures for NVME via the thunderbolt 3 port.
Now, in relation to the OLED screen....no comments. Hard to beat that.

 

Forgot....the power brick...yes it gets hot....so do the other power bricks when gaming....this one probably more because it is 165 watt in a slim form factor....most other laptops with these specs come with a 180 watt with a Hugh form factor. Razer did favor slim and portable over more power....seems to me 165watt is kind of pushing it for a laptop with these specs. I was even thinking about getting a 180w adapter to take back to Brazil, but someone in the razer forum said the laptop won´t pull more power....so kind of pointless I guess getting the bigger, maybe only for the running cooler factor.

 

Do you guys rather have Dolby Audio on or off?

 

I am thinking about returning the blade, the fans arent that loud but they do have a higher pitch to them and it bothers me a lot, and they stay running 24/7 even on idle. They dont go up much in rpm when i game. Its quiet mode also. I called razer and they said reset bios if it doesnt work send it in for rma....

 

I turned mine off to get slight extra loudness from the speakers... although the speakers on the 970m model are still louder which bother me.

 

I was wondering about that as well....I was going to uninstall it....but first I will try it out more and see if it useful at all.

 

Question for the board. I'm new to Razer and just picked up the 2016 Blade with the 1060 chip from the Microsoft store. One thing I noticed is the fans run pretty much all the time, at what seems like a high RPM, even under no load. They are annoying enough that people at work have commented they can hear them. I saw some Reddit and other threads that others are having this issue. My question is, is this something that can be fixed via software update from Razer? Does it only affect certain blades? My MS Store has more in stock so I can do an exchange, but I don't want to go through the hassle if all Blades have this problem.

Thanks!

 

Yep and apparently its not going to get fixed they wanted it that way to keep everything cool. I will return mine as soon as the alienware 13 comes in. Try a demanding game like witcher 3 and listen to how loud it gets. It sounds as if it is about to explode.

 

If you set it to quiet mode in synapse instead of cool which it is set to be default, it makes a significant difference on the fans during idle but no matter what the fans will be spinning all the time and during idle and will make some noise.

 

-deleted-

 

I just installed the OEM version of the Samsung 960 pro 1Tb, the SM961. This is the CrystalDiskMark for it...compared with the 256gb PM951 that came with the machine, this new drive is a monster....of course hard to feel any real world difference when all these ssd´s are already really fast.

 

I have a PM961 OEM with almost identical speeds to this. true the new samsungs are all very fast it would seem, but i certainly didn't expect it to be this close to the pro.

 

Are your drivers up to date?

 

The actual consumer version 960 pro should get better numbers than the SM961 I got, with sequential writes above 2000Mbs....but, yes, indeed Samsung did a great job with the PM951 and the consumer Evo versions, considering the price difference, there is very little performance loss.

 

I just received my 960 EVO 1TB. It is significantly faster without the Samsung NVMe 2.0 driver (2700 vs. 1700 on SEQ Q32 reads). Anyone else experience this?

 

Why oh why can't I set the track pad to disable when there's a mouse plugged in...

 

Hey guys,

I am considering this machine for work. The 1060GPU (or even the 970m prev gen GPU) are the main attractive points.

It's either this, or wait until a refresh of the XPS 15 with a, rumours say, 1050 in it. That being said, since Resolve loves GPU RAM, I fear that the XPS 15 will refresh with a lowered power GPU than the RB.

I am leaving Adobe software to use Resolve for video. Resolve is very GPU intensive. I currently have a dual xeon w quadro 6000 (first gen) 6GB card and 48GB RAM tower. Since I take my work with me and sometimes have to do some work in the field, this is one of the few machines I can say I will be willing to carry and think of it as being able to handle the work I do, albeit I do not expect it to be like my tower.

Portability, build quality and power make this and the XPS 15 take the top of my wishlist. I wouldn't carry anything larger than an XPS 15 9550 so other gaming laptops have been disqualified for that reason (as have been Thinkpads with similar GPU specs as the XPS 15)

My question for those who own the machine:

Would this laptop be alright for exports requiring the use of GPU+CPU? (my longest export from the dual xeon is around 4hours - with the 6700HQ I imagine it would be about 6hrs) I work in long form films that, although do not use a lot of effects, there is a lot of rendering involved.

I have read mixed reports on the contrast ratio of the QHD+ panel. Mobiletechreview says 300:1 while others say a better than 1000:1 ratio.

Also, I have seen the video of the guy showing the QHD+ vs FHD screen Premiere Pro 4K video preview. If anyone is going by that, know that the guy is not working properly with the program (hence the stuttered playback with the QHD+ display) so I know I can work with videos on the QHD+ panel. What is important for me besides colour accuracy (which no one disputes once you calibrate the display and has good sRGB coverage) is the ability to populate the screen's real estate with tools and maximise the viewing size of the project...this is why I liked working on Capture One Pro and the Thinkpad X1 Carbon with the 2560x1440 panel.

My main concern is not so much noise, but rather long term performance and durability. Heat appears to be within the electronics' specs but I understand why people want to run cooler. I do not do any intensive work with laptops on my lap, or bed. I always sit them on a desk so I imagine I should be OK with temps.

Also, has anyone tested whether the laptop can output 10bit colour through either the USB-C to DPort adapter or through the HDMI output?

If anyone is using Premiere Pro, I'd like to hear their experiences. I understand PPro is a more common program to use by people so I can also understand performance from that point of view.

Many thanks!

 

@Hexagonal

I can't speak about the Razer Blade as I do not own one, but if you are looking for portability in the field with the horsepower of the GTX 1060, you should know there are other alternatives as well: Gigabyte Aero 14, MSI GS43VR both come in under your XPS 15 size limit, and both contain the 1060 GPU.

The XPS 15 refresh is definitely getting a 1050 with 4GB of VRAM as that was on the "leaked" product page that Dell put up just after Christmas sales had ended, and it is unquestionably a weaker GPU than the 1060.

 

@CedricFP

Thanks for the swift response.

I had a look at the MSI and Gigabyte. I also had a look at the Aeorus (SP?) with 1060. They tick the size boxes but unfortunately, the looks department is very gamer orientated. As silly as it sounds, and I know it does but it is true, looks do matter when working with clients. Thinkpads and Dells are very good in this matter. Razer is technically a blacked out MBP but with more horsepower under the hood, so that is acceptable (I would get a skin to cover the bright green logo and just black it out completely)

Hence, either Razer or Dell...unless Lenovo plans to launch something similar, albeit their chance was with the T470 but blew it with the choice of 940MX.

 

The Gigabyte Aero 14 is another model to consider if you are going for the nondescript look. 14" QHD/GTX 1060.

That said, having reviewed the Razer Blade 14 in the past, I agree it's passable in a professional environment. It would be nice if there was a way to turn off the Razer logo's backlighting in the lid, but there's not.

Charles

 

Sorry for going directly away from your hypotesis:

Get a Dell Precision 5510; it's got Xeon processor (Xeon E3-1505M v5 or, either, a i7 6820HQ), support for ECC RAM up to 32 GB, quadro support (Quadro M1000M iirc), 100% aRGB 4k borderless (XPS 15 one) display, either double drive (they offer up to 1tb pci-e drive and a sata slot) or 84Wh battery.

Said product is dealbreaking for people like you, a friend of mine's bought the overlyspec'd one around 10 months ago and he couldn't be happier.

His device also fell off his car during a trip in Africa (50-70 kmh off road) and got really little damage wearing Dell cover, which shows how impressive the build quality is.

http://www.dell.com/en/aziende/p/precision-m5510-workstation/pd link might be in italian, even using a VPN I can't easily reach the end website, so sorry for that; note that customization can almost 3x the price.

 

@Charles P. Jefferies

Had a look at the Aero as well. Nice...but still not as nice.

@Makyura

Thanks for the suggestion, but Quadro is not for me. I already have 2 Quadro computers and I know that Quadro offers nothing for video editing that GTX can't. 32bit calc programs like Resolve or Premiere do not benefit from the 64bit calc habilities of Quadro.

Also, the Xeon processors is nice, but 32GB RAM is also supported in the i7 6th gen mobile CPUs, so that extra price gets you nothing more unless you are using programs that benefit from the Xeon architecture. Reason why my D20 is dual Xeon has more to do with me buying a cheaper machine second hand with great calculating power because of the dual processors rather than seeking the Xeons for themselves.

Where Quadro works best, besides CAD/CAM programs, is also the ability to run uninterrupted at load for hours, maybe days, without taxing it's performance or risking its reliability and you need ECC and the software drivers optimised for programs that will run these cards for their real intended use. No program I use can use Quadro for what Quadro is meant for, so I rather gain a bit extra speed with GTX because the GTX card will not need to calculate anything to the 100nth accuracy like the Quadro has to.

Italian pricing of the Dell machines is very high. Best for you to try and import it from the UK.

Last but not least: Dell is built well, just like Thinkpads are. I know this, I tested an M3800 when they managed to fix the coil whine issue and it's a well made machine. However, where Dell and Razer "show" quality with rigidity of the chasis/case, Thinkpads are focused on flexibility. Different approaches to reach the same objectives. EDIT: Also, XPS and 5510 share the same case, so build quality is same, just like T550s and W550s/P50s for Lenovo.

 

Yup, I know, we (me and my friend) are aerospace engineers so it works well with our tasks (mainly CAE); I had no idea about the time your tasks take nor I knew, to be honest, the requirements for your kind of work but as I read Xeon I thought it had a meaning for you.

Yup, Italian prices are high and UK market is getting better and better for us, I've recently made all of my virtual good purchases through UK shop as the currency conversion is pretty much in our favour, he's bought it 10 months ago as I said, tho.

Yup, they are, altho I don't know about the display as I've read good things about XPS ones, but my friend's Precision scores 97-100% in aRGB, NTSC and sRGB (I don't care much about those numbers, so I'm not 100% sure what they are about, just sayin').

 

@Makyura

I see! Yes, the dual Xeon was for me to be able to export with Premiere Pro faster. At export, PPro (at least CS6 version) uses CPU almost exclusively. My system is running old-ish X5672 Xeons with the max allowed of 48ram. My W530 is running with a standard i7 32GB and Quadro K2000m. The thing with workstation laptop specs is that, up until not long ago, they were the only laptops (Dell and Lenovo) that had beefier GPUs without looking like a gaming spaceship and had good screens (original Razer had a low res screen)

Dell's sourcing of panels is really good. I gotta say, they are definitely aiming at the Macbook Pro creatives that Apple is letting down. AdobeRGB is a colour spacce that is larger than sRGB, which is the colour space used for the absolute majority of web display purposes. There are none aRGB working sites as far as I know used for practical video or photo display. AdobeRGB is the colour space that most digital still cameras able to shoot RAW can work with. It is a larger space, allowing the creative to have more colours to swing around compared the sRGB. aRGB is also used in the C-Type and other advanced photo printing processes as a way of delivering the absolute best possible picture quality in print. So, coverage of aRGB is great, albeit sRGB is, really, more than enough for 99% of users.

 

For owners of this system (FHD or QHD+,) is it possible to restrict the GPU performance using a custom TDP or thermal limit like how you can on desktop nVidia cards using a third-party utility? I'd be looking to pick up one of these systems, but in the interest of controlling heat and maximizing battery life under load, I'd want to tweak the GTX 1060 down a little bit (in addition to disabling turbo on the CPU by setting the CPU max performance state to 98% in the Windows power options.)

 

A frame limiter would do the trick for reducing GPU load. VSync also works on non-twitchy titles.

For example I use vsync on Dragon Age: Inquisition to cap at 60fps @ 1080p and my GPU load on a desktop GTX 1080 is typically low and temps rarely get above 50c. When I uncap or disable vsync, temps will raise to 84c as the GPU tries to push as many frames as possible.

 

Just wondering anyone have cpu coil whine issue? is it normal?

 

Yes I have it and yes it's normal

 

I been checking on other forums , I've set the power option setting > Processor power management > Maximum processor state to 75-80% did reduce the noise. I prefer NBA forum sometimes, Razer forum keep closed the topic & blah blah blah this is not support page etc....

 

Hello everyone,

Just a quick heads up as an update. First of, thank you for your help. I have read a lot...a lot...in the past few days about the Blade 1060 and I have come to the conclusion that while some may have flawless machines or may not experience any issues, the buying experience appears to be a gamble. $2K is a lot to gamle.

It's a shame no other company has tried to build a machine with the same specs as the Razer Blade in such a sleek package. That's really the only reason people gravitate towards this brand: performance per cubic mm in a sleek understated package.

In the end, though, I have come to the conclusion that it would be best for me to go with an XPS 15 with 1050 when it comes out. No, it won't have the performance of the 1060 Blade, but it will def be better supported. A machine that can deliver a solid, albeit slower or laggier workflow, is better than a speedier unreliable machine. It would be nice if Razer could build a better support structure.

From what I read, it isn't the customer service that is terrible, but the policies those CS employees need to adhere to. It isn't as if the person is not helpful, because from what I read at Amazon, Reddit or even Razer's own forum says otherwise. I think that the structure to deal with issues relating to hardware failure are sub par. Dell support is not the best, I know, but it appears to be miles ahead from Razer's. Global warranty, to begin with, should be a standard these days on laptops that are in the premium category. Lenovo, Dell, Apple and I believe HP also offer this.

While the build quality appears to be very, very high, the QC and QA appear to be very, very poor. I am sure that only reviewers get the best machines and the rest of the consumers get whatever may come from the assembly line. Razer got a lot of things right, though, and I will still be looking at their performance in the years to come. Hope they can turn their woes around.

All the best to the owners of the Blade and thanks again for the help.

 

@Hexagonal I'd like to also point out the noise - while I know a small laptop with this kind of hardware is usually loud, I'd say 50-60dB is simply too loud to be acceptable. Putting a 1060 in a 17mm 14' device is just asking for trouble. Even the GS63VR, a larger machine, has issues cooling itself without sounding like a jet turbine.

 

Hey guys I need help with something.

Sometimes my Razer Blade turns itself on while the lid is closed. I always ensure it's on sleep before I put in my bag, but sometimes I pull it out just to find extremely hot to the touch because it was on all the time. Any ideas why this happen?

I use a wireless mouse, and I keep the receiver in my laptop all the time. Might that be the problem?

 

That is almost certainly the problem, but either way, it's easy to test.

@Hexagonal thanks for your thoughts, I'm pretty much leaning the way you are.

 

No worries, Cedric. I've now settled on that thought pretty well. Had a really long read and watch plenty of videos on this machine and the previous gen and I feel I've come to a sensible decision. That's the real thought of it: sensibility. RB or RBP appear to have become too much of a gamble and gambling real money isn't sensible and I don't have $2.3k+ to gamble. The HIDevolution version with a 2 year global warranty is north of $3K so, at that price point, a well loaded, new Dell 9560 when it comes out seems way more sensible with a similar warranty and a more respectable support. Since Dell has yet to announce that machine, I'm also hoping Lenovo could also come out with a compact and mean specced machine to counter Dell's offering. If they do and the specs are same or better, I'm heading that way. Their support has been stellar to me the very rare times I've had to use it and the lenovo forum is super helpful for technical help.

 

I agree that gambling with real money is hardly a sensible idea, and it's the main reason why I've turned off Razer at the moment. While it's more likely than not I'll receive a totally fine unit, I just cannot bring myself to throw down 2k of money to risk Razer's customer support. Hearing that turn-around time is 2 months at least on a brand new device... well, no thank you, this is replacing my main work computer which has a faulty charging port.

I am a little concerned about the Dell XPs15's lack of horsepower, as the recent leaks about 1050 mobile performance are underwhelming. One can only hope the Dell carries a 1050ti instead of a normal 1050, given it's 4GB stated config.

Otherwise the all-black Gigabyte Aero 14 is an option for me, too, despite the high-pitched fan profile. It's understated enough for the environment I work in but it may not be suitable for everybody.

 

If you're doing color work, I would look at the Alienware 13R3 with the OLED display. It has a GTX 1060 GPU and it has a OLED display with a resolution at 1440p.

 

In hindsight I maybe wish I waited a little longer. The AW13 was still too small of a screen for me as much as I want that OLED. The Aero 14 looks pretty nice and in black I might have gotten that for work + personal use outside but I don't like that it has usb-c and not TB3. That XPS 15 looks like an amazing laptop and I kind of wished I waited for the refresh of it. A 1050 may be a performance decrease over a 1060 but I feel like the 1050 would handle everything perfectly that I want to play on a mobile laptop. CS:GO is my main game I play and more of a CPU hog anyway so I don't think a 1060 vs 1050 would make any difference there especially if the 15 has a better cpu in it and everything else should run fine even if you have to turn some settings down. Oh well. I still like and am happy with my laptop but I despise Razer as a company and their lack of support and service and wish I had more/better options and hadn't been forced to go this route for a very slim lightweight gaming laptop.

 

The XPS 15 had many issues when launched that took awhile to sort out. One that hasn´t been sorted is that they advertise thunderboldt 40Gbps when it is in fact limited to half that. Hopefully they will fix that with the refresh. I think comparing the Razer Blade with other gaming laptops, such as from MSI,Alienware, Asus, etc....is fair game. Comparing it to the XPS 15 with the GTX 1050 not so much, sure it it will have Kaby Lake, but a refresh of CPU and GPU are always around the corner, plus the laptop hasn´t even been released yet.
Yes the Razer support is lacking, but it has been so for a long time. I took the jump towards the Razer Blade because of the different build and looks than the competition like MSI, Alienware and Asus. I knew about the issues with support, but took the risk nonetheless...not that I had great experiences with MSI and Asus support in the past. Eventhough the GTX 1060 performs lower than in other brands, I am quite happy with my purchase with firestrike scores in the 9300 range...that is if I don´t need to deal with support in the future. So far so good. I was interest in the Aero 14, especially because of the large battery, but when I was in the US in november it wasn´t yet available it got scratched from my list of possible purchases....also I prefer full hd screens for gaming laptops at the moment..