Razer Blade 14 - Not worth the Trade up

I am prepared to give Razer the benefit of the doubt on upgrading at least the Razer 2013 with the second msata port. The second msata port was clearly therefore a 'user upgrade' - they even included the screw for the msata SSD. Even the 512GB model was 1 msata slot when they could have easily done 2 x 256GB. And the slot is there and available with easy access.

As for the warrantee, I just think it is bound to be that way. If you screw up the computer upgrading it in any shape or form, then Razer doesnt want to be responsible for the cost of repair.

I am still confused about the m2sata slot. Several people have said 'it is the future' but to the extent m2 is the future surely it is likely to be m2pcie which seems to give a x2 performance over m2sata?

 

I was under the impression that m.2 provides PCIe: " The M.2 specification provides four PCI Express lanes and oneSATA3.06Gbit/s port, exposed through the same connector, allowing use of both PCI Express and SATA storage devices in form of M.2 cards. Exposed PCI Express lanes are providing a pure PCI Express connection to the storage device, without any additional layers of abstraction." -Wikipedia

Also, I'm a little confused at all the comments that it will just save space. I'm pretty sure m.2 allows for much higher read/write speeds than the mSata socket. For example: http://www.thessdreview.com/daily-n...5gbs-speeds-higher-ces-las-vegas-2014-update/

1.45GB/s is pretty ridiculously fast.

While the Razer Blade (2014) may only come with a sata m.2 card, I'd imagine that it would be possible to upgrade it to a m2PCIe, which is what I'm sure I'll do at some point if there is no second slot.

 

Am really considering making the jump from my NP9390 to this new Blade as I'm traveling a lot nowadays. Apart from the step down in performance, my main concerns lie in the following:

1) How well (or badly) will the laptop handle cooling the 870m? Having experienced the heat a Kepler chip can put out (680m, 780m), I just can't see something this thin being able to dissipate enough heat.

2) How is this thing going to run on a 150w adapter when laptops with similar specs struggle on a 180w supply?

3) Can the SSD actually be upgraded by the end user? There's just no way in holy h3ll I'm paying $700 a premium for a 512GB drive. If I wanted to do that, I'd buy a Mac.

I guess most of these questions are still up in the air, but thought I'd add my voice to the mix.

 

I have been deciding between keeping my 2013 or trading up to a 2014. Overall I am very happy with the 2013 and the screen (to me) is not as bad as I was expecting. I don't do any photo or image editing so my demands are not as great as many. The 765M is perfectly capable and will continue to be very capable for a few more years for reasonable gaming performance at 1600x900. Given that I paid $2500 (with tax) for my 512GB model last year I figure if I am lucky I will get $1300-1500 for it now. So trading up to the 2014 Blade will probably cost me ~$1200-1500 for the 512GB with tax. This is about half the cost again of the laptop. With this in mind I think I am better off keeping the 2013 and just trading up later.

On a side note I have a friend who purchased a new in sealed box 2013 Blade who wants to trade up. If anyone is looking for a new 2013 512GB model at a discount compared to the razer store price I can pass a message along.

 

I'm not getting the newer model again after I found out my exact needs in a laptop to be productive. I hate the fact that it doesn't have number pad, no dedicated button to quickly disable the touch pad when using a gaming mouse. I'll go back to a higher inch laptop. To be honest, I like the look of razer blades but the price is just asking to be punched in the face.

Mine had a squeaky noise in the GPU's fan when the GPU fires up, after 2 months of use. I'm not sure if that's "quality" enough for $2500+ it asks.

 

Normally I'd agree except for the fact that other laptops that even come close to the Razer Blade (2014) as far as specs in a similar portable form factor will be relatively close in price as well. There is no way the ghost pro will not also be in the $1800+ price range. Similarly in this form factor I don't think you'd ever find a laptop keyboard with number pad either. Obviously that's a tradeoff that you desire for productivity though, so its definitely worth it in your case.

Was the fan squeaky when you bought the laptop? I'm pretty sure that such a defect would be under warranty and fixable by Razer. Though I could be wrong.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

Send it in for repairs. Razer's RMA process is pretty quick. The standard 1yr warranty covers defects like that.

 

I didn't have the squeaky fan noise when I had my 2013 256gb Razer 14 back in September but it did have that annoying high pitch buzzing/humming noise close or almost smilar to a coil whine that is probably coming from the cpu or gpu or the motherboard or could be anything in there.

 

I think that the Ghost pro will be 2000-2100 price range

 

Ghost Pro is $1800.

-Same CPU, GPU
-Much more storage
-More RAM
-Moderately lighter weight
-Inferior screen (although you can upgrade to a 95% NTSC)
-Less-attractive, IMO
-$400 cheaper than the base Blade

I would say the Ghost Pro is a contendor, but for one major default: an anemic 120w power adapter. Heck, we're worried about the 150w adapter. How on earth is 120w going to be enough to power an 870m and i7-4700? And I'd they are going to "boost"\sap from the battery, that's absurd.

 

@harmattan go to gentechpc and configure a ghost pro with the closest hardware possible (4700 cpu instead of 4702, nom touch weird res 3k display, 260 ssd, 8gb ram) and you will find out it costs 2200 dollars, so 200 difference from the blade 256gb.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

GhostPro with 3k display, GTX 870m, 128GB SSD, 1TB HDD, 4700HQ CPU, 16GB RAM, costs $1999 from what I'm looking at, which is $200 cheaper than the 128GB Razer option, but you also get the 2.5" drive bay for storage.

Also, if you don't care for the 3K display, knock another $200 off the cost for the 1080p. In any case you get 8GB more RAM, 1TB hard drive (or other 2.5" drive option), for less than the base Razer. If you really want to save a few bucks, then 860m version will cost $1700, and imho the 860m is better suited for this thin form factor. Granted you get a slightly smaller system with the Razer and a little higher 3K resolution screen and touch, if that's what you need/want.

But I digress. They both are interesting products.

 

It comes with the Maxwell 860m though which should have significantly less draw then the 870m right?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

The Ghost Pro has an 870m; the regular Ghost has an 860m. And as HT pointed out, the 3k version starts at $2000. Will be interested to see how MSI's 3k screen compares to the Blade's...

Still stupefied as to how the 870m version is running on a 120w adapter

 

Indeed. Both are awesome. The major difference I see is MSI is much more customizable than Razer, and Razer charges a bit more due to it's premium marketing position.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

I could have swore that he adapter was 150w, and I thought I read it was underrated (meaning it can supply even more continuous power). So I was thinking 150w+ adapter may barely be under especially if they lower the clocks on the 870m a little.

 

Both GenTech and Xotic have the adapter listed as 120w on the Ghost Pro. But yea, a lot of these adapters can run a good deal higher than spec (although I'm not sure that's a good thing...)

Blade comes with a 150w.

 

It uses Kepler GPU's and it's 100% confirmed by resellers and the people that bought the Ghost, but yes even the Kepler 860M uses less power then the Kepler 870M.Wish it did use Maxwell.
But from what I've read the dual cooling fans keep the temps very low for a thin laptop.

 

Doh! Ignore my comment then, I didn't follow the conversation properly. I thought the comment was about the Razer supply.

 

Just a quick question, why on earth is there no easy "click here to cancel order" option anywhere on the razer site? I have to contact their customer support just to cancel a preorder?

I think they need to fix their site to be more user friendly.

 

Call or email them. No need to give reason, just say you want to cancel your order.

 

The GS60's come with a 150w adapter... it's 19.5V @ 7.7A. I was impressed with how slim it was compared to my previous bricks.

Still very curious how the Razer deals with the heat... the Ghost Pro is too hot for my tastes so I stuck with the 860m.

 

Ah, thanks for the info. All the resellers list the supply as 120w and I was raking my brain as to how that was possible. Are you enjoying that Ghost, BTW?

Agreed that initial reports on the Ghost with 870m show it running too hot for comfort. I expect the Blade will unsurprisingly run too hot for my taste as well. Looks like I'm back to an np8368 or g750 this round: the 860m come as close as we've ever been before in a compact form factor, but it just isnt powerful enough to play at highest settings at 1080p for many games. Maybe 870mx will get us there...

 

What we really need is a 192-bit version of the 860m. Make it an 865m. Similar clocks and all, just bump the memory bus to 192-bit. That will help open up the performance at 1080p. You really need a 384-bit bus to play natively at 3200x1800 or higher. Although at 1600x900 it should look great and perform great with 870m.

 

I want something with legs enough to play all games at 1080p at highest settings now and going forward this year: even 860m with a 192-bit bus would still likely struggle in some games now, and certainly will struggle with some titles coming out later this year. Maxwell with around 800 shaders and 192-bit bus would probably do the trick (i.e. 870mx) 870m would do this, but I was really looking to marry performance with a smaller/thinner form factor in this round for me. I'm currently without a laptop (sold my np9390 as it was just sitting unused since I'm traveling) and need something toute suite!

 

Question about GW2. I was just trying to play it on my new Razer 14 and I was only getting about 20 fps on low settings in the middle of nowhere. It was really strange. I updated all my drivers today and still, plays awful. Yet I am able to pull a pretty consistent 50+fps on high/ultra settings in BF4. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Make sure it is using the discrete GPU.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

I was wondering about that, is there a setting to check that somewhere that I am missing?

I checked the nvidia control panel and it the nvidia gpu was chosen, but still getting really low fps.

 

Hmm... Alt tab during game and check to see if the discrete GPU is active. Nvidia control panel/desktop/display discrete GPU activity in notification area will enable a systray icon that tells you. Also, check your frequencies to see if it's throttling.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

Doesn't appear to be throttling. It is just bizarre because my fps in both GW2 and BF4 are so inconsistent. I am now jumping anywhere between 25f-50fps on high settings with AA in GW2 and I also have serious jumps in bf4. anywhere between 30-80fps in quick succession. From what I have read on the forum, those are some pretty low and odd numbers. Think it's possible I have an issue with this unit?

 

Possibly. How much AA and what resolution are you using? One thing I've noticed is that you can't run full tes and AA without running out of vram in a lot of games. Perhaps if you're at the edge of running out of vram that's causing the fluctuations.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

I am not running any AA on either game and only playing at 1080p. I was just doing team death match on high in BF and was mostly hanging around 50fps. I am tempted to just call MS and have them swap it out for another one. Seems really odd on a new system like this.

 

Try calling Razer Support first - given the fact that this laptop is somewhat gaming - focused, they are more likely to have ideas than your average laptop customer support.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

I think I will call them. I just checked out Kombuster and did the stress test at 1080 and the temps are at 88c after about 20 minutes and it is throttling about -544mhz. Or do you think that us normal? I was under the impression it didn't start throttling until around 94c.

 

Good luck!

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

Running Kombustor for 20 minutes is an extreme edge case.

 

That's true, I was just trying to see what might be causing my frames issue. But I messed with the voltage yesterday based on some other feedback on the forum and my framerates are much more stable and enjoyable. So I may be in the clear.

 

Yeah. I'm still surprised your performance is so mediocre in GW2. Perhaps it's a software issue.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

It's actually quite a bit better after I under volted the CPU, I don't really understand it, but I am now mostly between 55-85fps on high settings in GW2.