Razer Blade 15.6" (GTX 1060/1070, 2018 edition) Owner's Lounge

From reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/razer/comments/8kundr/new_razer_156_inch_laptop_is_released_in_china/

 

Saw soem videos on it, the styling looks good but damn, those heatsinks are tiny for the hardware. I wonder if they can cool adequately or if it is bad again.

Also curious about the battery, hopefully for once they use a credible and decent battery pouch manufacturer.

But overall as a laptop they do look good.

 

Razer definitely wins in terms of looks, they have a version with 1060 and one with 1070 max-Q.

I'd be surprised if the 1070 version will not overheat but the 1060 one might be good (paired with 1080p screen, the 4K is overkill I think).

 

Here you go:

https://wccftech.com/new-razer-blade-15-6-gaming-laptop-launch/

 

This new cooling system looks promising compare to Dell XPS 15.

 

German review is in the works on NBC: https://www.notebookcheck.com/Hands-On-Test-Razer-Blade-15-2018-Laptop.303674.0.html

Like always razer has the best looking machines. Maybe this time they won't deliver garbage hardware. At least the cooler deson't have the grand canyon gaps this time.

 

Can’t wait to see real review on that. They changed almost all looks, including line on back lid, round edge and power bottom location.

 

Looks like only 1 M.2 slot? Am I seeing that correctly?

 

Addition of a mini-DisplayPort output will finally allow Razer notebooks to work with an external G-Sync monitor.

 

It looks like it but I can be wrong and it sucks if it does, i was hoping at least 2 M.2 NMVE slots.

 

Yep, only one.

 

I'd give up an m2 slot in exchange for adequate cooling. Space is a premium in this size laptop. I have one on order.

 

Product info is officially up on Razer's US website:

https://www.razer.com/gaming-laptops/razer-blade

 

Still no ethernet port or SD card slot. Don't like how Razer laptops are always so light on ports compared to MSI or Asus

 

https://www.anandtech.com/show/12789/razer-launches-the-razer-blade-156

Before everyone starts throwing their money at Razer, watch this video first:

 

Depending on how loud those fans are, this might pull me back into Razer land. I miss my Blade even though I do like this EVOC.

Awaiting some detailed reviews..

 

But this Linus tips video is for the current gen of 14” one. So what’s said about it should be void. At least wait for a review. And from a reveal reviewer at that. So linus tips or dave lee and someone that pays the same kind of attention.



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I have had nothing but bad experience out of 6 razers I have owned and yet I ordered one of these. Hopefully they got this one right, but I really doubt it.

 

You are a very faithful Razer fan I hope it will be good this time

 

I am just a sucker for how beautiful the outside of the blades are, same problem I have with women.

 

Difference is at least you can get a refund in the first edit 14 days if it’s not for you and 30 days if faulty.
That’s how it should be with all women too.


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While the updates/improvements are nice, call me picky but I still have 2 main issues with this re-design.

1) It appears to still be a fingerprint magnet (See Laptop.com Youtube's video review she has an imprint of her palm all over it)

2) Lack of an SD Card, I mean these are mobile systems and I'd still like to use an SD card to move data to and from other devices like Camera etc. While this might be an outdated thing in may of 2018. It really wasn't too long ago where Razer themselves were 'Mocking' Apple for their removal of the SD Card, and Razer lamenting how they have it on their Razer Blade Pro. Now when Razer designs a same sized (15 Inch System) they too have removed. I can definitely appreciate the irony here, but damnit I still want my SD Card slot. I hope I'm not the only one who wants it.

 

I disagree. Razer laptops seem to suffer from a multitude of issues from multiple generations. The Skylake and Kaby Lake models of the Razer Blade all suffer from the same problems - Razer did not bother to fix these in the refresh. The Blade seems to suffer from multiple PCB design flaws - check out this Youtube channel for more information. The channel owner is also on NBR - perhaps @pbhenry3 can confirm these design flaws?

The Razer Blade Pro also suffers from many of issues that plague the Blade, have a look at the videos below:

 

As others have said, this slams on the looks front. But with the hardware failures and shoddy design people are reporting, it looks like portability and power is still a dream for people who want to hold onto a laptop for more than a year.

I understand the appeal of thin and light, but if I were to go that route, the best way is probably with a powerful Windows desktop and an Ultrabook/Macbook for work.

 

Not true - take a look at any one of the MSI GS65, the Clevo P950ER or the Gigabyte Aero 15X. The XMG Neo 15 also worth a mention, but it only comes with a gtx 1060.

 

The reason why I’m so optimistic is because if you look at these two heatsinks. The one below is the 14. How inadequate does it look to the 15 one above. The 14 is pretty much been like that since the 700 series.
The 15 is a significant change. I can’t speak for the 17. It’s too big a notebook for me to have taken any interest in. But didn’t they have a last gen model? If that’s so then thats likely to had nothing changed internally except the gpu and cpu.
On this 15 they are actually trying to have sufficient cooling for its 6 core cpu and next generation.
Look at it kind of like a trial. Once people buy it. If they get bad temps. They’ll make some small changes to help further improve but it should be much better than the 14.

 

The Razer Blade Pro also had a vapour chamber and that machine ran very hot. I'll need to see results before I can make any sort of judgement on the performance of the cooling solution. The biggest issue is if they fix the motherboard PCB design flaws and the other problems that past Razer laptops have experienced. If Razer's track record is anything to go by, then the answer to that is probably no.

It's also worth mentioning that reviews on Youtube will tell you nothing about whether the laptop is reliable or not. Most of the issues that Razer owners encounter with their laptops tend to occur a month or two after purchase; this is not the sort of thing that will be covered in a review. It's also worth pointing out that manufacturers cherry pick the best units to send to reviewers, so the final review tends to be somewhat inaccurate.

 

The Razer Blade Pro vapor chamber barely covered the GPU, and still relied heavily on heatpipes to actually move heat around. It basically served as a GPU-->heatpipe interface. The Blade 15.6 vapor chamber replaces all of that with a massive, unitary vapor chamber.

That being said, it's still Razer. I, too, am adopting a 'wait and see' attitude. Razer has never deserved any early excitement. They have to deliver, first. Even then, I'll wait for this entire generation to be replaced by a second generation (plus a few more months). Only then, will I even consider a Razer Blade 15.6 (second gen). I've been burned already for being too excited about products that ultimately couldn't deliver. The Bushism is more correct than the original phrase in this case. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me.... well I can't get fooled again."

 

This is the first complete redesign of the Blade by a new team in Taiwan, where the previous version was designed by a tiny team in San Francisco.
However, for whatever it's worth, the Head of this new team in Taiwan was formerly the VP of Quality and Customer Service covering all previous models of the Blade: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gohcheehoe/

 

I’ve also been wanting one since 700 series I’ve always bought something else cheaper.
But in between they’ve always had heating issues. I hope it improves it. I’m not expecting liquid metal results but it does seem that that’s what everyone expects from a laptop with this profile. No thin laptop will keep the temps under 80c.
Mid 80s is acceptable to me and complete extreme loads.
My aw13 has got around 78c on firestrike. And some games mid 80s.
Looking at what everything is getting on the thin side that’s where I want to be (without any undervolting).
And anyway we need something to buy otherwise we’d up with nothing and just browsing comments for leisure lol. Non of us obviously want a desktop otherwise we wouldn’t be here.
I’ve got a choice of 8 laptops to pick from next gen. I’m looking at a 1170 hopefully full fat. The smaller the profile the better. I used to be a 13-14” man but I’ll have the msi gs65 or razer 15 ONLY because it doesn’t have a numpad. I currently own the aw15. To game on is more convenient but it’s too big generally. Largest laptop I’ve owned. Miss the feeling of my aw13 but I wanted a try the 1070 instead after having the 1060 for a year.

These are my choices for next gen:
Msi gs65
Msi gs63 (what ever it’ll be named)
Razer 14
Razer 15
Aorus x3
Aero 14
Aw14 (it’s not going to be a 13 and doubt it’ll be 12 and it’ll need to be small to fill the small screen gap but big enough to have adequate cooling for 6 core and hopefully a 1170/max q)
Aw15 (only if it’s the only one that has a 1170 and is significantly stronger than a 1170 max q unless that is better than a 1080)

The aw14 would be my first choice since their prices are better all except the msi gs63. The rest...I’ll see what happens.


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Are the heat/thermal differences severe? between a 1060 and a 1070? Or are they moderately the same?

 

@sisqo_uk

^^Yeah, the first laptop I bought was an AW M11x R2. It didn't end well, but it definitely impressed upon me a strong desire for small powerhouses (actually small, not merely thin - anyone can do thin, and indeed, everyone is doing thin).

I do agree, low temps are but a fantasy when it comes to modern notebooks.

However, when it comes to what's actually a small laptop, I have one complaint.

I wonder how misleading is the claim: "15.6 inch laptop in a 14 inch chassis." Even a truly bezel-less laptop (with the edge pixels exposed to open air) using a 15.6 inch, 16:9 display is still going to be a half inch wider than my already massive E5450. Add in reality (bezels), and the XPS15 is 1 inch wider. Wasted space from 16:9 & webcams mean we only slightly best the bezel/screen ratio of an ancient Dell C840.

Ultimately, the size increase of any 15.6" laptop rules out any 15.6" laptop for me. Ideally (for me), someone would take the internals of the Zenbook 331UN and put it in a chassis that can actually cool the CPU+GPU while retaining the (relatively) thin bezels. But that will never happen in todays world. If it did, I would guess it to be like the Thinkpad 25 - nearly a year and a half late; outdated before it even launched. The M11x was a short affair with brilliance that will never happen again. Not that I am romanticizing the M11x - it was a POS in terms of build quality and design - but I still liked the concept.

 

I wonder how those temps are going to be at full load.

 

Very nice looking ultrabook heatsink. Too bad we have to wait like a year before people will report if their batteries start exploding. Usually right after warranty expires. I'm not too hopeful on this front.

 

Some benchmarks scores is already upped, not bad.
https://www.3dmark.com/fs/15588578
https://www.3dmark.com/fs/15589419

 

So I’ve 2 years warranty, bought it 14 months ago, will this start exploding 10 to 11 months later? I’ve seen zephyrus battery exploding within a year though.

 

Have mine in hand. Shipped overnight to USA from HK.

 

From Razerstore?

I ordered on Amazon but it was "Temporarily Out Of Stock" and I'm starting to wonder if razerstore would get it to me faster.

 

For sure razerstore would be faster but I would rather wait than deal with their return process and even getting in touch with them if I am unhappy with this system.

 

That's a fair point ... peace of mind if it's a dud.

On the bright side might get some good reviews before it ships to make a better decision. Can just keep my place in the Amazon line.

 

Please don't keep us waiting, and let us know how the thermals are!

 

Here is a run of Fire Strike. This is out of the box, nothing changed about it at all.

https://ibb.co/diySWT

 

Also a few first impressions:

Build quality is of course fantastic.
Fans can get loud, but aren't really more extreme than a XPS 15 when under load.
Thermals are REALLY high, but the laptop on the top is not scorching to the touch - especially keyboard area. A bit more hot towards the screen.
Screen is FANTASTIC. Fast and bright.

 

Ouch. Thats got immediate and severe thermal throttling. Your physics score should be around 15000-16000.

Thats troubling - I've got one of these on order from HIDEvolution.

 

Here is a -.125 undervolt. I went to 150, but it wasn't stable.

https://ibb.co/mGTrQo

 

Dumb questions - 1) are you on power, not battery? 2) Is there any sort of fan profile option in Razer Synapse that is perhaps keeping the fans too low? I'm really hoping there is an explanation for this.

 

Very low physics scores

 

And profile on high performance, not balanced ... though that might make it hotter

 

I'm going to go through and update all drivers, Windows update, etc now. I was plugged in, but I wasn't set to high performance. There is a setting in Synapse for "gaming mode" that I will try as well.

 

Well it's a "lid-exhaust", so no wonder it's scorching to the touch. I wonder how much undervolting will help and after that, a repaste. The GPU is surprisingly ok?