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

Yes, I use external monitors with closed lid, and as I understand when I want to play game I have to keep it open. Thank you for respond

 

I have to say after using the 1060 with 144hz refresh rate, this laptop is superb for gaming. I love it. Only concern is the top of the key board gets super hot. The rest of the keyboard is warm to touch. I love everything about it except the price tag.

 

yes I had the 13r3 with the oled panel and this is better in every way imaginable. just dont get the 1060 maq Q version

 

that could be a pasting job even playing some of the most intense games like crisis 3, Wolfenstein 2 and 4 hours of overwatch at 120+ fps and 90+ usage my gpu is around 68-74c and my cpu is 75-80c no undervolt I repasted with icdiamond7 those temps either yours getting poor contact or you used too much compound

 

That’s what I have. What is wrong with 1060 version ?

 

Just a small note for folks who bought the extended protection plan through Microsoft (the four year warranty). I received an email today from https://www.myprotectionplan360.com which asked me to create login credentials and, once I did so, had details of my 2022 warranty for my RB15 (including my serial number). It also had the fair market value of the laptop, which was the full retail price excluding any available Microsoft discounts at purchase - which I thought was interesting. I have no idea why I got this email, but it looks like MS eventually get around to registering your warranty with their warranty/service provider.

 

4th power adapter died on me and it was horrid! Was playing a game and heard a loud POP! from the adapter and it even took out the circuit breaker. Luckily the laptop was fine but I am sick and tired of worrying about faulty power adapters. Great laptop, just the quality control is suspect.

 

Wow.. I've been through HP, Sony, ASUS, Clevo and MSI, never seen anything like this, breaking for the 4th time from the same brand. You must be really lucky or maybe the voltage isn't stable from the wall.

 

All 4 were in different rooms/scenarios.

 

I agree I have the same exact system but I undervolted mine (Thanks to the help of forum member fedd12233) and i turned off turbo on the CPU. Sometimes depending on what I'm doing I change the 144 hz refresh to 60 but my temps are great now. Mind you i only game in the after hours at the office or at home and it's always very cool around 70 degrees.

 

What, unbelievable. Are you using your own OC profile like from Afterburner? I never use gaming mode default always on 210/700 when gaming since I’ve still room on temperature doing that, I’m starting worried using that now.

 

Was not overclocked at all, just running it normally. Since its mainly my secondary device anyhow I will just snag something else cheaper.

 

I’d send it back and see nvidia news for mobile Turing laptop, if you can wait and have plan buying gaming laptops right now.

 

So this is my first RAzer laptop and I gotta say I'm quite happy that I both stayed away until now to dive in. And I definitely took quite the plunge even though i only got the 1060 version as compared to the 1070 version.

I even purchased my first razer mouse to go along with the Blade and I got the Razer Lancehead for a really good price on Amazon Return Deals, and I actually really like the mouse even more so then my g903. Primarily because it fits better on my hand and the USB dongle fits into the mouse where as it does not for the G903.

Anyways if the Wireless mouse really becomes a thing for Razer as it appears it's catching on as they have 3 wireless mice and 2 Bluetooth mice. I would like to see Razer build in the radio receivers into the laptops to work seemless with their mice. That would be pretty cooly and might encourage other users/gamers to invest into Razer Wireless Mice to go along with their Razer Laptops.

I currently own the Lancehead, Orachi, and the Logitech G903.

 

This laptop is so asthetically appealing and it’s hard for me to let go but I have no choice as I just bought the Alienware 13R3 a year ago. Performance is beyond my expectations. I have yet to play around with undervolting the unit and repasting. The temps of cpu, Gpu and pch were all much better than my Alienware after repasting and undervolting -130 to R13. In the future I will definitely be revisiting the razor 15.6 model.

 

Why do people with no intent on keeping a machine buy them so often? You end up costing companies money and its shady af.

 

Nothing is wrong with it Per Se, just thr 1060 maq Q is not powerful enough to really take advantage of the 144hz screen

 

So my wonderful razer blade still power limit throttles at 25w on Balanced mode. I suppose this could land me an RMA if I pushed, but honestly why would I bother? I have my clocks down to 3.2ghz during 6 core loads, and I like my cpu temps being 79-82c that way. Lately been using gaming mode with auto fan profiles, and I'm thrilled with my FPS this way. It also keeps the fan speeds pretty chill. Gotta say, this laptop has really been an awesome machine, I love using it and have had relatively minor issues.

 

I’m sorry! That seriously sucks. After waiting two weeks for my replacement, just so I could power on my blade 15...the new one has the loudest coil whine. You’d think after roasting them on their reddit forums for their trash customer service they would’ve sent me a working power brick

 

What about weight, tracking, and Synapse integration? (I've never owned a razer mouse). Anything else you'd comment about compared to the G903? I currently have the G903 (which is why I'm curious), and am pretty happy with it. However, I also have a G502 even though the G903 feels better from a tracking and accuracy point of view, the G502 definitely feels better in the hand.

 

And I am sure you goto church all the time.

FYI I had to return it because my son didn’t want a laptop which I was going to give him my old one. We returned it to buy him a desktop Alienware aurora.

 

G903 is a great mouse don't get me wrong and in most review they prefer the g903 over the Lancehead. But I really like the rubber sides on the Lancehead over the G903. The G903 weighs more with the weight placed in it and the G903 has the glorious button that releases the wheel for face scrolling (Unbeatable). But in general I don't find the G903 to be a great Laptop Mouse I find that it does not travel well and was never designed to be a laptop mouse. The Lancehead travels better lastly I have the Icemat or Steel Series I2 glass mouse pad. With that mousepad the Lancehead feels better. I enjoy using the synapse integration over the logitech application as well.

But agian the G903 scroll wheel release is among the greatest things ever invented.

 

So technically speaking I didn't see the point in having a 1070 that runs hotter and cuts down on the battery life of the system especially because I do in fact use my system as a laptop and I am portable with it. However I believe the context in which you speak of completely disregards the capability/possibility of eGPU's.

I intend to use an EGPU Razer Core with a RTX 2080 ti (Pre-Order already made on Nvidia's Website I get it beginning of November) with my Razer Blade 15 which should make great use of that 144 hertz screen should I need it, maybe I'll go to a 34 inch screen. Every user is different but the price difference between the two systems is between 500-600 dollars. ( I was able to secure my system for 2 grand flat)

I believe that 500-600 dollars for my purposes is better suited towards the RTX 2080 TI and a Razer Core because realistically speaking for me, I was not going to play an FPS game outside of my home and use the system as a regular laptop and didn't' see the point of getting a hotter 1070 and heavier PSU and less battery life for something I was probably never going to do. Plus with an eGPU the System is going to run alot cooler as compared to an internal 1070 running (10 Degree's Cooler as some uses on these forums have stated).

That idea seemed ALOT better than a 1070 with the 2080 RTX TI, unless you feel otherwise which I would be curious to understand why...

 

Latest BIOS (1.05) and EC update seems to limit the Balanced profile's CPU sustained load to 25W.

Can anyone else confirm this?

 

Because I dont plan to use a Egpu. If you are going to use a EGPU it makes a little more sense but you are not loosing that much battery life I get 6-7 hours of battery life with mine which is amazing considering the power. if you are going to spend $1500 on a EGPU to have more power while stationary then why spend the ??? the gtx 1060 max Q model is $2199 here then $499 for the core and $999 for the 2080ti so you want to spend $3600 for a laptop where you graphics power is at a desk when you can build a PC cheaper and buy a laptop with a full 1060 for much less?? your logic doesnt make sense

 

My logic isn't necessarily about saving money believe me I earn enough cash per year where I don't have to worry about saving money on computer things regardless I mean I'm earning well over 100k per year and I'm not even in my 30s yet. It's more about convenience plus my company pays a stipend of 2 grand for a laptop every 2 years, any more then that threshold I have to pay out of my own pocket.

So are you saying that this article written by Notebookcheck is completely off basis, wrong and false?
https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-R...onger-than-its-GTX-1070-version.315674.0.html

 

I did not update yet.. can't confirm but will inquire about this. Thank you for bringing it to our attention. I urge others to see if they can reproduce this.

 

1.05 has alot of issues according to this: https://www.reddit.com/r/razer/comments/98o7bx/razer_blade_15_bios_update_to_105_camera_and_mic/

https://www.reddit.com/r/razer/comments/97sayj/warning_blade_15_2018_bios_update_broke_some/

 

My unit's everything seems to be working just as they should, bar the 10W lower sustained load limit in Balanced profile. I suspect this is done deliberately as the laptop struggles to stay "cool & quiet" with 35W of sustained load, which they seem to be targetting for in Balanced mode.

 

That's a serious issue, one of the users has his 3000 dollar software tie to his RB15, hopefully the outcome isn't "We'll send you a refurbished Razer Blade 15". I'm sure they can fix this by releasing another BIOS that's working or allow the user to downgrade the BIOS.

 

It seems they released the BIOS again today as it appears on the support page again, maybe it includes some fixes?
But the link in the pdf doesn't work, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Core X costs $299, $499 maybe core v2. It’s great for high end gpu like the new rtx2080 ti, it officially supports also Volta. And remember that real time Ray Tracing technology on a laptop, if I don’t have 1080ti I’ll get that new RTX card. Yes it’s maybe more expensive than building a desktop, but eGPU main concern isn’t performance but setting efficiency, one system for overall usage. I play now Vampyr on 4K, such rpg games is better on higher resolution than FPS, and any laptops gpu will face issues on that area, that is advantage having eGPU on gaming laptop with good cpu, for playing 4K game. I think PS4 Pro Vampyr isn’t on 4K 60FPS, but with eGPU yes.

November...oh it’s so long. I want to see the performance on egpu, please update when you get the setting.

 

So close to buying this laptop. Sold my 7700HQ Blade a few months ago for a new ThinkPad X1. My work / game use was 70 / 30 so I decided I wanted the lightest functional laptop I could find in the X1. That didn't work out due to terrible Lenovo QC. So now I am stuck with a boring Dell 7490, which is a chunky 3.5 pounds. Only 1 pound lighter than the current 15" Blade and severely gimped in comparison.

I will use the machine for work so warranty support is crucial for me. Doesn't get any better than Dell Pro Support. However my local MS store has the Blade in stock and I'd be all over the 2 year warranty MS offers. Aero 15x is my top choice but the touchpad looks like crap compared to Synaptics in the Blade and Gigabyte support is non-existent. I do value a precision type touchpad. Anything Elan is a no-buy for me.

TLDR here is my issue: I've read conflicting reports on battery life. Is it reasonable to expect 7-8 hours of office + light web + remote desktop connection use at 50% brightness with this machine? The old 7700HQ Blade achieved this for me. I can get the education discount from MS, so the 1070/512 machine would be $2340 US, I think $2450 with MS warranty.

Speaking of price, the new Dell 7490 I ordered is $1750 shipped w/ tax and 3 year warranty. Difference of $700, Dell is very overpriced IMO. Paying for stellar warranty support, I get it...

I also know that mobile GPUs are very close to being updated which means the Blade will probably get a refresh early-mid next year. Decisions decisions...

Is there any useful info on the Razer Insider forum anymore? I occasionally check and see tons and tons of brand new accounts with useless posts like "razer has done it" or "I'm all over this, well done" or "take my money" or "looks awesome, I'm getting one!" Looks to me like Razer is creating all these bogus accounts to keep bumping the thread, which is pathetic. Much better over here at NBR.

***Edit: I done did it. Cancelled the Dell order and will go to MS store this afternoon to hopefully buy a Blade.

 

It’s a awesome laptop for sure. Only issue I see is the top of the keyboard where the exhaust chamber is located makes the laptop hot to touch. I mean very hot. Don’t know how long term effect it will have on unit. Gaming it buttery smooth with the 6 cores and qmax. Make sure to get the 144hz refresh rate. It is a perfect match

 

Your mileage may vary depending on exactly how much you push it just doing basic tasks like web searching and using word/excel at 60% brightness Bluetooth off and on the better battery option of battery settings and balanced power plan the most I was able to get was 6.5 hours I was never able to work a full shift and not need to charge. as far as the Temps. Web browsing using word and having Pandora playing in the background the system does not get hot at all, it gets lukewarm at the top because the heatsink sits there but the palm rests and keyboard are nice and cool.

Its an amazing buy and for sure the best laptop Razer has ever made IMO.

 

Well, I did not buy it. Played with one at MS store for a good 45 minutes, very solid machine and I love it. The deal breaker for me which I didn't know earlier, is that laptops with Optimus do NOT support nVidia adaptive v-sync in the NV control panel. Not talking about g-sync or adaptive refresh rate. Adaptive v-sync only works with non-Optimus systems. So basically I am limited to either 60hz or 144hz refresh rate. Not cool.

A game such as F1 2017 will run at say 90 fps on ultra settings. If I have a dedicated GPU and 165hz refresh monitor (like my desktop) I can run adaptive v-sync to cap the game at 82 fps. It is smooth as butter (I tried it when bugs caused g-sync to not work). On the Blade, I had hoped I could set adaptive v-sync to cap games at 72 fps (which is slightly noticeable in racing games vs. 60 fps / hz). I always prefer to use v-sync and have never been bothered by input lag or any latency. So basically I'd still be playing all games at 60hz refresh rate. Which defeats the purpose of this laptop - for me - too bad. Maybe the next iteration will work out for me.

 

There’s zephyrus m for you, that has g sync and full 1070. For laptop I prefer optimus, good to know that adaptiv sync things, I’ll try that on eGPU setting on 4K this time hopefully stable 60 FPS , can’t afford that 4K 144Hz With upcoming Turing gpu If couldn’t I’ll stick with 1080ti.

 

I'd be all for the Zephyrus except that it has too much gamer bling. Battery life is terrible too because as you state, there's no Optimus. I found out about the adaptive v-sync issue while I was reading about it at the store just before I handed over my credit card. If I'm wrong and someone knows a way around this where I can set the refresh rate of the Blade's screen to say 75 or 80 hz, I'm all ears.

The demo machine at the store had the LG 144hz display which looked pretty great to me.

 

Yes it’s great display despite minimum BLB. I don’t use nvidia experience, but isn’t there any setting that could limiting FPS to specific mount, not refresh rate though. Tried once on old Blade 14 with wishper mode but it wasn’t well optimized at that time, a lot stutter. Otherwise maybe by flashing and messing with bios again

 

If I remember correctly, it has been discontinued by Dell?

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

 

Having compared the RB15 and the XPS15 for a similar usage as your (or rather 90% work and 10% play) I ended up returning the RB15. Great laptop but to many compromises for the work part. That's just my opinion though.

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

 

I completely agree. I was in the same situation. RB 15 4K. There were so many issues with it

 

Someone might have noticed but there's Something wrong with this laptop's C states. The limit is locked at C2 which is a way too high limit, it should be at least C7.

This severely impacts battery life

 

In all fairness, if gaming was a higher priority for me, or rather "gaming on a laptop", the RB15 would probably have been the one to keep. Yes, they still have some way to go before they can offer the same kind of "productivity" like more work oriented laptops, but what they have manage to build with a 1070 in it is remarkable. But things like having semi backlighting for the keyboard is just silly, especially for a laptop in this price range.

 

I am in a similar position where I want a 80-20 productivity machine. Could you give a breakdown of the compromises? I know about the backlight issue but I guess for me that isn't going to really matter. How does it fair functionally differently to the XPS 15 for productivity in your experience?

Thanks

 

I would say it comes down to how much you value the "gaming aspects" like 144 hz screen (if that is what you are going for) and the GPU. Or if you are really into heavy CPU usage (but then perhaps something like Thinkpad P52 or HP Zbook G5 15) would be better choices. Or maybe if you value having a mDP port without adapters. If not, the XPS15 wins the productivity race I think, with TB3 charging, Windows Hello, a quite good keyboard (with proper backlighting), a really good FHD/4K screen with brightness etc. I have the i9 version and is actually surpised how well the XPS15 can handle it, as a software developer, I mainly use it in "burst mode", so how well it stand up in 2 hour CPU benches isnt really that important. Dell QC can be a nightmare though, but so can Razers from what I heard, even though my unit had no problems besides the ones I knew beforehand. Dells customer service, at least in Sweden, is really great also, and if you value on site service etc that might be important also.

 

Like you I am a developer (and .NET at that, so performance helps when running things like SQL Server/VS Enterprise etc).

I am guessing on the XPS 15, when you are using the dGPU, you can't charge it via USB-C (due to limit of 100w or whatever it is via USB-C for power delivery) - but I guess it would be useful to charge via the USB-C when not gaming (I currently have USB-C charging to my XPS 13 9360 via my LG 27uk850 monitor).

Windows hello is a nice touch too. You are correct about QC - and truthfully, I would get far better warranty with the Dell so it probably is the more sensible choice.

 

Never use my dGPU but Dells dockingstations can provide up to 240W, I believe they have done some trickery with the TB3 port besides standard. I have tried to force dGPU use instead of Intel just to try it out and that works without problem with just the docking station for power. That however is probably a discussion better suited for other threads than this one, like the XPS15 9570 owner thread.

Regarding RB15, note that one of the main reasons I gave up on it was the fact that none of the keys us developers need quite ofte where backlit and keyboard layout isn't standard so good luck finding that & | and { in the dark

Truth be told, the abysmal performance of Visual studio, especially for anything related to GUI, is the main reason I push for performance laptops

 

Thanks for the input. I already owned and loved the 14" Blade and know what I'm getting into with Razer, both good and ugly. It is far from perfect but it is the best jack of all trades laptop to me. Games currently in my queue are Madden 19, F1 2018, Starcraft 2, and Wolfenstein New Colossus. Not exactly a heavy gamer, haha. Maybe the XPS 15 with its 1050 Ti is an option, my local Microcenter has it in stock so we'll see. I'd be going to a 1050 Ti (max-Q?) from a 1060 so that's my problem with the XPS.

If there's a way to set refresh rate in the Blade to 70hz / 80hz / 100hz or something similar like I can do with my 165hz monitor, that will catapult it back into "buy" category for me. I read that uninstalling the graphics driver and re-installing in a way that disables Optimus can work but I have no idea how to go about doing that. If the BIOS can be modded like the 14" could maybe it is possible that way?

 

I don't know I have so many fricken laptops right now it's somewhat stupid. I have a Latitude E5570, and Razer Blade 15 and a Macbook Pro 2016. I somehow manage to use all of them for various tasks and I still really enjoy using my Blade to both work and play my games on. I don't really have any issues with the Blade and I'm quite happy that I both waited for this variation to come out (I had circled around the Blade 14 many times but walked away empty handed).

The 14 year old version of me would be thrilled that I own this many laptops, I still remember to this day how dearly I wanted a laptop when all of the other kids were clamoring about PSOne and I was just drooling over these DIGITAL (Now a Defunct Company) Laptops with Track Balls in them.