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

Like I said, it is likely to depend on the game. I don't play those games and they may not be impacted greatly by I/O throughput like the games I play.

Again comparing Stealth vs Blade 15 isn't really relevant as this is an issue that affects desktop systems, which are far more powerful than these two machines. All it tells me is the games aren't that greatly affected by HDD vs SSD.

 

Just tested loading time from save file 2,5 hdd and internal 970 evo, two different games but same franchise Assassin Creed Origins and Odyssey on Blade 15, it’s both almost around 30 seconds similar on this game. On stealth I can make a cup of coffee until the save file loaded Yes right, it’s unfair comparing with stealth a lot weaker like dual cores cpu. I don’t have desktop to test though, but it’s known as cpu killer game. On Vampyr which isn’t so demanding I can play on that dual core stealth 4K high and pretty fast loaded from hdd plugged on core, maybe the texture is easier to render (mostly, night and dark scenes) or it’s well optimized, idk exactly though.

 

On some games, like Path Of Exile, with an HDD, they were waiting minutes, just to load an area. On an SSD, it never takes 10 seconds (usually 1-3 seconds), let alone minutes! And this is on i7-8700k+ machines. That is one example, but other games also suffer so badly on HDD that an SSD is almost a requirement for the game.

 

So anyone with the Razer core. Does that allow the CPU to run full power no power or thermal throttling since it wont be sharing power and cooling with the gpu?

 

Guys, just a head up, Steam have a 3DMark sale on. 75% off.
For people who have 3DMark but bought some time back the option for 3DMark Time Spy upgrade is also 75% off.
For me £1.74 rather than £6.99

 

Just tried the game, installed on steam folder external hdd for testing loading didn’t take 10 seconds.

No cpu still has power limit throttle, this isn’t thermal related things, I believe it’s ec firmware or other things that they set inside bios setting or something like that. Actually using egpu will push more cpu usage on ultrabook but on gaming laptop cpu that is being used to work with dGPU, I think by changing it to TB3 PCIe3 port with lower bandwidth made the cpu works is cooler, of course that TB3 bandwidth as trade off of full gpu performance. On Alienware Graphics Amplifier which isn’t TB3 connection but more to PCIe desktop connection I saw similar 8750H cpu with lower Firestrike physical score which I assumed thermal throttling, but graphics was way better than mine due better gpu connection though.

 

When you say loading, I hope you don’t mean game start up?

You’ll have to play the game a lot more to get to the areas which basically are unplayable for a HDD user who wants to move areas rapidly and multiple timed within a minute. YouTube/Reddit examples if you wish.

 

Hey guys, I've got a question that I cant find an answer to anywhere else. Is there a way to have the screen refresh rate change from 144hz to 60hz automatically when on battery? And vice versa. It's just annoying to have to change it manually every time in Synapse

 

Yes i don’t play mmo actually, an hour playing it made my hand hurts Only curious of the loading time.

 

not that I have found. it has to be toggled in Synapse. Using throttlestop, you can have CPU related activities have different settings when on battery/AC.

I would love a small configuration program, that showed in the taskbar or tray that displayed the screen refresh, and when you click on it, have it toggle to the other speed.

 

Oh haha, I don’t think starting times matter as all it is loading is a menu and initialisation some stuff. It’s in game loading performance I was taking about, loading game assets etc between areas, stages, maps and so fourth. That is where SSD makes huuuuuge difference.

 

A little bummed the "base model" doesn't have a 1070/vapor chamber option! Would love an ethernet port the thickness seems negligible, and per-key Chroma lighting is more or less unnecessary for me. But I don't want to have to settle for the 1060... Ah well.

Sorry, but it's truly not as simple as you're making it out to be. It's not enough for the LEDs to be bright, you have to distribute the light across the face of the key evenly. It's absolutely not "a design choice they made for some reason", and the secondary lighting on the base model Razer Blade 15s that got announced last night with the single-zone Chroma demonstrates this. They're not restricting secondary lighting to the cheapest models "just because", the cheaper model has a different implementation of Chroma that is already using fewer LEDs and a distribution mechanism to keep that light even.

 

Love the design of the new Blade 15, but I wish they offered an option with the i5-8300h.

From what I've seen from various reviews of the 15" thin gaming laptops, none of them can properly cool the 8750h so the noise readings went up to 50 dBA in games.

I'd rather have a quad CPU and a stronger GPU with less noise (or at least not thermally throttled GPU at above 70 degrees C like the notebookcheck review of the Blade 15 seems to indicate).

 

On the fence on buying the 1060 model, but now they announced the "base model" version of the RB 15 with 2,5" drive slot and a LAN port. You don't get the 144hz screen option and the cooling is a heat pipe version instead of the vapor chamber.

Sounds interesting, a budget model that seems like a better deal with the 1699$ price tag, Razer seems to be stepping it up with catering to wider audience this time around.

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

 

What sounds more interesting is the Mercury White Razer Blade I'll be picking one up for Christmas or Thanksgiving.

 

Damn, do you have money three When I’m not wrong you gave also the Blade 15 1070 to your relatives or brother before?

It’s not thermal throttle, power limit throttle, seems set somehow on ec firmware, it throttle even on low 60ish when I’m not wrong when I tested it, so no thermal related things. Having 8300H isn’t an upgrade for users who had 7700HQ before. 8750H temperature is similar with 7700HQ as long you don’t OC the gpu (gaming mode) on demanding games.

I think if I play soccer which I do every week with my hand I can play mmo game Our conversation is out of track, we were talking about HDD on Blade 15 base right So maybe if users don’t play path of exile like you, it won’t be a matter having games installed on its HDD, and it’s not usb 3.1 speed I believe on MoBo, so for my games like FFXV, SoTR, Assassin Creed franchise that took like around 50gb or more it should be also fine putting it on HDD, btw I completed AC Origins with its all DLC Loading time is similar under 30 seconds.

 

https://www.ultragamerz.com/new-leaks-nvidia-rtx-gpus-now-on-laptops/
Anyone think Razer will release soon after this "rumored timeline"

 

I heard that rumor, but usually nvidia release first mid range gpu before mobile gpu, and even now at this point not all high end rtx out and 2080ti has stock issues. So maybe Turing mobile will take sometimes. Ray Tracing core seems draw more power so there’s also rumor that mid range Turing won’t be named with rtx for missing this feature, but let’s see what happens, damn even almost a month I still can’t use rtx on off with my Turing card.

 

I think they will wait for the 9th gen CPU’s before they release an update, which should come around Q2/3 2019, and do a RB15 update then.

 

Anyone with the 60hz panel have any regrets? The new "base" model seems perfect for my needs. From what I understand they are using the same 60hz panel from before. 100%srgb, which I suspect is closer to mid 90s. I haven't found much if anything on these panels, especially on brightness. I've had poor IPS panels in laptops before and it drives me nuts (Dell G7 LG panel and countless old school TN panels from years ago).

That said, my main monitor is a LG 27MP59G-P (1080p IPS, 75hz) so nothing special but looks good. I used to main a ASUS PB278Q, but after 3 RMA's I went with the LG as a quick replacement and stuck with it.

The base just makes the most sense for me. I already have a spare m.2 sata drive and 2.5" 1tb ssd laying around, so I can throw those in, get the RB from HID with LM and call it a day. Just don't want to get the 60hz and realize its garbage. This is a travel machine for work, grad school, and occasional gaming (I've already used a 1060 max-q laptop for awhile and didn't have a problem gaming on it). I'm keeping my desktop with 8700k and GTX 1080 as my main PC.

 

I do recall a review on YouTube not to long ago who basically said the 60hz panel is rubbish.

 

It depends on how you use your laptop and its specs, for main gaming rig or desktop replacement yes, but for anyone who needs better battery life and his laptop as portable working device, I don’t see they need 144Hz in a laptop. I need that because it’s my main pc and my external monitor is 4K, so for esports titles 144Hz is needed. But if I’ve g syncs monitor or have plan buying it, it’ll be better invest to external monitor, though 1060 is a bit weak in some nowadays titles for maximum experience in 144Hz.

 

Anyone else experienced background noise with RB15 3.5mm jack headphones? I had it with with two RB15s. I'm using Fiio FH1 26 ohm impedance.

 

Might be better to just buy the 144hz and setting refresh rate to 60hz. This way you’ll have a much better panel and also save battery. And if you do decide to game, can always flip it to 144hz.

 

I think there’s €550 gaps between base model(128ssd 1tbhdd 60Hz) and 1060 with 144Hz (512ssd). If I’m on budget and 1060 is just fine for my needs base model is no brain to go imo. G sync 1080p monitor can be bought here for around €400, still have rest €150, can buy a 970 evo 500gb on recent ssd sales that I saw a lot here.

 

I am also interested in the base model if the 60hz screen is decent. For me the pro’s are:
2 drive bays
Function symbols in keyboards are lit
Smaller psu with barrel connector (hate the new square type plug and larger psu)

I am currently using the blade pro fhd and love it except I really want it to be more portable. For me thw 2 drive bays is more important than 144hz screen as it will be used for a wide range of tasks on the go (unity/blender/casual gaming)

 

Exactly, all that for 400+ less than the other models. It just makes sense. But, I'd hate to get it and then find out they used a cheap IPS panel like the ones on the other "budget" machines (using budget loosely here, of course).

 

Yup. I have the Sennheiser HD6XX (the HD650 variant from Massdrop), I can hear a little bit of capacitor squeal when the CPU is under varying load. You most likely won't find anything that works better out of the box though because it costs money and engineering effort to isolate the power delivery for the sound driver from other components. One could argue that there's too little space on the Blade 15's motherboard for that, but the opposite can also be true given enough effort were put into it.

If you need perfectly crystal clear sound from your Blade (or most other laptops for that matter), get a little USB DAC+Amp like the AudioQuest Dragonfly.

 

Are you sure? Sound from my macbook is perfect.

 

Let's say like 80% sure. Apple is a company that had enough tries at making a laptop motherboard that I could possibly attribute them getting this right.

By the way, the audio IC in the Blade 15 (Realtek ALC298) appears to not be the cream of the crop anyway.

 

I tried playing AC Odyssey with hammerhead v2, not kind headphone man I don’t have any sound issues, tried with Core setting first, then balanced mode 1070 Blade dGPU, then gaming mode (the loudest 5000rpm) setting, still didn’t found unclear sounds, cpu and gpu fans loudness is covered by earphone sound, can’t notice it on gaming play and it was 30% volume to make sure if there’s any weird sounds.
Just bought beats wireless solo 3 and will pickup tomorrow and test again if there’s any weird sounds, wired and wireless...Is it qualified as good headphone?

 

Of course you won't hear anything with the fans running at full tilt. The capacitor squeal will be very quiet. Try letting your machine idle, then move the mouse cursor around, or open up your browser. You might make out something if you listen closely and/or have sharp ears. It will correlate to the capacitor squeal/coil whine you'd hear coming from the CPU VRM in a silent room.

I have never tried the Hammerhead v2s, but all but the most expensive earphones have very uneven frequency response simply for physics reasons, which might make it difficult to hear the squeal. There's also even more things at play, like the impedance of your ear/headphone. My HD6XX have a pretty high impedance which makes the little audio IC in the Blade having a hard time driving it, which kills bass clarity for example.
The beats Solo3 are somewhat decent headphones if you like them to sound warm and full. They have a significant boost in bass and somewhat muted treble. There are definetly better headphones out there for that price, but neither wireless, nor with that sound signature.

 

I heard only fans kicking off when browsing in silent room but no coil whine. Now is 1:00 midnight here and on 5000rpm I can notice high pitch sounds sometimes not always, but I don’t use that rpm on gaming mostly 4800. Yes it’s from cpu since on core setting under max load I can also notice it sometimes. But don’t you guys talking about headphones jack plugged conditions? So i thought I would notice that “weird” sounds through earphones...sorry if I miss understood that.

 

Local Houston Craigslist deal, not a bad price for 1070 512gb model. It's got a scuff so I'm curious how he was handling it though.

https://houston.craigslist.org/sys/d/razer-bladehz-1080p-with-gtx/6723932253.html

 

Ok guys been busy with this one but as promised I have upload a video on accessories for my Blade. See what you think

 

I like the usb hub probably getting one, wished that’s rgb

 

The 3C (thunderbolt) or 3.0 one?
Its got Blue LEDs. The Buttons are very nice to press.
Good to hear you got something out of it.
Think you will find the image, backup ones interesting that I have been working on for some time now.

 

Maybe the usb A, usb c hub I’ve already one and after having the core, mostly I use the TB3 port, there’s only usb A type on core and Blade that are free. Yes I know also that brand made some cool this usb hub that could be rolled, bought for my Razer Edge tablet but unfortunately since i use controller pad, it doesn’t fit through in the controller casing.

 

why? the battery savings is so minimal its not even worth the effort to switch back and forth

 

Guys, looking for your opinion. Going to be ordering a new 1070 blade tommorrow, and am a little confused with the priceing going from the 256GB to 512GB.

For me here in Canada it's a $260 price bump from the 256 to 512, but for me to by a 500GB 970 Evo is $200, which is a better drive than the SM961 that the blade comes with correct?

Am I crazy here or should I just get the 256 and swap out the drive? This intern saving me a few bucks and also having a spare 256 laying around.

 

Blade does not come with SM961, it comes with PM961, which is the OEM version of the 960 EVO. SM961 is OEM version of 960 Pro. You can install your own drive for less.

 

I would buy the cheaper version, pick up a 512 or 1tb drive and hang onto the 256. That way if you need to RMA it or anything, you can pull out your drive and throw the 256 in. Outside of that, but just saving $50 is worth it imo

 

Mine came with PM981 go figure it out

 

Keep the original pm961, in case you have to return it. I would going with 1tb, if you have good eyes you can grab 1tb 970 evo for 50 more (here the price is also €200 or more but 500gb often falls to 150, on weekend even on €120), same with 1tb 970Evo, mrsp over €300 I got it with €250. Beside, if you doing clean install there’s some downside from new ssd (personal experience), first it’ll perform slightly lower graphically, only noticed on benchmarks graphics score. second, you’ll probably loosing Factory recovery data (that shows usually by F9 after boot) on new ssd (with fresh windows install, idk with cloning though)

yes I was wondering too, I saw that somewhere I think on 3Dmark rankings. Is it 1070 FHD model?

 

yes 1070 FHD 512 GB

 

Got it, like before they put better ssd on higher specs, curious if other 1070 256 comes with pm981, I think the one I saw on 3Dmark was also 512gb.

 

Just about every laptop is going to run a garbage DAC, probably one of Realteks, its cheap and most people don't care/notice. Apple is one of the few exceptions, their DAC is great. Same goes for the iPhones as well. Like No0B said, if the audio is bothering you, just use an external dac/amp.

 

Anyone else's RB 15 creaks around the right hinge when opening/closing the lid? I returned 1 for this issue and received an exchange that has the exact same issue.

 

no mine does not make this sound But its easy for dust to get into the hinges try to flow some air in there and see if that fixes it. I used to have this issue on macbooks all the time what i would do is take the back panel off and put some Vaseline on the hinges with a Q-tip and it would go away

 

I would just buy the 512gb model and save the Hassle also they low key keep the dives up to date when you buy them. I bought mine 3 months ago and it has the pm981 which has a 3200/1800mb Read/ Write making it one of the best drives out there right now.