Razer Blade Pro 17" (1080 GPU/late 2016) Owner's Lounge

Having options that are depreciated allows developers to support the depreciated standard.

Having a standard like 4K be pushed and one of the only options allows developers and forces them to create better battery life, scaling, and this forces prices to be better for all. Enough said.

 

My guess is it comes down to cost. I don't think the Blade Pro has ever sold anywhere near the numbers that the standard Blade has, so offering different configuration options outside simply SSD sizes would increase their costs and maybe wouldn't sell enough extra units to make up for said costs. Redesigning the RBP to be such a high end machine was already a pretty big risk and large expense. Another part of their thought process may have been that by offering a lower spec model, they'd potentially just be cannibalizing standard Blade sales.

 

I just have it set to on, and triple buffering on

 

Shoutoutjt thanks for the tips! I will make those changes next time I get on. After I wrote that post last night I played some division with two of my buddies LAN party style. I'm 30 and haven't done that over ten years, it was a blast lol. I played for solid three-four hours and noticed the sporadic fps drops again. I monitored temps, again according to HWmonitor max GPU 75 and CPU 83. This time I noticed that as soon as the fps would drop to 30, the fans would slow way down, not sure if they turned off bc there was a lot of other noise in the room, but they definitely spun way down. After about three to five seconds the fans would kick back on and the fps would resume a solid 60 fps. Hopefully the changes you recommended fix this. I'm use daily to seeing random fps spikes in games on all my computers, I always assume it just a tiny hick up in the background, but with the RBP it's apparent the fans slow down so that's what I'm concerned about.

Separate topic, how do you guys adjust the fan settings? I haven't explored too much but I didn't see those settings anywhere yet. Thanks for the help!

 

go into razer synapse -> power -> fan control -> cool mode. also download parkcontrol or process lasso and run your pc on bitsum highest performance/gaming mode. also throttle stop and disable bhcd-prot

 

BD-PROCHOT

 

Thanks blood hawk! Couldn't remember exactly

 

So people need to own one before they can ask questions about this particular model in this thread? Oh 'well

 

Ok cool I'll add those to the to do list. Did you guys have the same problem with fps spikes until you did those steps too?

A few other thoughts for everyone considering buying this laptop:

I was worried about gaming at 1080p on the 4k screen but after seeing it there's no problem at all. The division looks amazing at 4k and gets 45+ fps at high settings but I prefer the lower latency at 1080p. So my point is I wouldn't worry about running the harder to run games at 1080p for better fps. I briefly ran Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 both at 4k with super smooth results. I don't have any other games installed at the moment to test, but I don't own any of the other popular benchmark games like tomb raider or doom (or whatever other games you guys like).

In my opinion the screen is fantastic. I haven't calibrated it and I'm not a professional who needs super accurate color reproduction but it looks great to me. Everything looks great with scaling so far too. 120hz or faster response time would be nice, but I don't think there are any 120hz 4k panels for laptops yet. The touch feature is ok, I used it a bit since it's there but when my mouse is connected it's not necessary for me. It works great, I just don't have a need for it 99% of the time.

The keyboard definitely was weird to me at first. I came from a MacBook Pro and have never used a mechanical keyboard before so it took getting used to but I really like it now. I got used to the trackpad being on the right in about five minutes, very intuitive for me being right handed. I have noticed sometimes I'll move the cursor to small buttons on the screen and when I tap to click them, the cursor moves slightly and doesn't click what I want. I think that was noted in the LinisTechTips review too. Hopefully that can be fixed with software?

The speakers sound really good. I haven't compared it directly to my 2015 15 inch MBP which has good speakers but I feel like the RBP gets louder. I can hear distortion at full volume in the low end sometimes though so I keep the volume around 80 max. If I can somehow raise the low end cutoff frequency a bit I think it would solve that issue.

Can't think of anything else at the moment. I am in no way qualified to write a review I just saw TONS of negative posts on here that worried me when I was waiting on mine to ship so I wanted to write on the other side of the spectrum. If the fixes recommended to me fix the fps spikes I would rate this machine 10/10. Like I said before, I came from using MBPs for th last five or six years and loved the build quality, just didn't like the gaming performance. Consider that when reading my thoughts on this machine.

 

Don't be a fool you do not even like BGA products. Go away.

Also to actually respond to your nonsense, of course you don't have to own one, but expecting big changes to a machine you know nothing about, have never owned, have never owned anything like, and do not want to upgrade to current standards is a waste of our and their time.

But thanks for your informative post! Papusan.

 

It's literally called "the RBP 2016 owners lounge" Lol; if you look at his post all he's saying is "My Alienware is better this RBP sucks for 4000$ blah blah blah I wish it had this and options blah" so yeah ; id say you should have one before posting up a whole bunch of post. If you're interested and asking questions that's fine; but coming on here and comparing and bashing on the laptop doesn't help any users at all; esp if you don't even own it/have experience with it

 

Which graphics driver are you running david? I'm ok 376.20 and it works awesome. The ship with driver is 369.(something) and it's terrible. Make sure you're updated to the one on razersupport.com

 

Yeah I did update the graphics drivers from the razer website. I don't have the computer in front of me but it was the 04Jan17 drivers.

 

Hmm. Yeah try running games in full screen and such. If you're running max settings look into a laptop cooler; it might be getting too hot . Your charger might be disconnecting as well. Keep an eye on those.

 

I haven't tried any of the other suggestions yet, the nvidia settings and the programs you recommended I run so I'll try that first. I had it running on a laptop cooler the whole time and it never went above 76C. I'm hoping those other suggestions fix it. Thanks for the help, I'll get on later and keep you posted. I'm in Japan so I'm on a crazy time difference than you guys.

 

I try always to gather all the info I can get. This applies to most of laptop models out there. Info is King as you should know. You never know when you might need it. This could apply to... Eg providing advice to people before buying or people who have problems with their laptops.

 

I'd respect you if you were not so disrespectful about these types of laptops.

BGA SLAUGHTERING RAMPAGE KILLER

BGABOOK's = That sucks!! STAHP! Dont buy Crap...

Go away. All you want to do is dog everyone about them buying these machines...

 

Ok, so I got on finally and the first thing I noticed is the laptop defaulted to quiet mode. I changed that to cool mode. Maybe it's possible the laptop was right at the temperature threshold and kept switching the fans on and off? Next I disabled battery boost, and made a custom gaming power mode to ensure CPU minimum and maximum state was at 100% while plugged in. I also turned vertical sync on in the nvidia control panel. I always game in fullscreen so I don't think that was an issue. I will play a little later and see how she runs. I didn't download throttlestop or parkcontrol yet. I want to try to work the issue without having to install any extra programs. Thanks again for the help!

 

One more question. While running HWmonitor in the background and just typing this I noticed my GPU clock will fluctuate all the way down to 400MHz, is this a normal function? Like an idle mode to save power?

 

See? This is what I wanted to hear - a calm proper argument. This is what we need - conversation. And I do agree with the point you raise regarding different GPUs. Though I still think a 1440p version would make more sense than a triple-display version. I am pretty certain the sales they will make on the Valerie will be lower than if they had a 1440p panel as an option. Generally, a panel change shouldn't require anything beyond a simple cable swap.

While I COULD agree, only about 1% of gamers or less will buy the 4K RBP. Hell, last time I checked steam HWS, 1080p made up 40-50% of gaming screens and 1280x1024 was something like 20-30%. Developers will always focus the most widely used standard, wouldn't you agree?

 

4K is new. 4K is the future. How many companies still produce 1080p televisions, not many. I am getting really tired of your complete nonsense. So changing the standard is what everyone wants. You are making it out like we should stay at 1080p, I am sorry but your 970M and your 1080p screen is OUTDATED. It doesnt matter how much you want to tell me it is user preference or any of that garbage. IT IS OLD TECHNOLOGY.

Of course developers are going to support the most used standard!? 4K is just hitting prime time?! Doesn't make it any less good, or the best to buy?!

 

I have never claimed otherwise - find one post where I claim 1080p or my GPU is what the standard should be? I haven't. Also, 4K is still very, very niche. Most people are still buying 1440p on the high end. Why? Cause the processing power is still not there to really run AAA games at maximum settings in 4K - even the 1080 struggles with some. I still don't understand what the problem with expressing my personal opinion is? Is freedom of speech not allowed in this thread?

 

How about changing the standard to something that makes sense, though? Even if you think 4K is hitting a "prime" (it's not, it's more of a marketing buzzword that less-informed users tend to want to jump at because it's being raved about on a MARKETING level to feel like it's the clear current-gen goal), as far as laptops as concerned, it's still awful. The 1800p and 2160p screens for laptops generally have response times somewhere around 40ms+. This is over double and approaching TRIPLE the necessary response time for smooth 60Hz displays. It's atrocious for gamers.

Productivity work is an entirely different story and colour representation on panels like the B173ZAN01.0, especially once colour calibrated, is fantastic... but I think everyone will agree that a $4000, fully-soldered single-GPU machine that (as far as I have heard reported) can't even disable its touchpad? really isn't the machine one buys for such prosumer work. Why not push the panel makers to actually make some decent notebook gaming panels first before pushing it as a standard? I already have enough issues with the 25ms IPS panels floating around as nearly the only option for purchase.

 

A couple of years ago I would have agreed with you hands down. But I've been using the B173ZAN01.0 cumulatively in laptops for over a year now, and I think it's probably the best 17" screen available if you need a laptop for both work and play. Especially since graphics cards can game at that resolution now. Razer has been marketing the RBS that way since they released it, so that's probably why they chose a similar panel. I'm not sure on the response time of the RBS screen, but my AUO measures around 25ms, not 40+. Unless you play a lot of FPS, most people could probably live with that response time.

That said, FPS games are pretty popular and it kind of sucks seeing Razer ignore the potential customer and not have the 120hz screen options available.

 

This is one of the better laptop coolers for the RBP @ $24.99 if interested - http://www.tmart.com/New-2-USB-adaj...h-6-Fans-LED-for-12-17-Laptop-PC_p311238.html

 

Wouldn't a single 200mm fan be better noise-wise? Just curious what the noise levels on that one are.

 

The B173ZAN01.0 does indeed have 25ms response time, but for Black to White. G2G is still 40ms.

However the 1800p screens on the Razer have ~39ms B2W and ~41ms G2G, as seen here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Razer-Blade-2016-Notebook-Review.186751.0.html

And the 4K model is an IGZO touch panel, and thus not the B173ZAN01.0, and so far that screen has not been reviewed yet by anyone. It seems if notebookcheck doesn't check the laptop with the screen in question, nobody else on the internet does.

 

The GTG isn't that high according to the measurements here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Schenker-XMG-U726-Clevo-P870DM-Notebook-Review.153136.0.html

I would hope Razer picked a similar panel and not something inferior, just to save a couple bucks. Edit: After typing this I forget that the QHD screen on the RB14 panel has a 40+ms GTG, so there's that.

Yeah, notebookcheck is the only resource for measuring actual response time afaik. Most reviewers don't own an oscilloscope, let alone know how to use it. . I guess we won't know anything about the RBP panel until they review it. There's not even any specs on panelook, which is unfortunate.

 

Rise 5.6ms, fall 18ms. That's a total of 23.6ms,which is within specific-panel-difference allowance (they're not all going to have the same stuff). G2G is 15.6ms rise, and 26ms fall. That's 41.6ms total.

Razer probably paid more because the screen is touch. I would assume it's at LEAST as bad.

The 1800p on the 14" razer in NBC's review is 37ms B2W (rise + fall) and 41ms G2G (rise + fall). It's terrible. I can't even consider it a gaming-class panel. And it only has 63% Adobe RGB in their test too... it has 97% sRGB though, which means it's likely rated for 72% NTSC but they didn't test NTSC. http://www.notebookcheck.net/Razer-Blade-2016-Notebook-Review.186751.0.html

I want to get one someday. I love testing things and getting the facts about stuff.

 

I don't know but this one is quiet at all speeds and actually moves a lot of air. Only problem is that it is not quite deep enough at 11" so if anyone knows of a 17" x 12" cooler please post a reply.

 

Note pal U3

 

4K is the pixel density? I care not about input lag never have never will. Clarity is king. Although you have some valid points as to why someone may consider a lower clarity point, this doesn't change the fact that higher pixel density is always going to be better.

 

4K is denoted as the resolution. 3840*2160, also known as 2160p. Pixel density is the number of pixels (3840 x 2160 = 8,294,400 in this case) divided by the area of the screen.

I will say however, if you like pixel density over all, that's fine. But if you don't care about input lag, your recommendations are invalid to those who are primarily gamers. Input lag being low is necessary for gaming. I am currently stuck on a 1360 x 768 9-year old sharp TV as my internal screen doesn't work, and it has about half-second input lag. I can only play certain games like RTS ones, or games like Hearthstone, where input lag is much less impactful... playing FPS games is like trying to aim with real-life 100ms ping or something. It's ridiculous. I keep overshooting everything. If this was the primary screen I was meant to game on, whether it had a higher resolution or not, I would literally return the computer. It invalidates fighting games, shooting games, games where quick reflexes are required like Dark Souls... it basically halves my ability to game. Also note that response time is different to input lag. Response time is more how quickly the colours change, rather than how quickly what you input/type/etc happens on-screen. Bad response time introduces extremely high amounts of ghosting, which is a different kind of annoyance for gamers as well.

But this comes back to my original point. If all you care about is high resolution and no gaming (which is why you don't care about response time and input lag) then why this machine? I did say before it's FULLY soldered... the RAM is too. And the RAM is crap (2133MHz 15-15-15-35). There's others out there that suffice with a similar function.

 

Just finished fps gaming on the 4K screen and it is amazing, even compared to my ext. 1440p 144hz 1ms, this laptop screen is top notch along with the laptop overall.

 

Do you think maybe you're just more sensitive to it than the majority of people? I never notice anything you're mentioning and I have no idea what the input lag is on my display. My understanding is that it's mostly a factor in FPS games, however, and I admittedly don't really play them (though I did just start playing Battlefront), nor am I anything resembling a pro gamer. I put more value on having a 4k display with good color reproduction, so the RBP appeals to me.

 

I may be more sensitive to it, but 40ms of response time is still 40ms. It should look like the colours are smeared whenever you turn around or do any halfway quick motion. It should affect games like Skyrim and Final fantasy as much as games like Overwatch and Star Wars.

If you're not much of a gamer then you wouldn't be bracketed under the "primarily gamer" audience I mentioned.

however, as I did ask, why THIS machine for 4K? It's not a very good productivity machine (especially for its price) compared to something like a P775DM3, or a GT73VR, both of which can house the AUO 4K panel that achieves 100% Adobe RGB (with calibration). And can house better RAM, and cool a lot better.

 

I travel a lot and both are heavier and bulkier for toting around. I also find the mechanical keyboard attractive as well as the good trackpad for when I'm just surfing the web on the couch. Most gaming notebooks have terrible trackpads in my experience. I own a Gigabyte now and am pretty disappointed with the build quality, so I don't think I'll get another Gigabyte/Aorus to get my slim gaming notebook fix. The keyboard flexes a ton, the chassis flexes quite a bit (I often have to bend it to straighten it back out), and it runs uncomfortably hot on my lap, which has basically destroyed the battery.

 

So I made all the changes I mentioned before and played some more Division last night and had zero problems. I turned vertical sync from auto to off in the in game menu and it stopped limiting the FPS to 60 and I had maybe one time where the FPS dropped just below 60 for one or two seconds. The game mostly floated around 90-120 FPS. The game is noticeably more responsive now, I think it has to do with less latency at higher FPS?? I will say I can't see any scream tearing but the game doesn't look quite as smooth as it did when capped at 60 FPS. I don't mind at all because it's actually easier to play now with vertical sync off. I think I can officially say I got a perfect machine. I even think the tiny bit of screen bleed I saw at the bottom of the screen is gone. I don't notice atleast, even in loading screens when the entire screen is all black. I downloaded a 4K rip of some movie, gods of Egypt I think it's called. It was a 33GB file! Looks AMAZING! Thanks for all the help again!

 

So, what about a business class notebook with a quadro and a 4K screen? Warranty and build quality will inevitably be much better for similar specs.

 

Overwatch in 4K looks great on the laptop screen, no blur at all.

 

I'll unfortunately have to see that to believe it, or it has to get reviewed by NBC. All the notebook IPS panels have really terrible response times.

 

Cool. Find me one that'll play Battlefront and F1 2016 in 4k, with a 17" screen, that's less than an inch thick, and has a mechanical keyboard and I'll buy it.

 

It has the best build quality sharing its place with a macbook pro which I left. Also again I care not about input lag because I have never experienced anything of what you are talking about. Clarity. Also I have a sager as well?

Link? The quadro needs to do what the below says.

Agreed.

 

Aesthetics. Not build quality.

Extremely short demonstration of Input Lag. I don't know what the input lag on the 4K screens are. I spoke about response time, and I explained what Input Lag was to you. My problem with the response time in particular is ghosting. The 14" specifically has awful input lag, but I haven't seen the 4K panel reviewed.

You're not going to find something with that amount of power under 1" because business-class notebooks generally actually care about cooling. I stated that if he isn't a gamer primarily he can find a workstation class machine with a 4K screen with good colours and warranty within that price bracket. It won't be as thick as a P870DMx but it won't be as thin as a Razer... for good reason.

 

I have the HAVIT HV-F2056 15.6-17.3 cooler and it's great. Fits the whole laptop and has a nice slope to it.

 

The Blade Pro has good thermals though...

Anyway, from everything I've seen, Razer's products do have good build quality. There have been quality control issues it seems with the RBP, but the build quality itself seems to be top-of-the-line.

As far as the laptop choice, I may not be primarily a gamer, as you say, but that doesn't mean I don't want to be able to play the games I like at high settings.

 

Really? Haven't seen anyone review them with actual thermal reports yet. How's the CPU and GPU after an hour or so of gaming? And what speeds does it settle at?

The cooling system and cooling subsystem have traditionally been awful, and the soldered RAM is... no. Aesthetics (outward look and feel and choice of material) I will admit cleanly that they're top notch. You'll get no arguement from me there. But even notebookcheck "left out" temperature measurements of the CPU & GPU in their review of the 2016 model. The 970M model thermal throttles under heavier games, and the cooling isn't changed since then, and the 1060N is a *significantly* hotter card. I haven't seen any RBP temperatures in testing either, not even for short benchmarks. Their design, since conception, has not had good build quality. Great aesthetics, bad design (cooling, cooling subsystem, etc). Their parts have always run very hot internally, often at or near thermal throttle. But if you want to answer the above, that'd be great. You can use MSI Afterburner and RTSS to check and shadowplay to record a video if you want; it won't heat up your CPU/GPU any more than without it. Make sure you include GPU clockspeeds, CPU clockspeeds, and temperatures =D.

I said your requirement for under 1" is the point that would break it. Not that you can't get a decent quadro with a 4K screen.

 

I don't have one myself (I keep going back and forth on what I want but have been leaning more and more toward the RBP lately) to be able to test that for you, but the reports in this thread seem to be in the 70's on the GPU after heavy gaming and mostly 80's but sometimes up to around 90 on the CPU side.

I don't know that NBC "left out" the temperature measurements so much as they don't seem to give those numbers for any computers, at least not lately. All I've been seeing them report in the last couple dozen or so reviews I've looked at are the surface temperatures on the top and bottom of the unit.

For me, the RBP has been tempting because of the 4k G-sync display with the 100% AdobeRGB, the keyboard and trackpad, and the form factor. I just haven't seen anything that matches it in those regards. The thermals from all reports seem to be on par or better than some computers that are significantly thicker. The biggest hurdles I can't get around are the quality control issues and so many reports of poor customer support (I've never owned a Razer computer). The price is kind of hard to swallow with those two things in mind, but I can probably keep it longer than my normal 2 year replacement cycle if they eventually update the TB3 to provide support for the Core, so may be able to justify the price. It's a tough decision though.

 

I have played hours of Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm and it is so beautiful and the game play is flawless so I do not know what lag you are referring to. Maybe you should make absolute statements about computers that you have actually used, just saying .

 

I specifically want to see both clocks and temperatures, though. One is useless without the other; most Pascal laptops throttle heavily and the performance given isn't there. I've seen a review before where FPS compared to the desktop model was sometimes 25% lower, though I didn't see speeds/temps. But if anyone in this thread is willing to show me and give me some basic ambient temperature information, that'd be great. I'm the first person to eat my words if proof that I am wrong is shown.

Really? Their GT73VR had temperature testing on the Kaby Lake model and that is indeed a new review: http://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-GT73VR-7RF-Titan-Pro-Notebook-Review.189710.0.html

Well there are other models with 100% Adobe RGB at 4K. They're thicker, but they exist. You want thinness, and as I said, for performance and cooling, that form factor should be FAR too thin; vapor chamber or not. So you won't find anybody else doing it; I think even Aorus kept it thicker.

I will say one thing about the eGPU system, though. They aren't useful for anything above a 1060. Your plan for longevity will not last. Thunderbolt 3 conversion to the DMI has overhead that hinders GPUs. A 1080 will perform like a 1070, a 1070 will barely beat a 1060. Also, they connect using "optimus"-type technology, which runs off your existing screen-running GPU. This means if a game or program dislikes that tech, it will also dislike using an eGPU. If you want more proper performance, you need to use a DIY M.2 NGFF eGPU solution instead, and that one I believe requires a reboot to change ( @bloodhawk can you confirm/deny?)... but new nVidia drivers won't even let you use it for higher end cards as far as I remember. It was enabled and then they manually disabled it. I don't know if it came back on.

I can tell you, factually, that 16.67ms or less response time is necessary for 60Hz displays, and any display with above that will experience ghosting. Whether you see it or not is irrelevant. Hence my original statement was, push manufacturers to make better screens. I said before I do not know the response time or input lag of the RBP 4K panel, since notebookcheck has not reviewed it. However, I did show that the higher resolution models had input lag in a previous message here.