The 2015 Razer Blade Review
by Brett Howse on February 11, 2015 2:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Razer
- Razer Blade
- Notebooks
- GTX970M
Final Words
For 2015, we have a new Razer Blade, which on the outside is a dead ringer for last year’s model. We have the same design, the same keyboard, trackpad, strong aluminum body, and fantastic QHD+ display. All of those features were already excellent on the previous model, so Razer stayed conservative and kept all of it the same. Razer builds one of the best looking, most polished, and high quality gaming laptops on the market, so it makes sense not to rock the boat.
For 2015, what we have is more inside. You cannot see it from afar, but once you start using the new Blade, the new power becomes readily apparent. The GTX 970M is a perfect addition to this laptop, and we have seen sometimes up to 50% better performance than the 2014 model. The new card is much better at driving the 3200x1800 display, and with the new 1080p model sharing the same GPU, performance should be excellent.
The GTX 970M is somewhat of an obvious upgrade though. The 2014 model had the 870M, so it only makes sense that the new model would get the replacement for that card. What was a nice surprise for the 2015 model is both the new CPU, and the increased system memory. For the memory, the outgoing model’s 8 GB of RAM was a sore spot for me on a premium priced laptop. The move to 16 GB of DDR3L-1600 should satisfy most users’ needs for quite a while. It is extra important that Razer outfits the laptop with this because the RAM is soldered to the motherboard, so user upgrades are out of the question. And just to be clear, the review unit we received, and all of the 3200x1800 models will come with 16 GB of memory, but the 1080p model will be limited to 8 GB. The extra system RAM really opens the Razer Blade up to be more of a general purpose computer, with enough RAM for a couple of virtual machines to be running at any one time, or other memory intensive software.
The CPU is a very big boost as well, which could easily be overshadowed by the new graphics card. The move the 47 watt CPU gives a sharp boost in performance for all tasks, and the cooling system does not seem to be strained at all with the extra heat. With four cores at 2.6 GHz, hyperthreading, and boost clocks of 3.6 GHz, the CPU is quite a big upgrade. Once again, this opens the door to more non-gaming workloads for this device, which should increase its appeal.
Razer has added all of these internal upgrades, but one more thing that was not changed was the price. With a faster CPU, more RAM, and an upgraded GPU, the 2015 Razer Blade comes in at exactly the same price as last year’s model. Yes, they still offer the silly 128 GB SSD version, which you should really avoid if you are considering this device and are not comfortable replacing the SSD. Companies like to charge a lot for upgrades, and Razer is no exception, with the 256 GB model being $200 more than the 128 GB model. The 512 GB model is another $300 above that.
The base price of the 1080p model with a 256 GB SSD comes in at just under $2000, and the 1800p versions are priced at $2200 for 128 GB, $2400 for 256 GB, and $2700 for 512 GB. It is a lot of money for a 14” gaming laptop. Luckily the quality of the components really are top notch. For the money, you get a great display, good keyboard, excellent trackpad, and powerful internals wrapped in a thin machined aluminum body. It is a lot of money, but it is also a great experience.
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tipoo - Thursday, February 12, 2015 - link
I'm guessing it would be the same as the internal display - the discreet GPU just poops its output into the integrated GPUs memory so it can be output to the monitor, which only has one physical connection to the internal GPU.voicequal - Thursday, February 12, 2015 - link
This would be great for my application, except the Intel mobile chipsets don't support the number of devices I need from the USB3 controller. You'd be lucky to get more than 10 external devices working off the xHCI controller before the dreaded Not enough USB controller resources error. http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/s...For what it's worth, I find DisplayPort preferable over HDMI because DP is more flexible for splitting to multiple monitors.
DanNeely - Thursday, February 12, 2015 - link
The accepted answers on that link cite the problem as one of maximum power the port can put out; just because the port can address 127 devices doesn't mean it can provide them all with power. Non-charging USB3 ports are limited to 0.9 amps of 5v current; which ports (if any) get extra power for charging stuff is upto the motherboard OEM to decide if they want to provide extra power to it or not.voicequal - Thursday, February 12, 2015 - link
Unfortunately the accepted answer on that thread isn't the issue. The error is due to the limited number of USB devices/endpoints supported by the Intel xHCI controller. I'm curious if more devices are supported on the Broadwell chipsets, but don't have one to test yet.ruthan - Thursday, February 12, 2015 - link
I dont believe whole conclusion.. if this is truth:" When the fans are running though, the laptop is very loud. We measured 55.0 dBA at 1 inch from the system after one hour of gaming. It is very loud, and very noticeable. In my opinion, any gaming on the Razer Blade would necessitate headphones.."
For me it means that whole laptop design failed - too much hoursepower for cooling system, good experience and performance only on paper or for deaf people..
TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, February 17, 2015 - link
agreed. They should have stuck with the 37 watt i7 and put the 965m in instead.ingwe - Thursday, February 12, 2015 - link
This looks so great. I wish they would have actually gone with a lower power CPU to get better battery life. I also wish that there would be DP in addition to HDMI. These are relatively minor gripes. Now to come up with $2700 for this...HiTechObsessed - Thursday, February 12, 2015 - link
Again, why don't y'all ever look at Sager laptops? The Sager NP8651 is less than an inch thick, packs a dual-fan-cooled 970m, the same quad-core i7 CPU, but has a starting price of $1,225 as opposed to $2k. Essentially, the Sager offers the same performance, while only spending a little over 60%?Even when adding an SSD to the Sager and Windows, you're still substantially cheaper.
awlllwa - Thursday, February 12, 2015 - link
I have had my NP8652 (980m model) for about a month now and it is awesome. All said an done, the same price as this here Razer, but with a 4k Sharp screen, 2x 512gb SSDs, 1tb HDD, and the chaise is not that thick. Like .2-.3" more, for way better internals, and I still have one more m.2 slot and 2 empty sodimm slots.I did strongly consider the 2014 Blade, but couldn't swallow the 870m for that price, this new one feels much of the same.
DanNeely - Thursday, February 12, 2015 - link
Because neither Sager, nor anyone who rebadges Sager laptops and sells them under their name is willing to send a review sample.