Razer Updates The Razer Blade And Razer Blade Stealth At PAX
by Brett Howse on September 2, 2016 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Gaming
- Razer
- Razer Blade
- Razer Blade Stealth
Today Razer is announcing some refreshes to it’s system lineup as well, with both the Razer Blade and Razer Blade Stealth getting significant updates. The Razer Blade makes the obvious jump to Pascal graphics, but let’s dig into the Stealth updates first.
Earlier this year, Razer took their first jump into the Ultrabook ring with the Razer Blade Stealth. Announced at CES, this was an incredibly thin and light notebook which featured a Core i7 U series processor, an aluminum chassis, and optional UHD display. The really interesting part was that Razer priced it at just a $999 starting price, which isn’t inexpensive, but for a Core i7 Ultrabook, it was below similar models from other manufacturers.
The Razer Blade Stealth is a pretty good Ultrabook too. It can be docked with the Razer Core over USB Type-C using Thunderbolt 3, allowing a full desktop GPU as well as a docking station and power, all over a single cable. The one major disappointment on the Stealth was the battery life, which was well below other Ultrabooks. With just a 45 Wh battery, it was under capacity on battery, and not as well optimized as competitors, so it was a double blow against it. Razer has taken this to heart, and have tried to address both concerns. First, they’ve increased the battery capacity from 45 Wh to 53.6 Wh, which is about a 19% increase in battery capacity. This alone should help a great deal, but Razer has said that they’ve also optimized the power of the laptop to get better battery life as well. This one isn’t as easy to give a number for without actually testing the device, but any work here would be welcome, since it was one of the least optimized Ultrabooks we’ve tested in a while.
In addition, Razer is updating to the latest Kaby Lake processors, with the Core i7-7500U being the only CPU option. The storage starts at 128 GB for the QHD version, and 512 GB for the UHD model, with the UHD offering a 1 TB PCIe SSD now as well. System memory is also doubled to 16 GB of LPDDR3-1866, which is excellent to see, especially since the price has not changed. The rest of the product hasn’t changed, with the same dimensions and weight, even with the higher capacity battery. Check out our review of the first gen here. It keeps the same starting price of $999 and is available to order now.
Next up is the Razer Blade, Razer’s flagship gaming notebook. It got a nice upgrade last year, with the same per-key RGB keyboard as the Stealth, but it is now available with the NVIDIA GTX 1060 graphics, compared to the outgoing model’s GTX 970M. This is the same number of CUDA cores and same 192-bit memory bus as the outgoing GTX 970M, but it now offers 6 GB of RAM at 8 Gbps, and a much higher core and boost clock compared to the GTX 970M and should be a significant performance upgrade.
Razer is also bringing back the non-touch 1920x1080 model in addition to the 3200x1800 model, but this time with higher storage than the 128 GB it was originally stuck with. System memory is 16 GB for all models as well, with the Core i7-6700HQ as the only CPU. It is compatible with the Razer Core through USB Type-C.
Razer has kept the same basic design for the Blade for several generations now, but it’s a solid design that suits them well, and it’s still one of the nicest laptops around with a CNC aluminium chassis and excellent display. The latest Razer Blade starts at $1799, available for order now and shipping in October.
Source: Razer
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ImSpartacus - Friday, September 2, 2016 - link
I think they wanted top tier cpu performance so that it could perform when docked.The whole existence of the dock means that the core laptop doesn't have to have graphics chops on its own.
TheinsanegamerN - Friday, September 2, 2016 - link
This is true, but it would be nice to have some gaming ability away from the dock. So few OEMS are willing to use iris graphics.ImSpartacus - Friday, September 2, 2016 - link
I understand where you're coming from with that desire (especially with the dense screen), but I can respect Razer not wanting to share the thermal budget with a larger gpu. I think it's quite telling that they only go for the top tier sku. Most manufacturers would've tried to earn extra money with upgrades, but Razer understands that cpu perf is at a premium when you're trying to play ball with a 250W gpu. In a way, I think it's admirable.TheinsanegamerN - Friday, September 2, 2016 - link
But, when plugged into the dock, the iGPU doesnt matter. Everything is going through the dGPU. Even if the iGPU is still active, they will both be idle, so there wont be much, if any, real difference in power usage. and on the go, the iris chips are much more capable then the non iris parts in the same power usage range.Now, that 64MB l4 cache would pull some juice, but it would also be very helpful to the CPU. They could have even used the 28 watt part (they use the same pin, and seem to be the same chip with different TDPs) and just restrict it to 15 watt when not plugged into said dock. (or left it alone on battery, and have a really nice iGPU for gaming)
it seems like razer is just trying to push people to buy the overpriced dock to go with. Nobody wants to make a powerful ultrabook these days it seems.
ImSpartacus - Friday, September 2, 2016 - link
Razer is definitely trying to push the expensive dock. I don't think they would deny that either, lol.I think you're underestimating the adverse effects of that bigger gpu. You might be able to close to the performance of a 2+2 model, but the clocks are still simply lower, even under max turbo.
I agree that a 28W model would be a fair compromise, but they can only cTDP down to 23W. And remember that this dock doesn't provide additional cooling support, so I'm not sure how Razer would move that extra heat.
Also, if you have a tdp that high, then you start to be tempted by a quad core. Kaby Lake is rumored to expand the quad core offerings to lower TDPs.
So while I definitely get the thought behind wanting more iGPU, I can really respect why Razer did what they did.
ToTTenTranz - Friday, September 2, 2016 - link
Strange. As a laptop marketed for gaming with an external GPU, I always thought the Razer Blade Stealth would be the very first customer for Intel's upcoming 4+2 15W U series CPU.Maybe this is kind of a mid-gen upgrade, since Intel's 4+2 15W aren't coming until late Q1 2017, according to the leaked roadmaps.
DanNeely - Friday, September 2, 2016 - link
Intels 4+2 CPUs are 45W parts vs 15W for 2+2; too hot to fit in an ultrabook chassis; but yeah a slightly thicker design that did support the higher power parts would be a lot more attractive to me.ImSpartacus - Friday, September 2, 2016 - link
I think he's talking about how kaby lake brings 15W quads.Trixanity - Friday, September 2, 2016 - link
Kaby Lake will have a 15W U quad core SKU as well as a 18W H quad core SKU, so it won't be too hot considering the TDP is the same. However they will have lower clocks and no Iris graphics, so there's that. It baffles me that the Stealth model didn't go for an Iris SKU considering it's a gaming brand.DanNeely - Friday, September 2, 2016 - link
According to who? All the rumors/leaks I've found are similar to this, which shows the 2/4 core ~15/45W bifurcation of the last few generations.http://cdn.wccftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06...