The New Razer Blade Gaming Laptop is Packed with Some Serious Upgrades


RazerBladeGamingLaptopBig things often come in small packages, and that is especially true when it comes to laptops. The struggle to find the perfect balance between size and performance is akin to the Goldilocks dilemma – try to pack in too much power and you end up with a laptop that is too big and bulky to be easily mobile. Try and make the laptop as small as possible and you end up sacrificing speed, display and memory. For the folks over at Razer, this struggle is one that has been very real. After just missing the mark with the first two versions of their Razer gaming laptops, this latest may be, as Goldilocks would say, “just right”.

RazerBladeGamingLaptop1The first edition of Razer’s gaming laptops was stunning, but too large. In 2014 they released a version that was smaller, lighter, and packed with amazing graphics. Graphics so good, actually, that the graphics chip couldn’t quite keep up with the super high-res display – far from an ideal problem to have with a laptop made for gaming. Last week Razer announced the 2015 version of the Blade and seems to have worked out the kinks within, making “the world’s thinnest gaming laptop” perhaps now also the best gaming laptop on the market, hands-down.

RazerBladeGamingLaptop2The first major upgrade to the 2015 Razer Blade is the GPU. While the 2014 version was outfitted with a Kelpar-based GeForce GTX 870M chip, the new model boasts NVIDIA’s GeForce 970M that runs on Maxwell architecture. While the 100 point increase may not seem like much, the Maxwell 2.0-based chips allow for a performance boost as well as far better performance per watt. When you’re speaking in terms of devices that you’d actually like to take on the go, this is huge – the lower power draw of the new parts introduced to the Razer Blade is a key contributor to the success of unlocking performance. This in turn helped Razer outfit the Blade with an Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide panel (IGZO), a dazzling 14-inch, 3,200 x 1,800 touch display, and a quad-core 2.6GHz Intel Core i7 processor that is almost 400MHz faster than last year’s model. The memory has also gotten a serious bump - the new model hosts 16GB of RAM, up from the 8GB included in last year’s version. As for the hard drive, the new Blade hosts a respectable 256GB SSD. Lastly, Razer appears to have addressed the issue of battery life by automatically switching the Blade between the aforementioned GPU and Intel integrated graphics using NVIDIA’s Optimus technology.

RazerBladeGamingLaptop3While on the outside this latest edition may appear nearly identical to its predecessor, it’s what’s on the inside that really counts, and this little 4.5-lb. Blade is swimming with inner beauty. Prices of individual configurations have not yet been released, but Razer has said that this model “starts at” $2,199. If you’re looking to spend a little less, there is also a 1080p model that sheds $200 off the base price as well as just a bit of the weight of its snazzier sibling.

Topics: Technology News Display Screen Technology Laptop Trends Laptops & Ultrathin Ultrabooks Tech Reviews

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