The Razer Blade 14 Gaming Laptop: A Beast of Performance and Portability

In this article, we'll delve into the performance and portability of the new Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop. We've put the Blade 14 through various tests to see how it holds up against other powerful laptops in its class.

Testing the Blade 14's Performance

One of the key things we wanted to test was the Blade 14's performance at different settings and resolutions. To do this, we used a combination of benchmarking software and real-world games to see how the laptop handled various demands on its hardware. We started with Assassin's Creed Valhalla, which showed that high settings at 1440p were able to hit above 60 FPS, while max settings at 1080p were even better.

Next up was Microsoft Flight Simulator, which was tested in the Sydney landing challenge. The results here were impressive, with the Blade 14 handling both 1080p and 1440p resolutions with ease. In fact, we found that there wasn't a significant performance difference between the two resolutions, so it might as well just stick to 1440p. We also tested Watch Dogs Legion, which showed that ultra settings at 1080p were above 60 FPS, while medium settings at 1440p needed to be set to achieve a similar result.

We also tested Fortnite, which was run on the game's replay mode with the update that made epic settings heavier. The results here were impressive, with 1440p epic settings hitting over 100 FPS, while medium settings at 1440p were close to the screen's refresh rate. On the other hand, low settings at 1080p could hit 1% lows higher than the screen's refresh rate if you want a super smooth experience.

We also tested CS:GO and Rainbow Six Siege, both of which showed that high framerates were no problem for the Blade 14. In fact, in both games, max settings at 1440p were hitting average FPS higher than the screen's refresh rate, so there was no need to lower the settings. However, we did notice some weird results at 1440p low and medium settings, which may be specific to this title on laptops at that resolution.

Finally, we tested Battlefield V and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, both of which showed impressive performance from the Blade 14. In both cases, high frame rates were no problem, even at max settings and with different resolutions.

Conclusion

Overall, our tests show that the Razer Blade 14 is a powerful laptop that can handle demanding games and applications with ease. With its top-of-the-line RTX 3080 GPU and large 144Hz display, it's clear that this laptop is designed for serious gamers who want to get the most out of their gaming experience.

While the performance results are certainly impressive, we also have to consider the laptop's portability and value. The Blade 14 is a relatively small laptop compared to some of its competitors, which makes it easy to take on the go. However, as we've seen in this article, that portability comes at a cost - the Blade 14 is not cheap, with prices starting at over $2,000.

In any case, if you're serious about gaming and want a powerful laptop that can handle demanding games, the Razer Blade 14 is definitely worth considering. We'll be doing a full review of the laptop in the coming weeks, which will include more detailed information on its performance, portability, and value.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enRazer have finally made the move over to AMD’sRyzen processors in their new Blade 14 gaminglaptop, and the performance is on anotherlevel for a machine of this size!I’ve tested it in 12 games at 1440p and1080p resolutions and compared it to otherlaptops, so let’s see how it performs!I’ve got the highest specced Blade 14 here,so AMD’s 8 core Ryzen 9 5900HX, yes that’sright, HX rather than the HS chip we usuallysee in thinner designs like this, along withRTX 3080 graphics, 16 gigs of memory and a1440p 165Hz screen.There are also lower specced 3060 and 3070options too, you can find updated prices withthose links down in the description.Although the screen response time isn’tamazing when compared to many 15 and 17”screen options, it’s the best I’ve recordedso far out of any 13 or 14” gaming laptop.The new ASUS Zephyrus G14 is only slightlyslower, but the last gen G14 was above 20ms,so comparatively 14” panels are definitelyimproving this year.I found the power limit of my RTX 3080 wouldrun up to 100 watts with dynamic boost, justlike Razer said it would, but I also foundthat it would still run up to 90 watts evenwith the CPU under stress test, which tookme by surprise.I was expecting to see the lowest 80 watts,which is the bottom of the range specifiedby Nvidia, but that wasn’t the case.All testing was done with the custom performancemode with both the CPU and GPU set to thehighest options for best results.Unfortunately there’s no MUX switch, soit’s not possible to disable the integratedgraphics to get a speed boost in games.But we can bypass it by connecting an externalscreen to any of the display ports, so I’lltest that out as well.Alright, let’s start out by seeing how wellthis Blade 14 compares against other laptops,then after that I’ll also test it out in12 different games at both the native 1440pand 1080p resolutions.Shadow of the Tomb Raider was tested withthe games benchmark, and I’ve got the Blade14 highlighted in red.It’s actually scoring the same as the Blade15 advanced from last generation with 8 coreIntel CPU and RTX 2080 Super graphics, quitea good result considering its smaller size.Now at the same time the far cheaper HP Omen15 with lower Ryzen 7 5800H and RTX 3070 isahead of it, but consider that the Blade 14is 18% faster than the new top spec ASUS ZephyrusG14 while also being smaller in every dimension,impressive stuff.I’ve tested Battlefield 5 in campaign modeat ultra settings.The new Blade 14 is again beating the lastgen Blade 15 advanced here, the 1% lows inparticular are much improved and one of thebetter results recorded out of all laptops.The average frame rate is extremely closeto the larger ASUS Zephyrus G15 with similarwattage 3080, so another great result forthe Blade 14.This time the Blade 14 is reaching 24% higheraverage FPS compared to the G14, and yeahthis top end spec of Blade 14 probably costsmore, but I think it’s still interestingto see what’s now possible in 14 inches.Far Cry 5 was tested with the games benchmarkat max settings.This game typically depends more on the processor,and this time the Blade 14 was just 6% aheadof the G14.The Blade 15 advanced is also much furtherahead now compared to the previous two games,but this title tends to favor Intel processorsso that may be why.The Blade 14 is just 4 FPS behind the smaller13” X13 with 3080 eGPU, and that’s nota cheap setup either.As I mentioned earlier, it should be possibleto boost the performance of the Blade 14 byattaching an external screen, as this willbypass the iGPU.Both the Type-C ports on either side of thelaptop and the HDMI port connect straightto the RTX 3080, so basically connecting anexternal screen to any port will give a speedboost.We’re looking at a 7% boost to average FPSin Shadow of the Tomb Raider with this simplechange, so not quite as big compared to someother laptops I’ve tested such as the ASUSStrix G15 Advantage Edition, but hey stillan easy way to get some additional performanceout of the laptop.Esports games like CS:GO that hit much higherFPS would see bigger gains here.Generally the higher the frame rate, the morethe integrated graphics acts as a bottleneck.Now that we’ve got an idea of where Razer’snew Blade 14 fits in compared to others I’llalso test it out in 12 different games atboth 1440p and 1080p resolutions.Cyberpunk 2077 was tested in little Chinawith the street kid life path.I’ve got the native 1440p results shownby the red bars, but I’ve also tested 1080pin purple to boost performance, which stilllooks alright at the smaller 14” screensize.1440p actually isn’t doing too bad here,60 FPS was still possible at medium settings,though 1080p was able to surpass this evenat ultra.Red Dead Redemption 2 was tested with thegames benchmark, and surprisingly 1440p ultrawas still capable of 60 FPS in this test,quite impressive given the size of the laptopand this higher resolution.There’s not much of a difference at lowsettings, but the gap increases at the highersetting presets.Call of Duty Warzone was tested with eitherall settings at minimum or maximum, as itdoesn’t have predefined setting presets.Again 1440p max settings was still runningfine and right on 100 FPS.Dropping down to minimum settings only offereda 14% boost to average frame rate, while insteadkeeping max settings but lowering to 1080poffered a larger 27% improvement.For Control I’ve tested with ray tracingenabled and disabled, let’s start with itoff.This is a GPU heavy test, and even the 1%lows from medium and high settings at 1080pwere ahead of the average FPS at 1440p.Regardless, 1440p max settings was still above60 FPS here too.Generally ray tracing without DLSS isn’ta great time, and that was mostly the casehere at 1440p, but look at 1080p, even maxsettings is close to 60 FPS.There’s no denying that DLSS offers a niceimprovement in this title though, and nowwith DLSS combined with ray tracing the Blade14 is able to reach above 60 FPS at 1440p.Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was tested withthe game's benchmark.High settings 1440p could hit 60 FPS, whilemax settings at 1080p was able to do betterstill.I don’t think this game, or most of theAAA titles tested so far need super high framerates to play well, so again great resultsfrom a smaller laptop.That definitely goes for Microsoft FlightSimulator too, which was tested in the Sydneylanding challenge.There’s only a small difference between1080p and 1440p resolutions here, somethingI’ve noted in other videos too, I’m notsure why but with laptops at least there justdoesn’t seem to be much of a performancedifference, so I suppose might as well juststick to 1440p.Watch Dogs Legion was tested with the game'sbenchmark.Ultra settings was above 60 FPS at 1080p,while 1440p needed medium settings to achievea similar result, but yeah again mega highframe rates aren’t a solid requirement ingames like this, so 1440p even with highersettings would be ok too.Fortnite was tested with the same replay,and this is after the update that made epicsettings heavier.Still 1440p epic settings was above 100 FPS,while medium settings 1440p was close to thescreen’s refresh rate.Meanwhile low settings at 1080p could hit1% lows higher than the screen’s refreshrate if you want a super smooth experience.It’s a similar deal for CS:GO, high framerates no problem, but we’d be able to boostperformance significantly in titles like thisby attaching an external screen.Rainbow Six Siege was tested with the gamesbenchmark using Vulkan.1440p max settings is hitting average FPShigher than the screen’s refresh rate, sono problem here either.The weird results at 1440p low and mediumsettings were also seen with the ZephyrusG14, so I guess this is just some issue withthis title on laptops at that resolution.I showed Battlefield V earlier in the comparisongraph, but here’s how it looks at differentsetting presets and with different resolutions.Again great results even at 1440p max settings,but this is a last gen game on modern hardware.Likewise Shadow of the Tomb Raider was hittinghigh frame rate in the game’s benchmarkat 1440p max settings.So very impressive results from Razer’snew Blade 14 gaming laptop, but as you wouldprobably expect this top end spec won’tcome cheap.Now there are of course cheaper 3060 and 3070configurations, but expect lower performancecompared to what I’ve shown in this video.I had some doubts about the RTX 3080 in thislaptop going into the testing, but it endedup doing better than I expected.Of course you can pay less money for slightlylarger laptops that will outperform it, soit really depends on how much you value thatextra portability.In any case I think this is still a greatshowcase of what a 14” laptop can do now.The screen response time isn’t super amazing,but hey it’s better than the G14 competition,and both this and last year’s G14 are significantlyfaster than what we had available from 14inch laptops just last year.I’ll cover things like thermals, batterylife and pretty much everything else aboutthe Blade 14 in the upcoming full review video,so if you’re new to the channel make sureyou’re subscribed for that upcoming content,and I’ll also do a dedicated comparisonagainst the ASUS Zephyrus G14.Come and join me in Discord and get behindthe scenes videos by supporting the channelon Patreon, and while you wait for the fullreview you can check out some of my othervideos over here, I’ll see you over in oneof those next!\n"