Razer’s Blade gaming laptops get 12th-gen Intel CPUs and RTX 3080 Ti graphics
The company will also offer a 144Hz UHD display.
It wouldn't be CES without a deluge of new gaming laptops, and so far, the 2022 edition of the annual trade show has delivered. It should come as no surprise then that Razer took the opportunity to update its popular Blade 14, 15 and 17 models. The company hasn't redesigned the three laptops, but it has made a handful of tweaks. They all feature refreshed keyboards with "slightly larger" keys, a change Razer says it made with the "wellness" of users in mind. They also include a new hinge design that is thinner and enables better ventilation.
However, the highlight of these machines is their updated internals. All three will come standard with DDR5 RAM for the first time. It's also possible to configure them with NVIDIA's latest laptop flagship GPU, the RTX 3080 Ti. With 16GB of onboard GDDR6 memory, Razer claims it delivers better performance than a desktop Titan RTX. Another option you'll have is the RTX 3070 Ti. Razer says the GPU is up to 70 percent faster than the RTX 2070 Super NVIDIA shipped in 2020. The company also claims it can deliver 100 frames per second while rendering games at 1440p.
The Blade 15 and 17 will also come with Intel's new 12th-generation Core H-series processors. Announced at CES, these use the same performance and efficient core design as their recently announced desktop counterparts. Those with money to spare can configure the Blade 15 and Blade 17 with the 14-core i9-12900H. Oh, and all the computers will come with Windows 11 pre-installed.
As you might imagine, the Blade 14 features the fewest improvements as the most recent addition to Razer's lineup. The 2022 model includes a new fingerprint-resistant coating and a 1080p IR webcam with full Windows Hello support. Internally, the computer has one of AMD's latest 6000 series processors, the Ryzen 9 6900HX, paired with 16GB of DDR5 RAM.
As for the Blade 15, it will come with a new optional UHD display. The highlights of this IPS panel include 100 percent DCI-P3 wide color gamut coverage and a 144Hz refresh rate, up from 60Hz on the 4K OLED Razer offered previously. Your other display options with the 2022 model are a 360Hz 1080p panel or a 240Hz 1440p screen.
Lastly, the Blade 17 gets some of the most practical upgrades. Razer has equipped its flagship with a higher capacity 82WHr battery. It also comes with eight speakers, up from four on the 2021 model. Last but not least, the Blade 17 will ship with a new 280W adapter that, thanks to its GaN circuitry, is about the size of a 180W power brick.
The Blade 14 will start at $2,000 when pre-orders open on February 10th through the Razer website and select retailers, with broader availability to follow later in the first quarter of 2022. Meanwhile, the Blade 15 and Blade 17 will start at $2,500 and $2,700, respectively, and will be available to pre-order beginning on January 25th.
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