Razer Blade 15 Advanced vs Sager

Replacing my Sager that just died after 4.5 years (sudden power loss, won't boot. seems to be motherboard).

I was really considering the Razer Blade 15 Advanced as my new purchase, specifically this one here: https://www.razer.com/gaming-laptops/Razer-Blade-15/RZ09-03305E43-R3U1

However, if I go to Sager or LPC Digital, I can customize the NP8752N2 / PC50DN2 with the same CPU and GPU, same SSD size, plus even better RAM, for about $500 less. Are the 300hz screen and sleek design offered by Razer worth that $500, or are there other aspects I'm not considering? Also looks like the razer blade 15 has a bios that has possibly underclocked and undervolted, and locks the user out from making changes to either.

So I wanted to ask if anyone with a razer blade 15 Advanced had been considering sager, and if you are glad you chose what you did. Just to get some opinions to help me make a decision.

Thanks.

 

Unibody Aluminum chassis gets me real wet so that's usually my ultimate reason for justifying the extra cash. My first blade was also a fantastic machine, so I'm totally biased.

Lots of people will tell you it isn't worth it, or that Razer in general is a rip off. My take is, that's a pretty subjective opinion that implies they either had a bad experience or have *no* experience with Razer. Mine has been fantastic. Honestly my first zero problems machine ever and the 1060 in it is so good I can over clock it to perform on par with a desktop 1060, which still blows my mind every time I think about it considering it's a Max-Q variant. (Note: Zero problems with the machine, Razer Support is pretty bad, so A) I wouldn't buy it directly from them if you can help it and B) I would buy the extra protection plan from what ever retailer you do buy it from. If you are only able to access online retailers, HIDEvolution is a pricy but good alternative which I have heard has stellar support.

I'd say go for it because ultimately, only you can decide.

I have a hard time fully committing to Sager because their stuff seems very niche. I like the idea that if any part of my blade fails, I can actually buy and install a replacement part, though it will be expensive, it is something I can repair myself. Sager doesn't seem to be that way. And I'm fully willing to admit I may be wrong about this particular point, and also fully willing to admit it's a niche point in of itself, since not everybody is a laptop repair technician like I am.

 

Hey thanks, that was a thoughtful response

 

For what it’s worth, unless Sager is designing and manufacturing their own laptops as of a while ago, their laptops should be the same Clevo barebones that are modified and resold by outfits like HID or XMG.

 

Yeah no I knew Clevo makes 3/4th the world's 3rd party "Custom laptops" but it still makes me a bit weary, the idea of installing a CyberpowerPC motherboard into a Sager, despite them both being the same Clevo laptop (Just as an example).

I have run into way to many instances where a particular motherboard is missing a connector, or designed ever so gently in a different way so that it doesn't work right when you try to interchange them. It isn't always so cut and dry with this stuff and when ever possible, you should always try and replace a part with the same exact identical part. It's a very frustrating thing in this business of computer repair, because manufacturers don't always make things transparent. Which is also why Right to Repair Legislation is so important. thanks for coming to my TED talk xD

 

You raise a good point. Even if the hardware is identical, the resellers may implement their own tweaks or overclocks. I completely forgot about that.

 

So I did a lot of research over past three days. It came down to 4 options

1) razer blade 15 2020 Advanced
2) msi ge66 raider (considered gs66 for a bit)
3) sager np8752n2
4) asus rog zephyrus s15 GX502LXS-XS79

I ruled out msi in general due to build quality issues and what Id heard was bad support.

I ruled out razer because of abysmal customer support (from what I hear, couldn't be worse) and them seemingly locking things down more with razer synapse -- less user control. Although I am aware most manufacturers are putting locks in place due to plundervolt, razer seems to have Limited the components even more, and locked us out even more, and still gets really hot from what I heard.

I ruled out sager bc my current one dying so suddenly left a bad taste in my mouth (I need to buy an external card reader just to get my data off it and wipe it). Also, I was looking for something a bit sleeker and lighter in general

4) asus just checked all the boxes on same components, build quality, thermal design (aas and some cool liquid thermal application method where you don't need to worry about corrosion or leak), weighs even less than the razer would have. No camera but I don't need it.

Razer was definitely my 2nd choice of the 4.

 

Looks quite nice, but scrutinising the review, there are a few snags:
1. Abysmal display response time of 14ms GtG
2. Abysmal battery life
3. Abysmal DPC latencies

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-...ng-laptop-updated-to-Comet-Lake.496133.0.html

Too bad, would be nice to have a good alternative to Alienware m15, now that it has been destroyed by soldered RAM.

 

Not sure where you're getting those figures for the blade. The response time for the 300hz display is 9ms worst case, better in more "normal" scenarios. It's one of the better laptop panels on the market right now. If those are the response times for the OLED panel, fine, but if high refresh rate/low response times are your priority, that isn't the model for you anyway.

FWIW, the blade 2020 advanced was my first razer product aside from a kb I had like, 7 years ago. I've had several alienwares throughout the years and a sager/clevo as well and while they were pretty decent machines, they all had issues. The sager was probably the best but had general build quality that was.. uninspiring at best, and the display hinges gave out way before the laptop was otherwise outdated/EOL. The alienwares are nice, but I disagree with dell's "just ramp up the speed and power until the CPU is pegged at 100c and call it good enough" philosophy to heat management. It makes a laptop that is insanely hot running and while usually fast, I have experienced throttling on every one of my alienwares at times that has caused stuttering in games. If you look at some of the BIOS changes they have made to the 51m R1 over the years, it's almost like they're TRYING to gimp it for some reason.

Of your choices listed above, I would go with the Razer if you have the extra money and value the "experience" of using the device over pure performance/dollar. It's the first laptop I've had that *feels good* to use. It's extremely well built and just feels good to open/close and use. The asus would be my second choice if you want something that will probably be marginally faster than the razer, but lacks SOME of the build, though that one is still a well built, premium tier device. Neither company has great support, so it might be worth looking into a protection plan from wherever you purchase them if that's a concern.

 

You jumped the gun. If you read the post I responded to, it should become clear I was referring to asus rog zephyrus s15 GX502LXS-XS79.

As an AW user, I used to look down on Razer as a subpar option, but now Dell have outdone themselves in dumbing their offering down to a point where even Razer looks appealing. I mean who the hell solders (slow) RAM in enthusiast notebooks!

 

Aren't all these different laptops with 300hz display using the same AU Optronics screen with 3ms response time?

Battery life isn't a concern for me. I'm not gaming while on battery, and when I'm using battery on travel, I switch to optimus, as this has a mux for the g-sync off and optimus on. Battery is above average then.

DPC not a personal concern for my uses either

The review you linked is a lesser model too. I have gx502lxs-xs79.

 

Thanks for clarifying the model details. Mux switch is great, however, according to this review

https://www.ultrabookreview.com/379...G Zephyrus S15,thanks to the updated hardware.

16GB of RAM is soldered, therefore thank you very much Asus, I'm out.

 

To each their own. 32gb ram at 3200mhz stock. Works for me, I'll never need more, so no worries from me about half of it being soldered

 

You might worry more if there are any issues with the soldered RAM at some point. Nevertheless, soldering RAM in one slot down is a particularly idiotic idea, since both slots need to be populated with the same exact RAM type for best performance. They probably matcb it well in factory, but any upgradability claim would be a joke.

 

The obvious downside is upgradability, and thats the main complaint for a lot of people -- the inability to change or upgrade the ram in a way that results in "matched" ram, which like you said, provides the best performance. But what I'm saying personally (and I think this would hold true for the vast majority of people and use cases) is that I have no need to ever upgrade beyond what's there. What I'm saying is, 32gb DDR4 at 3200MHz is a LOT, and growing beyond that in size or frequency won't result in any noticeable change for most people, certainly not myself. In fact, I can't really think of many use cases where you need an ultra-thin gaming laptop and still would have an application means where you benefit from greater than 32gb of ram -- are you running 50 VMs while on travel? I don't know, maybe you have some in mind, but certainly none that would apply to me.

I understand your point about it creating difficulties if there were ever any issues with the ram, but I think there are also engineering benefits you're not considering. Soldered ram allows the manufacturer to position it intelligently, even where it can benefit within the thermal system. It decreases the parts -- you no longer have 2 PCB stacks in that spot, no plug and play connectors/sockets. You have thickness reduction, and a reduction in impact from physical shake and shock. All of this translates to less risk of issues. You also get a thinner and lighter system, not to mention cheaper to manufacture (which theoretically translates to reduced sale cost), and those are big selling points to people who want a more mobile gaming system.

I can also say that I've owned numerous gaming systems and never had a ram failure. Always something else goes first, in my experience.

Just some food for thought... if soldered ram is a dealbreaker for you among all the other (imo more important) considerations among gaming laptops, then I think we just differ in our outlook or use cases here.

 

I understand all the above and I'm still not happy with the decision to solder RAM. Time and again, a RAM upgrade has proven to be a way to breathe life into older laptops, even though at time t0, it might be a bit hard to see that a RAM upgrade might be needed in the future. Another issue is the choice of RAM - there are many RAM options, and "soldering OEMs" such as Alienware use slow RAM, taking away my choice to upgrade to premium RAM.
The rush to thin and light involves too many compromises and is not worth it for the majority of users, bar perhaps the people who would struggle handling a 3kg laptop.

 

fair enough, I think we agree then that it comes down to what characteristics of the build are important to you, and how much you care about the resulting sacrifices. Some aspects are going to weigh more than others on different people’s list of priorities

 

You’ll get a culture shock seeing Razer Bios, compared to Sager that I believe a lot setting that could be easily changed by user. Razer is kind MacBook all mostly locked, see other threads that has dozens pages from users who try getting it unlocked. There’re also some known issues like battery bloat even though I don’t have it it multiple Razer laptops. Worth 500 bucks over Sager? Not quite sure since I’m addicting to their design and not familiar with Sager. Maybe if wait Black Friday you’ll get some good deal, got 500 off last year, not blade 15 but stealth 13 late 2019. I read somewhere else that 300hz panel that Razer use is great panel with good color accuracy and brightness when I’m not wrong, and I’d go with max gpu option since it’ll outdate longer than other like I did back in 2018 with 1070mq, today still doesn’t show age on any titles 1080p.

 

A benchmarking between the Razer Blade 15 Advanced with RTX 2080Super with the latest XMG PRO 17 with RTX 3080. RBA still looks not that bad.

 

3080 is clearly better, but I wouldn’t call it a next gen leap. Nobody with a 2xxx series GPU should upgrade this gen. It’s still even debatable for 1070 owners.