The Razer Blade 15 Advanced edition has some nice specs, but how well does it actually
perform in games?
I’ve tested 20 different titles at all setting levels and also compared it against other
laptops to show you how it stacks up.
My configuration has Intel’s 8 core i7-10875H processor with Nvidia RTX 2080 Super Max-Q
graphics and 16gb of memory in dual channel, so one of the highest spec options available,
you can find others as well as updated prices linked in the description.
The Razer Synapse software lets you select between different performance modes, I’ve
set the CPU to boost and GPU to high which are the highest available options, though
neither of these applied any GPU overclocking.
It also gives us the option to disable optimus and only use the discrete Nvidia graphics,
I’ve used this as it will give us a performance boost in games, there’s no G-Sync though.
We’ll only be covering gaming performance in this video, so if you’re new then get
subscribed for the upcoming thermal testing and full review videos, for now let’s start
by going through all 20 games at all setting levels, then afterwards we’ll see how other
laptops compare.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was tested using the game’s built in benchmark tool, ultra settings
wasn’t quite able to get 60 FPS, but that’s only really possible from thicker non Max-Q
laptops in my experience, still great performance compared to others though.
Battlefield 5 was tested in campaign mode, and above 100 FPS at max settings is an excellent
result for this game, no problems running it at all, we’ll check out how other laptops
compare in this title shortly.
Control was tested with and without RTX enabled.
I’ve got the default results with RTX disabled in the purple bars, RTX on in the green bars
which was much lower, then RTX on with DLSS 2.0 enabled in the red bars, which was much
better than without DLSS while also still looking pretty nice.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was tested with the built in benchmark, and the results were
quite good for a laptop of this spec, but we’ll check out how the blade compares with
other laptops in this game and some others soon.
Apex Legends was tested with either all settings at maximum, or all settings on the lowest
possible values, as it doesn’t have predefined setting presets.
Even the 1% low maxed out was above 100 FPS and played well, while minimum boosted the
1% low to above even the average of max.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare was tested in campaign mode with either max or min settings
for the same reason.
The difference wasn’t as big between them though, and it was almost hitting 100 FPS
at max settings.
Fortnite was tested with the replay feature, and it was also playing fine with max settings,
though medium would get better use out of the 300Hz display in my unit.
CS:GO was tested with the ulletical FPS benchmark, and this game sees nice boosts from laptops
where optimus can be disabled, and that’s certainly the case here too.
Dota 2 always performs pretty similarly when compared to other laptops that are specced
much lower, so of course no issues running it at all either.
Overwatch is another less demanding game and was tested in the practice range, 200 FPS
at max is a great result, while high and below would better utilize the 300Hz refresh rate
of the screen.
Rainbow Six Siege was tested with the built in benchmark using Vulkan, again great results
even at max settings, though they weren’t too different in terms of average FPS between
ultra and high, while low was surpassing the screens refresh rate.
Metro Exodus was tested using the built in benchmark, most parts of the game perform
a fair bit better than this, so don’t take these results as a good indication of what
to expect throughout the entire game, it’s more of a worst case that can be compared
against my other data.
The Division 2 was also tested with the built in benchmark.
Ultra settings were around 60 FPS for the 1% low at max, a nice result for this test.
Monster Hunter World was tested running through the main town, and it was also running fine
at max settings, and as is generally the case with this test, the 1% low isn’t that far
behind the average FPS which is good to see for consistent performance.
Borderlands 3 was tested using the game’s built in benchmark, above 60 FPS at max is
a good result for this test, though there was a big improvement to be had going from
high to medium settings.
Ghost Recon Breakpoint was also tested with the benchmark tool, and again 60 to 70 FPS
at max is a great result for this test, just for quick comparison the 1660 Ti in the HP
Omen 15 was around 50 FPS there.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is another that was tested with the games benchmark.
It might not look like it, but 60 FPS at max settings is a good result for this test, while
medium was capable of hitting 100.
Far Cry New Dawn was also tested with the games benchmark, this test, like the last
game, seems to rely a bit more on CPU power, and the results are likely decent due to the
8 core i7.
The Witcher 3 was playable at ultra settings, it was playing perfectly fine but as is generally
the case we could get a nice boost by stepping down to high settings which still looks good.
F1 2019 was tested with the benchmark tool and sees similar behaviour, again good results
at max settings but some fairly nice improvements just going down one level.
Now let’s take a look at how the Razer Blade 15 Advanced compares against other laptops,
use these results as a rough guide only, as they were tested at different times with different
drivers.
In Battlefield 5 I’ve got the Blade highlighted in red.
The average frame rate was quite decent when it compared against others, it’s the highest
result I’ve got from a 90 watt GPU so far, and this is likely due to the option of being
able to disable optimus.
The 1% low result is in line with the others that are nearby, so yeah a fair result.
These are the results from Far Cry 5 with ultra settings in the built in benchmark.
This time the Acer Triton 500 with last gen CPU and GPU was a little ahead, though this
test is more processor intensive and the last gen Triton 500 has a CPU undervolt applied
by default out of the box, and I suspect this is what’s giving it the edge.
Unfortunately the Blade cannot be undervolted with the latest BIOS, but either way the result
is still quite decent when compared to others.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was also tested with the games benchmark tool with the highest
setting preset.
This time the lower wattage 2080 Super Max-Q in the GS66 was 1 FPS ahead, though it does
have a higher tier i9 processor with higher power limit, either way not too different
all things considered.
Interestingly it’s still performing the same as the Infinity W5 aka Eluktronics Mech-15
G3 which uses the 2070 Super at higher power limit.
The gaming results from the Razer Blade 15 Advanced are quite good, I mean I was expecting
this given the specs aren’t far off top of the line for a gaming laptop of this size,
but despite having a lower wattage GPU compared to some others it was still producing some
of the best results.
This is even more interesting when you see the results from the thermal testing, video
on that will be posted tomorrow so make sure you’re subscribed.
Basically the performance when both the CPU and GPU are active just isn’t that impressive,
but in games as we’ve just seen it doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal, as the performance
is still there.
Here are the screen response time results for the 1080p 300Hz screen in my unit.
The average grey-to-grey response time was around 3.8ms, so not too far off the 3.33ms
required to have all transitions complete within the refresh window.
There was a little overshoot in some of the rises, but nothing that looked that bad.
I’ve got a link in the description explaining what all of these numbers mean.
When we look at how it stacks up against other other laptops, it’s one of the better results,
and a fair bit above the 300Hz panels in the MSI GS66 and GE66 which were in the 7 to 8
millisecond range.
Let me know what you thought of the gaming performance from the Razer Blade 15 Advanced
gaming laptop down in the comments, and if you’re new then you’ll definitely want
to get subscribed for the upcoming videos where I’ll test out thermals in depth and
of course the detailed full review where I’ll show you everything this machine has to offer.