Razer reveals new lineup of Blade gaming laptops with RTX 3080 GPUs at CES 2021
You can finally get an RTX 3080!
Now that the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 mobile GPU is finally here, we're getting a flood of announcements from laptop makers at CES 2021 about updates to their lineups, so the new Razer Blade 15 and Blade 17 laptops with mobile RTX 30-series GPUs was entirely expected, but still exciting nonetheless.
“The new Razer Blade line is the best place for gamers to play the next generation of games,” Brad Wildes, senior VP and general manager, Razer Systems business unit, said in a statement.
“Our new line features the latest graphics technology, giving gamers the most immersive experience available. With the fastest displays on the market and one of our smallest chassis ever, gamers can enjoy ultra-smooth gameplay anywhere and everywhere.”
To go along with the new GPUs, the Blade 15 and Blade 17 will feature new, higher-refresh, higher-resolution displays and what Razer says is the smallest 15-inch form factor of any gaming laptop powered by the new Nvidia Ampere mobile GPUs.
The new 15.6-inch displays will feature 1080p at 360Hz, 1440p at 240Hz, but only 60Hz at 4k. The 17.3-inch displays will feature 1080p at 360Hz, 1440p at 165Hz, and 4k at 120Hz, so if you're looking to do some 4k gaming, the Blade 17 is definitely the way to go.
The new Razer Blade 15 starts at $1,699 (about £1,325 / AU$2,380) while the Blade 17 will start at $2,299 (about £1,795 / AU$3,220). Both are available for pre-order on Razer's site right now, with the Blade 15 going on sale with other retailers starting on January 26, while the Blade 17 will be available with other retailers sometime in Q1 2021.
- Check out the best gaming laptops
- These are the best gaming PCs
- AMD vs Nvidia: who makes the best graphics cards
- See this week's Razer Blade deals for cheap prices on the latest machines
What's in a GPU?
The new Razer Blade laptops will feature up to an RTX 3080, which as we saw last week in some leaked specs, will use the GA104 GPU rather than the GA102, so the RTX 3080 mobile is more akin to the desktop RTX 3070 rather than the full RTX 3080.
Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
Still, this puts the Razer Blade 15 and Blade 17's GPU on par or better than the desktop RTX 2080 Ti, so at these price points, there's very little to complain about here.
With pressure from AMD on the desktop front, it remains to be seen if AMD can put pressure on Nvidia in the gaming laptop space, but we'll definitely get a better sense as more manufacturers reveal their CES 2021 lineups.
- Check out all of TechRadar's CES 2021 coverage. We're remotely covering the online-only show to bring you all the breaking tech news and launches, plus a smattering of hands-on reviews.
John (He/Him) is the Components Editor here at TechRadar and he is also a programmer, gamer, activist, and Brooklyn College alum currently living in Brooklyn, NY.
Named by the CTA as a CES 2020 Media Trailblazer for his science and technology reporting, John specializes in all areas of computer science, including industry news, hardware reviews, PC gaming, as well as general science writing and the social impact of the tech industry.
You can find him online on Threads @johnloeffler.
Currently playing: Baldur's Gate 3 (just like everyone else).