It might be "the world's thinnest" gaming laptop, but to me that's almost meaningless if it comes at the expense of zero memory upgradability. That's a dumb design choice! Especially as this uses standard DDR4 RAM, and not (faster) low power DDR, which could at least partially justify the choice of soldered-in, non-expandable RAM.
Having upgradeable memory (anything really) is better. Let me say that.
But realistically, once you upgrade RAM on a laptop are you ever going to upgrade it again? Probably not (as you'll probably go for the max and therefore likely not have motherboard support for higher amounts, if you ever need more in a laptop).
So, if you see this as 16GB of RAM and that's it and that meets your needs, then it's fine. Overpriced, for sure, but it is also a Razer.
I agree with you on some points, but I am also the kind of person who likes to hang on to my laptop for several years (as in 3 or more). And that's where the ability to add another 8 or 16 GB RAM comes in. I wouldn't buy a laptop with fixed 16 GB anymore, never mind 8 GB; I simply don't know if I would want or need 24 or 32 GB RAM in two or three years from now. But yes, if I buy a new laptop every two years or so, the absence of an option to add RAM probably wouldn't matter.
I believe you can actually buy 96Gb x64 width lpddr chips, which would in term be 24GB in dual channel. And that's how most 12GB ram phone was made. Pointless, but possible
Agreed. I was looking for any TBx connectivity which I realize would need an extra component in an AMD system but I figured Razer might be the first to offer this. I guess not (yet?).
By the time 16GB of main system RAM is a meaningful limitation in games, the GPU will be close to obsolescence. I'm not a fan of soldered RAM, but this is a case where it's really not a huge deal.
Not to mention the 16:9 display with the huge bottom bezel which makes that laptop look outdated for 2021 compared to laptops with 16:10 or 3:2 displays.
With many games using fixed vertical FoV's, wider screens mean you're able to see more at once. This makes wide screens a much more reasonable option for gaming systems than general office laptops. Besides which, I don't think I've seen any 16:10 or narrower high refresh rate laptop screens yet.
If the display width and horizontal pixel counts are the same, the additional height and increased vertical pixel counts are a bonus that you can just ignore. In other words, the 16:10 display can do whatever the 16:9 can, but also gives you more vertical pixels when you want them. Yes, I know that you could get black bars at the top and bottom, but with a good quality panel, it's not much of a problem.
Looks interesting! Small, thin and light also as powerfull with lots of ports and a good design. But:
- I doubt the 3080 will make a difference to the 3070 within that case. Especially since it has same TDP and also only 16GB
- Why no 32GB RAM option for the 3070/80 SKUs?
- Why still use a HD Webcam and not finaly a FHD one with shutter
- Hope the screen is above 350-400 Nits. Would be more important than QHD on 14"
- The battery runtimes of 12h seem unrealistic for the small battery of 65Wh
- Can we at some point get away with the ugly green logo and USB ports and just get a grey / black one like on the Razer Blade Stealth or an RGB-LED one like on the mouses?
- Can we just get all Notebooks and peripherals in "Mercury White"?
Looks like a nice chassis compromised with poor component choices. It doesn't sound horribly likely to me that this chassis will handle the 145+w of total cooling capacity for a 45+w CPU and a 100w GPU, and the fact that it won't have liquid metal makes me that much less confident especially with the CPU. CPU Options, especially lower end ones, from the normal H and especially the lower end HS line sounds much more suitable for this chassis. If Radeon's claim of better performance and battery life while gaming on a Radeon dGPU laptop is true, then that is yet another missed opportunity for such an ultrabook.
The other component are pretty undesirable as well, 16GB of ram essentially puts a cap on the laptop's usefulness for many, and with the industry trend of gaming laptops moving to 16Gbit chips observed recently by other outlets this would also put a cap on performance too. Also, Zen has long favoured high frequency memory for a synced FCLK, since the even the H line of CZN supports LPDDR4(X?)-4266 and should be able to achieve synced FCLK with that, maybe that was a missed opportunity despite the timing differences.
I like it. Seriously considering it. I want a fast 14" laptop. I wish the gpu could be set to max-p but 100w is not bad. This is pretty much what I'm looking for. I don't care about upgrading ram and 16GB is more than enough for me.
Just like we have graphic card reviews that allow us to tell which graphics cards are best, we should have the same thing for laptops and laptop graphic cards. There is no way I am going to spend the time determining how good the 3050ti is versus A 3060 or A 3060ti or A 3070. Even if some laptops have 8mg of memory and others have 16 its still good to know. In G-d I trust.
Yes I don't know what Razer was thinking offering 3070 and 3080 with limited 16 gb ram. It has been a complaint I've read since 2016. Would have been a no brainer for me too esp with the size that fits a handcarry luggage. 14 is the limit you see. Had to go with an underpowered Asus G14. Sigh... Needed the 8gb graphics ram that the Razer 14 has.
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eastcoast_pete - Monday, June 14, 2021 - link
It might be "the world's thinnest" gaming laptop, but to me that's almost meaningless if it comes at the expense of zero memory upgradability. That's a dumb design choice! Especially as this uses standard DDR4 RAM, and not (faster) low power DDR, which could at least partially justify the choice of soldered-in, non-expandable RAM.Tams80 - Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - link
Having upgradeable memory (anything really) is better. Let me say that.But realistically, once you upgrade RAM on a laptop are you ever going to upgrade it again? Probably not (as you'll probably go for the max and therefore likely not have motherboard support for higher amounts, if you ever need more in a laptop).
So, if you see this as 16GB of RAM and that's it and that meets your needs, then it's fine. Overpriced, for sure, but it is also a Razer.
eastcoast_pete - Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - link
I agree with you on some points, but I am also the kind of person who likes to hang on to my laptop for several years (as in 3 or more). And that's where the ability to add another 8 or 16 GB RAM comes in. I wouldn't buy a laptop with fixed 16 GB anymore, never mind 8 GB; I simply don't know if I would want or need 24 or 32 GB RAM in two or three years from now. But yes, if I buy a new laptop every two years or so, the absence of an option to add RAM probably wouldn't matter.meacupla - Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - link
well, you wouldn't want 24GB of ram, because then it won't run in dual channel.I could totally see configuring a 5900HX with 32GB of ram from the start.
erinadreno - Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - link
I believe you can actually buy 96Gb x64 width lpddr chips, which would in term be 24GB in dual channel. And that's how most 12GB ram phone was made. Pointless, but possibleFakThisShttyGame - Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - link
They should allow you to upgrade the laptop gpu and cpu as well no? Upgrading ram doesnt add much performance upgrade comparing to cpu and gpulmcd - Monday, June 14, 2021 - link
Wild, I didn't think they'd sacrifice access to their external gpu product. Guess that's a misprediction on my part.bsleek - Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - link
Agreed. I was looking for any TBx connectivity which I realize would need an extra component in an AMD system but I figured Razer might be the first to offer this. I guess not (yet?).patel21 - Monday, June 14, 2021 - link
Sorry but I just stopped reading the article after "so 16 GB is all it ever will have".Soldered RAM is an Abomination on Gaming PCs
Spunjji - Wednesday, June 16, 2021 - link
By the time 16GB of main system RAM is a meaningful limitation in games, the GPU will be close to obsolescence. I'm not a fan of soldered RAM, but this is a case where it's really not a huge deal.ZoZo - Monday, June 14, 2021 - link
Not to mention the 16:9 display with the huge bottom bezel which makes that laptop look outdated for 2021 compared to laptops with 16:10 or 3:2 displays.DanNeely - Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - link
With many games using fixed vertical FoV's, wider screens mean you're able to see more at once. This makes wide screens a much more reasonable option for gaming systems than general office laptops. Besides which, I don't think I've seen any 16:10 or narrower high refresh rate laptop screens yet.ZoZo - Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - link
If the display width and horizontal pixel counts are the same, the additional height and increased vertical pixel counts are a bonus that you can just ignore. In other words, the 16:10 display can do whatever the 16:9 can, but also gives you more vertical pixels when you want them. Yes, I know that you could get black bars at the top and bottom, but with a good quality panel, it's not much of a problem.The following laptops have 16:10 + HRR:
- Lenovo Legion 5 Pro & 7: 2560x1600 / 165 Hz
- Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Pro: 2560x1600 / 120Hz
- Acer Predator Triton 500: 2560x1600 / 165 Hz
- Acer Nitro 5 & Predator Helios 300: 2160x1440 / 165 Hz
- Asus ROG Flow 13: 1920x1200 / 120 Hz
Granted there is not yet any 14" that comes with both 16:10 WQHD and HRR, but I'm confident that it wouldn't require much effort for it to happen.
ZoZo - Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - link
Also, calling 16:10 narrower is a bit misleading. In practice a 16:10 screen is not narrower than its 16:9 counterpart, it's just taller.Matthias B V - Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - link
Looks interesting! Small, thin and light also as powerfull with lots of ports and a good design. But:- I doubt the 3080 will make a difference to the 3070 within that case. Especially since it has same TDP and also only 16GB
- Why no 32GB RAM option for the 3070/80 SKUs?
- Why still use a HD Webcam and not finaly a FHD one with shutter
- Hope the screen is above 350-400 Nits. Would be more important than QHD on 14"
- The battery runtimes of 12h seem unrealistic for the small battery of 65Wh
- Can we at some point get away with the ugly green logo and USB ports and just get a grey / black one like on the Razer Blade Stealth or an RGB-LED one like on the mouses?
- Can we just get all Notebooks and peripherals in "Mercury White"?
lemurbutton - Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - link
Wait for the 14" Macbook Pro with M2X (Based on A15 later this year)hanselltc - Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - link
Looks like a nice chassis compromised with poor component choices. It doesn't sound horribly likely to me that this chassis will handle the 145+w of total cooling capacity for a 45+w CPU and a 100w GPU, and the fact that it won't have liquid metal makes me that much less confident especially with the CPU. CPU Options, especially lower end ones, from the normal H and especially the lower end HS line sounds much more suitable for this chassis. If Radeon's claim of better performance and battery life while gaming on a Radeon dGPU laptop is true, then that is yet another missed opportunity for such an ultrabook.The other component are pretty undesirable as well, 16GB of ram essentially puts a cap on the laptop's usefulness for many, and with the industry trend of gaming laptops moving to 16Gbit chips observed recently by other outlets this would also put a cap on performance too. Also, Zen has long favoured high frequency memory for a synced FCLK, since the even the H line of CZN supports LPDDR4(X?)-4266 and should be able to achieve synced FCLK with that, maybe that was a missed opportunity despite the timing differences.
SaolDan - Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - link
I like it. Seriously considering it. I want a fast 14" laptop. I wish the gpu could be set to max-p but 100w is not bad. This is pretty much what I'm looking for. I don't care about upgrading ram and 16GB is more than enough for me.Newoak - Sunday, September 5, 2021 - link
Just like we have graphic card reviews that allow us to tell which graphics cards are best, we should have the same thing for laptops and laptop graphic cards. There is no way I am going to spend the time determining how good the 3050ti is versus A 3060 or A 3060ti or A 3070.Even if some laptops have 8mg of memory and others have 16 its still good to know. In G-d I trust.
BluSleeper - Tuesday, January 4, 2022 - link
Yes I don't know what Razer was thinking offering 3070 and 3080 with limited 16 gb ram. It has been a complaint I've read since 2016. Would have been a no brainer for me too esp with the size that fits a handcarry luggage. 14 is the limit you see. Had to go with an underpowered Asus G14. Sigh... Needed the 8gb graphics ram that the Razer 14 has.