CHOOSING YOUR BLADE: A BUYER’S GUIDE

The two most popular options are 16-inch gaming laptops and 18-inch laptops for gaming, though a 14-inch gaming laptop can provide added portability.

Since many games are graphically intensive, you want a gaming laptop with at least an Intel® Core™ Ultra Mobile Processor or AMD Ryzen™ AI processor. Of course, high-end gaming laptops with Intel® Core™ Ultra 275HX or AMD Ryzen™ AI 370 HX processors will grant smoother gaming experiences and allow for even heavier multitasking.

If gaming at high resolutions of 4K or more, go for gaming laptops with graphic cards featuring at least 8GB VRAM, such as NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, 5080, 5070 Ti, 5070 or 5060. eGPUs can also be considered if you have higher resolution and FPS output requirements.

The batteries in most gaming laptops can be expected to last between 1 to 2 years before they need replacing, and they usually run for 2 to 5 hours off each charge, depending on your activity. More mobile gaming laptops such as the Blade 14 can last up to 11 hours. Razer offers a 2-year warranty on all of its laptop batteries.

Gaming laptops with at least 16GB of RAM will give you speedy, high-performance play for most games today, though buying a gaming laptop with up to 64GB of RAM will mean you don’t have to worry about more demanding games in the future.

While 1TB of storage space is appropriate for most, game enthusiasts should get gaming laptops with at least 2TB worth of storage space and up to 4TB to store more AAA games.

Gaming laptops with high-performance CPUs and specialized graphics cards tend to heat up when being used. To improve cooling, look for gaming laptops fitted with the best internal cooling technologies, such as advanced heat pipes or vapor chambers. To further improve cooling capabilities, look to external solutions such as a laptop cooling stand to help increase airflow and ergonomics.

Budget gaming laptops can be found between US$1,500 to US$2,000, while top-rated gaming laptops can cost up to or exceed US$5,000. Whether you’re looking for an affordable previous-gen GeForce laptop or fully-loaded GeForce RTX 5090 laptop, consider your needs carefully before investing.

While RAM and storage space upgrades are possible, you cannot replace your gaming laptop’s GPU (graphics card). However, you can extend the life of your laptop’s graphics performance by considering accessories like eGPUs.

It is recommended to get a gaming laptop with at least the following specs:
‐ CPU: Intel^® Core™ i7-13700H / Ryzen™ 7 7840HS or newer
‐ GPU: NVIDIA^® GeForce RTX™ 4060 / AMD Radeon™ RX 7600M XT or better
‐ RAM: 16GB DDR5 (dual-channel strongly recommended)
‐ Display: Full HD+ (1920×1200) or QHD+ (2560×1600)
‐ Refresh Rate: 165Hz or higher
‐ Storage: 1TB NVMe SSD (Gen 4 preferred)
‐ OS: Windows 11 (64-bit)
‐ Battery & Cooling: 80Wh+ battery, advanced cooling system for sustained performance

While RAM comes in a variety of speeds and types, 16GB of DDR4 RAM and above is the recommended guidance for gaming laptops, in order to play the latest games.

Razer creates high-end gaming laptops that can run practically any game perfectly, even at maximum settings, including notoriously demanding games such as Hogwarts Legacy, Horizon Zero Dawn, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Dead Space Remake, Cyberpunk 2077, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Far Cry 6.

Look for gaming laptops with displays featuring refresh rates of 144Hz or higher to get smoother motion and less blur for a better gaming experience.

There are countless design options available for gaming laptops that will vary depending on budget range, but the best designs are ones that optimize for thermal efficiency and are made with high-end materials such as aluminum that will stand the test of time like the Razer Blade. You can even personalize your own Razer Blade with custom skins to express your personal style.

Get gaming laptops with backlit keyboards for greater precision when gaming. You can also consider per-key RGB keyboards for useful visual segmentation and external keyboards for gaming at home.

Make sure your gaming laptop has a HDMI port, USB Type-A and Type-C ports for compatibility with both newer and older peripherals. An ethernet port is also great if you plan on using your laptop mostly as a desktop replacement, but as 5GHz WiFi is supported on most gaming laptops, creating a wireless, cable-free gaming setup is equally easy. External accessories such as Thunderbolt 5 Dock can also be used for expanded port capabilities if needed.

All Razer gaming laptops come with Full HD 1080p webcams for those who engage in streaming, prefer logging in using facial recognition, or simply use their laptops for both gaming and work. The upcoming Blade 18 comes with a 5MP camera for even better clarity when streaming or video chats.

For a good gaming laptop, set aside a budget of US$2,000 to US$3,000. For top-rated gaming laptops, a budget of US$4,000 to US$5,000 would be best.

We recommend getting a warranty for your gaming laptop if your budget permits, as it protects your gear with added insurance. At Razer, we have optional RazerCare protection plans available so that you can enjoy your gear without any worries. Also, Razer Blade laptops all come with a limited 1-year warranty and a 2-year battery warranty.

If you plan on keeping your laptop fresh to play the latest games for many years to come, as well as have room for all the games and content you download, you’ll want to get a laptop that offers expandability. The Razer Blade 14 and Blade 16 come with upgradeable SSD storage. The Blade 18 offers upgradeable RAM as well, but check each model for compatibility.