MSI vs Razer Blade Laptops


LCrosno
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Does anyone currently own a Razer Blade 15 or 17, or any of the higher powered MSI laptops that are marketed specifically for 3D renderings/CAD? I am looking to upgrade my ASUS, and these two options seem to be the front runners. I use Chief Premier X10, and am really looking for something that I can have smooth renderings in, do walk-throughs easily, and save a few files to my computer instead of constantly having to save to an external storage source. 

 

My current laptop is nearing three years old, and it has been fine, but never as good as I wanted. I am willing to spend the money now to get what I really need. 

(Current computer: ASUS ROG GL752VW-DH74 17-Inch Gaming Laptop, Discrete GPU GeForce GTX 960M 4 GB VRAM, 16GB DDR4, 1 TB, 128 GB SSD)

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For what it's worth, those spec's on your current laptop are almost identical to what I just gave up on. After using gaming laptops for 10 years, I had enough of slow renderings and switched to a gaming PC. An unbelievable difference in performance. I never actually did any work out of my office anyhow which is why I switched to a PC. SOOO much better (except for on really large homes in which case Chief still runs so slow). But if you have to have the mobility, someone else will have to offer their advice.

In my experience, the graphics card in the laptop never really performed up to it's spec.

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Hi robdyck,

 

I am back and forth from my office to home, so a laptop is my only option. We also have a showroom where I go in and connect my laptop to the tv so customers can see the plan easier, so I have to have something that's mobile. Maybe in the future I can get some kind of permanent desktop setup, but a laptop is a necessity for now. I appreciate your advice!!

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The most current thread on Laptops is the one linked below , but I have not seen many report of the Razer's on here , mostly I am guessing due to there Pricing. MSI has some nice systems , Asus does too , one that looks like a Surface Pro even...see page 2 below....

 

 

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13 minutes ago, LCrosno said:

 

I am back and forth from my office to home, so a laptop is my only option.

I've been running on laptops only for over a decade. Current one keeps pace just fine and I don't restrain myself-ever. Standard I run it with 2 external monitors (laptop on left, 27" 3 k center w/wireless keyboard, 24" UHD right-love two keyboards:) , and 42" TV for client meetings. At 3 yrs old it still benches just under the 90 percentile.

 

Key factors for a laptop as a primary machine-desktop processor, more Vram (mine having 8 instead of 4 benches a whisper under a desktop 1060). Current GPus laptops are closer to desktop versions but still check the vram. I've found that two smaller (quality) SSDs in Raid 0 improves undo speed. Then find out, from actual owners, how well it dissipates heat-look on the notebookreview.com forum in sections on specific brands to find the machines you are considering. My machine comes in at 8.5 lbs-requires a good backpack instead of a case (Everki). I've thought about going to a monster 12.5 lb machine since I don't travel as much and have a secondary. Not sure but could really get one cranking and still not have heat throttling (biggest issue with laptops, heat can make your i7 run like a 3)

 

I like Clevo machines. Next machine, if it is a Clevo laptop will come from HidEvolution.com, no question . Whenever I've looked I'm usually down to Clevo and MSI, so far Clevo has won for what I want. This year I'd still look at Alienware and Asus (always do) but not certain yet. I'd wait a month or two until reports from owners surface on the above forum to get a good idea how thermals are perfoming (ignore Mfg propoganda).

My current machine was $3k, have configured machines between 3 and 4K when kicking tires. Interestingly when I configure desktops (just the tower) I come in the same.

 

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@Kbird1 I saw that thread, but didn't see anything about the Razer (not a misspelling, ha), so I started a new thread.

 

My husband has a Surface Pro, and it's alright, but not really what I'm looking for. My current computer is my second ASUS, and I have not been overly impressed with anything, from multiple problems I've had to the customer service (or lack thereof). 

 

Just curious if anyone had experience with either of these specifically. Definitely will not get another ASUS.

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@MarkMc thanks for this- I was assuming I would need to spend around $3k for what I want. I did see the top of the line Razer 17 has a lot of overheating problems, so staying away from that. I've also read 4K is not always compatible with drafting software- not sure if that's applicable to Chief Architect or not. 

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I would not get 4k on the laptop. Can run that on attached monitor if it suits but life (text and settings) is easier with a 3k external. I don't know if I'll get a 3k laptop or not. I already hack the font sizes for my machine instead of using display percentage. FWIW I use Utralmon for managing multiple displays at different resolutions, there are several other options, makes sending windows across resolutions manageable. Razer never made my short list.

One other thing-who you get the laptop from makes a huge difference. Some vendors (Xoticpc, Hidevolution, few others) actually burn in the machine and test them prior to shipping. They will also have more configuration options than off the shelf.

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55 minutes ago, LCrosno said:

@kMoquin I wish I could say the same, but both my first and second ASUS have had several problems. Glad you have not had the same experience.

I have your same laptop, and I have done a few upgrades that have made it a very fast machine. I wouldn't buy a new one yet personally, not worth the price tag. My desktop has much newer graphics card and the difference isn't worth mentioning. 

 

Install Chief Architect to your "SSD" which I believe is an M.2 NVME drive and not an ssd as there is only one ssd slot available in this machine.

Create a ramdisk using AMD's free software: http://www.radeonramdisk.com/software_downloads.php 

Set your temp directory to the ram disk and maybe even your user library(make a backup)

Use PBR for rendering, master the techniques the results are nearly instantaneous.

 

I have a eGPU that I plug in when I need to use rendering software- at $600 it was worth the price tag as it was only $150 more than the gfx card it holds. This plugs into the USB-c on the Asus

 

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7 minutes ago, Renerabbitt said:

Create a ramdisk using AMD's free software: http://www.radeonramdisk.com/software_downloads.php 

Set your temp directory to the ram disk and maybe even your user library(make a backup)

 

Thanks for the Tip on this Ramdisk software Rene, I have tried it in the past with the Different one but found that both Chief's Library Update and Windows10 Update had issues and didn't work with a Ramdisk running...may have been the particular Ramdisk ( IM Disk i believe) that was responsible though. ( there is a thread in the Tips Forum about it)

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1 minute ago, Kbird1 said:

 

Thanks for the Tip on this Ramdisk software Rene, I have tried it in the past with the Different one but found that both Chief's Library Update and Windows10 Update had issues and didn't work with a Ramdisk running...may have been the particular Ramdisk ( IM Disk i believe) that was responsible though. ( there is a thread in the Tips Forum about it)

Without getting too far into it, my ramdisk is being auto-synced with the cloud using google backup and syncs new feature that can sync any folder on your computer regardless of its location. I don't have the core libraries placed into the ramdisk. There is also another software that syncs any drive to another location on my computer for backup.

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1 hour ago, LCrosno said:

@Kbird1 I saw that thread, but didn't see anything about the Razer (not a misspelling, ha), so I started a new thread.

 

My husband has a Surface Pro, and it's alright, but not really what I'm looking for. My current computer is my second ASUS, and I have not been overly impressed with anything, from multiple problems I've had to the customer service (or lack thereof). 

 

Just curious if anyone had experience with either of these specifically. Definitely will not get another ASUS.

 

 

Yes Sorry , not sure if that was me or SpellCheck as I know it is Razer.  I wouldn't Rule out Asus totally just because one particular Model had issues , that is why it is important to check Forums like NBR as Mark suggested above, ( he knows his stuff when it comes to Laptops) the particular model is important right down to the SKU if possible as many come in multiple configurations ( enough to hurt your brain when try to choose :) ).

 

And no I didn't mean you should get a Surface Pro , I just meant Asus's high end desktop replacement , mentioned in the other Thread stole it's Design Cues from the M$ Surface Pro. Alienware has a new Desktop Replacement out too , but neither are for the faint of heart in regards to the Cost.

 

Mick.

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You know, Dell makes a Precision Notebook Workstation in 15" and 17".  I have a 5 year old one and run x10, SolidWorks, ProE, etc one it.  Not cheap, (approximately 5K or so) when configured with the top nvidia graphics card, memory and disk.  But then I was paying $4500 for just the video cards for the workstations when I had 7 engineers working for me in Boise.  You get what you pay for especially in workstations / video.

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On 2/12/2019 at 8:14 PM, LCrosno said:

@MarkMc thanks for this- I was assuming I would need to spend around $3k for what I want. I did see the top of the line Razer 17 has a lot of overheating problems, so staying away from that. I've also read 4K is not always compatible with drafting software- not sure if that's applicable to Chief Architect or not. 

If you are willing to spend 3k, then you have quite a few options.  I think one reason few people mention Razer is because their price tag is higher, while the core components are the same as the competition.  If looking at a 15 inch laptop, they all have hexa core 8750h and so on.

If I was you, I would look into getting a 2019 Gigabyte Aero 15 with rtx 2070 card.  It weighs in at about the same as MSI or Razer, it's the latest line, has the newest GPU, 4k screen with good colors, plus it has the BIGGEST battery in comparison the competition.

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6 hours ago, limitless8 said:


If I was you, I would look into getting a 2019 Gigabyte Aero 15 with rtx 2070 card. 

 

They have been getting good reviews for a couple of versions now , but at least locally, that tends to lead to price gouging and selling well above msrp. But if the new model is out you may pick up the 2108 version at a good price now....

 

M.

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I've also looked at the Razer, the fit and finish of the case to me is the best out there for a laptop, components/performance can basically be the same as any other comparable laptop.  It is very satisfying to look at and makes you feel like you got what you paid for.  The biggest issue I have come across with them is warranty support.  You can however buy one from a third party retailer like Best Buy and get a full coverage warranty to offset that (more money of course).  Otherwise the Razers seems to be no better or worse than any of its competitors from a performance standpoint.  You will most likely pay more for the same performance to get a Razer, as long as you are comparing similar form factors.  Mark has had really good experiences with his Clevo machines, you can definitely get more for less with one of those.  Also if you buy from one of the clevo resellers, you can call them and talk to real people whenever you need something.  Also, make sure you know what external ports are important to you, the amount and type can vary widely between case manufacturers.

 

You can head to a local Best Buy and touch both a Razer and an MSI if you've never seen one in person.  

 

Good luck, the rabbit hole is deep!

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I appreciate all the help you guys have given, and guess I should give an update now that I have a NEW computer! 

I went with: HIDevolution MSI GP73 Leopard 8RF 17.3" FHD 120Hz Gaming Laptop | 2.2 GHz i7-8750H, GTX 1070, 32GB DDR4/2666MHz RAM, PCIe 512GB SSD + 1TB HDD. It just came in on Tuesday, so I'm still getting used to it. So far, it seems like a great choice for my needs. 

 

Again, thanks for all the input!

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Quote

I appreciate all the help you guys have given, and guess I should give an update now that I have a NEW computer! 

I went with: HIDevolution MSI GP73 Leopard 8RF 17.3" FHD 120Hz Gaming Laptop | 2.2 GHz i7-8750H, GTX 1070, 32GB DDR4/2666MHz RAM, PCIe 512GB SSD + 1TB HDD. It just came in on Tuesday, so I'm still getting used to it. So far, it seems like a great choice for my needs. 

 

 

Those look like great specs, I'll be interested to see how it performs. What kind of $ is that system?

 

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