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MagyarRazer Blade 17 laptop review: Now with 130 W TGP GeForce RTX graphics
Razer has always been quick to jump onto new CPUs and GPUs whenever they become available. Results are often excellent with appreciable gen-to-gen gains while they can other times fall flat. The Ice Lake Blade Stealth, for example, proved to worse than the cheaper Whiskey Lake-U version it was supposed to replace. Thankfully, this latest 17.3-inch Blade model has no such problems.
The 2021 Blade 17 succeeds the Blade Pro 17 by dropping the "Pro" and adding in new Intel 11th gen Tiger Lake-H processors into the mix. The GPU and display also get upgrades from 100 W TGP and 300 Hz to 130 W TGP and 360 Hz, respectively. The chassis design and physical features are otherwise identical to the original 2019 model that launched with 9th gen Coffee Lake-H CPUs and Turing GPUs.
Alternatives to the Blade 17 include other high-end ultrathin gaming laptops like the MSI GS76, Asus Zephyrus S17, Acer Predator Triton, or the Gigabyte Aero or Aorus series. Our exact configuration is currently shipping for $2799 USD.
More Razer reviews:
potential competitors in comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 89.4 % | 09/2021 | Razer Blade 17 RTX 3070 i7-11800H, GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU | 2.8 kg | 19.9 mm | 17.30" | 1920x1080 | |
| 90.1 % | 07/2021 | Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD i9-11900H, GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU | 2.8 kg | 19.9 mm | 17.30" | 2560x1440 | |
| 86.2 % | 09/2021 | MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH i9-11900H, GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU | 2.4 kg | 20 mm | 17.30" | 3840x2160 | |
| 82 % | 08/2021 | Acer Nitro 5 AN517-41-R9S5 R7 5800H, GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU | 2.7 kg | 24.9 mm | 17.30" | 1920x1080 | |
| 88 % | 05/2021 | Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR YD i9-11980HK, GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU | 2.8 kg | 22 mm | 17.30" | 3840x2160 | |
| 87.8 % | 09/2021 | Maingear Vector Pro MG-VCP17 i7-11800H, GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU | 2.3 kg | 19.81 mm | 17.30" | 2560x1440 |
Case — Inside Changes
The year-over-year upgrades are all internal since there are no changes to the external skeleton. Major updates include:
- 11th gen Intel Tiger Lake-H CPUs (up to Core i9) to replace last year's 10th gen Comet Lake-H
- 130 W TGP GeForce RTX GPUs to replace last year's 100 W options
- 1080p (2.1 MP) webcam versus 720p (1 MP) on last year's model
- Thunderbolt 4 compatibility instead of only Thunderbolt 3
- Support for two PCIe4 NVMe SSDs instead of only PCIe3
- New dispplay options including 360 Hz refresh rate instead of 300 Hz
- Intel AX210 for Wi-Fi 6E support to replace last year's AX200/201
Connectivity — Now with Thunderbolt 4
SD Card Reader
| SD Card Reader | |
| average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3070 (AV Pro V60) | |
| MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR YD (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD | |
| Maingear Vector Pro MG-VCP17 (AV Pro V60) | |
| maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD | |
| MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3070 (AV Pro V60) | |
| Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR YD (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Maingear Vector Pro MG-VCP17 (AV Pro V60) | |
Communication — Wi-Fi 6E now Standard
For most users, Wi-Fi 6E will perform the same as existing Wi-Fi 6 laptops as users will need a Wi-Fi 6E router to exploit all of its benefits. Transfer rates are remain stable and mostly unchanged from last year's Wi-Fi 6 model when paired to our Netgear RAX200 test router.
Webcam — 1080p Instead of 720p
The camera is indeed sharper this time around as shown by our comparison images below. Color accuracy, however, does not appear to be any better or worse. A webcam shutter continues to be missing.
Maintenance
There are some slight changes to the positioning of the screws on the Blade 17 when compared to the Blade Pro. Otherwise, most everything else appears to be identical.
Input Devices
All keyboard keys and symbols are lit on our US unit. We suspect that some symbols may not be lit yet again for models overseas since Razer has made no external changes to the chassis.
Display — Ultra-Smooth 360 Hz
Razer is using the same 1080p 360 Hz AU Optronics B173HAN05.4 IPS panel for its Blade 17 as Asus is using for its Strix Scar 17 G733QS. Thus, the viewing experience between these two laptops are very similar. This particular panel offers full sRGB coverage with very fast response times and a respectable contrast ratio of nearly 1000:1 to be good for both editing and gaming alike. Its attributes are nearly the same as the 300 Hz Sharp panel on last year's Blade Pro meaning users are really only paying for that slightly faster refresh rate.
Other display options include 165 Hz 1440p (QHD) with full sRGB coverage and a glossy 4K touchscreen with full AdobeRGB coverage. The latter is also expected to be brighter than our 360 Hz option (~400 nits vs. ~300 nits).
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 91 %
Center on Battery: 323.3 cd/m²
Contrast: 980:1 (Black: 0.33 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 4.59 | 0.55-29.43 Ø5.1, calibrated: 1.4
ΔE Greyscale 7.9 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
73.6% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
98.8% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
71.7% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.28
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3070 AU Optronics B173HAN05.4, IPS, 17.30, 1920x1080 | Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD BOE099D (BOE CQ NE173QHM-NY3), IPS, 17.30, 2560x1440 | MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH AUO B173ZAN06.1 (AUODE95), IPS, 17.30, 3840x2160 | Acer Nitro 5 AN517-41-R9S5 BOE NV173FHM-NX4, IPS, 17.30, 1920x1080 | Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR YD AU Optronics AUO329B, IPS, 17.30, 3840x2160 | Maingear Vector Pro MG-VCP17 BOE NE173QHM-NY2, IPS, 17.30, 2560x1440 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 15% | -9% | -47% | 19% | -1% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 71.7 | 94.2 31% | 63 -12% | 36.7 -49% | 86.9 21% | 70.7 -1% |
| sRGB Coverage | 98.8 | 98.7 0% | 94.8 -4% | 55.3 -44% | 100 1% | 99.4 1% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 73.6 | 84.4 15% | 65 -12% | 37.9 -49% | 99.6 35% | 71.7 -3% |
| Response Times | -3% | -42% | -194% | -667% | -154% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 4.2 ? | 4.8 -14% | 8.8 ? -110% | 18 ? -329% | 52 ? -1138% | 15.6 ? -271% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 8.8 ? | 8 9% | 6.4 ? 27% | 14 ? -59% | 26 ? -195% | 12 ? -36% |
| PWM Frequency | ||||||
| Screen | 11% | 30% | -0% | 46% | 16% | |
| Brightness middle | 323.3 | 322 0% | 474 47% | 307 -5% | 488 51% | 389.7 21% |
| Brightness | 315 | 288 -9% | 454 44% | 264 -16% | 467 48% | 363 15% |
| Brightness Distribution | 91 | 72 -21% | 88 -3% | 76 -16% | 86 -5% | 84 -8% |
| Black Level * | 0.33 | 0.3 9% | 0.46 -39% | 0.24 27% | 0.33 -0% | 0.47 -42% |
| Contrast | 980 | 1073 9% | 1030 5% | 1279 31% | 1479 51% | 829 -15% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 4.59 | 3.05 34% | 1.5 67% | 5.61 -22% | 1.23 73% | 1.93 58% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 10.82 | 5.23 52% | 5.59 48% | 18.29 -69% | 2.94 73% | 6.84 37% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 1.4 | 1.92 -37% | 0.86 39% | 0.77 45% | 1.31 6% | |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 7.9 | 3.11 61% | 2.8 65% | 2.63 67% | 1.5 81% | 2.4 70% |
| Gamma | 2.28 96% | 2.13 103% | 2.158 102% | 2.37 93% | 2.169 101% | 2.12 104% |
| CCT | 5941 109% | 6553 99% | 6597 99% | 6852 95% | 6614 98% | 6658 98% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 84 | 35 | 99 | |||
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 99 | 55 | 99 | |||
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 8% /
10% | -7% /
12% | -80% /
-41% | -201% /
-61% | -46% /
-12% |
* ... smaller is better
Color space covers 100 percent of sRGB just as advertised by the manufacturer. For full AdobeRGB coverage, however, users will have to consider the 4K option instead.
The display is in need of calibration out of the box. Color temperature is far too warm for average grayscale and color deltaE values of 7.9 and 4.59, respectively. Though nothing terrible, we definitely expected more from a high-end gaming laptop retailing for almost $3000 USD. Grayscale and colors would improve significantly to average deltaE values of less than 2 each once we calibrated the panel ourselves as shown by our Calman results below.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 8.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 4.4 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 4.4 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows fast response rates in our tests and should be suited for gaming. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 17 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (21.9 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 4.2 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 1.6 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 2.6 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows very fast response rates in our tests and should be very well suited for fast-paced gaming. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.25 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 9 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (34.5 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 54 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 18982 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
Outdoor visibility hasn't changed from last year's model since contrast and maximum brightness continue to be almost the same. The 4K touchscreen option may be brighter, but users will have to take into account the increase in glare from its glossy overlay as well.
Performance — 130 W TGP GeForce RTX Graphics
Users can now choose between the 11th gen Tiger Lake-H Core i7-11800H or Core i9-11900H to replace last year's 10th gen Comet Lake-H options. Aside from the obvious performance increase, the new CPUs also natively support PCIe4 and Thunderbolt 4 connectivity. Resizable Bar, Dynamic Boost 2.0, and WhisperMode 2.0 are all supported.
Advanced Optimus (or Optimus 2.0) is not supported meaning users will still have to manually switch and reboot between the dGPU and iGPU via the Razer software. Expect a small hit to performance if running on Optimus mode. We recommend users become familiar with Razer Central as important customizations and performance options are found here.
Processor — No AMD... Yet
Our Core i7-11800H is an excellent step up from the Core i7-10875H as found on last year's Blade Pro. Multi-thread performance in particular is 25 to 40 percent faster to finally be on par with competing Zen 2 or Zen 3 CPUs like the Ryzen 7 5800H. Upgrading to the Core i9-10900H is expected to only bring a 5 to 10 percent increase in raw performance based on our experience with other Core i9-11900H laptops like the MSI GS76 Stealth.
It's worth noting that the Ryzen 9 5900HX in the Blade 14 is neck-to-neck with our i7-11800H in multi-thread performance while being behind in single-thread performance by about 15 to 20 percent.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 -mmt1 | 7z b 4
Geekbench 5.2 - 5.5: Single-Core | Multi-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
| Cinebench R23 / Multi Core | |
| MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH | |
| Asus ROG Strix G17 G713QE-RB74 | |
| Razer Blade 14 Ryzen 9 RTX 3070 | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3070 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-11800H (6508 - 14088, n=48) | |
| Alienware m17 R4 | |
| MSI GE76 Raider 10UH | |
| Cinebench R23 / Single Core | |
| MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3070 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-11800H (1386 - 1522, n=45) | |
| Asus ROG Strix G17 G713QE-RB74 | |
| Alienware m17 R4 | |
| Razer Blade 14 Ryzen 9 RTX 3070 | |
| MSI GE76 Raider 10UH | |
| Geekbench 5.2 - 5.5 / Single-Core | |
| MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH | |
| Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR YD | |
| Average Intel Core i7-11800H (1429 - 1625, n=40) | |
| Alienware m17 R4 | |
| Razer Blade Pro 17 RTX 2070 Max-Q 300 Hz | |
| MSI GE76 Raider 10UH | |
| MSI Alpha 17 A4DEK | |
| Geekbench 5.2 - 5.5 / Multi-Core | |
| Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR YD | |
| MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH | |
| Average Intel Core i7-11800H (4655 - 9851, n=40) | |
| Alienware m17 R4 | |
| MSI Alpha 17 A4DEK | |
| MSI GE76 Raider 10UH | |
| Razer Blade Pro 17 RTX 2070 Max-Q 300 Hz | |
| HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 / 4k Preset | |
| Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR YD | |
| Razer Blade 14 Ryzen 9 RTX 3070 | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3070 | |
| MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH | |
| Asus ROG Strix G17 G713QE-RB74 | |
| Alienware m17 R4 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-11800H (7.38 - 17.4, n=46) | |
| MSI GE76 Raider 10UH | |
| MSI Alpha 17 A4DEK | |
| MSI GE75 9SG | |
* ... smaller is better
System Performance
PCMark 10 scores are noticeably higher than any Blade Pro laptop we've tested in the past. The leap can be partly attributed to the PCIe4 NVMe SSD that Tiger Lake-H chipsets natively support and the boost in multi-thread CPU performance.
| PCMark 10 Score | 7311 points | |
Help | ||
DPC Latency
LatencyMon shows minor DPC latency issues when opening multiple browser tabs on our homepage or when running Prime95 stress. 4K video playback at 60 FPS is otherwise smooth and with only one dropped frame during our test session.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR YD | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD | |
| MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH | |
| Acer Nitro 5 AN517-41-R9S5 | |
| Maingear Vector Pro MG-VCP17 | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3070 | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices — PCIe4 Support
Razer is sticking with Samsung once again for its PCIe4 NVMe SSD needs. The 1 TB PM9A1 drive is significantly faster than the PM981a on last year's model in pretty much every aspect. Users can install up to two drives just like before.
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3070 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR | Razer Blade Pro 17 2021 (QHD Touch) Samsung PM981a MZVLB1T0HBLR | Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD Samsung PM9A1 MZVL22T0HBLB | MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH Samsung PM9A1 MZVL22T0HBLB | Acer Nitro 5 AN517-41-R9S5 SK Hynix BC711 1TB HFM001TD3JX016N | Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR YD Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AS SSD | -35% | 14% | 5% | -21% | 4% | |
| Seq Read | 5302 | 2068 -61% | 5085 -4% | 5408 2% | 2974 -44% | 5438 3% |
| Seq Write | 3977 | 2047 -49% | 4434 11% | 3863 -3% | 2733 -31% | 3904 -2% |
| 4K Read | 55 | 47.85 -13% | 80.3 46% | 52.7 -4% | 55.7 1% | 56.2 2% |
| 4K Write | 148.7 | 87.4 -41% | 214.7 44% | 153.1 3% | 134 -10% | 165.8 11% |
| 4K-64 Read | 2715 | 1932 -29% | 2573 -5% | 2692 -1% | 1854 -32% | 2489 -8% |
| 4K-64 Write | 3416 | 2017 -41% | 2972 -13% | 3414 0% | 2165 -37% | 3480 2% |
| Access Time Read * | 0.044 | 0.055 -25% | 0.018 59% | 0.046 -5% | 0.054 -23% | |
| Access Time Write * | 0.085 | 0.128 -51% | 0.02 76% | 0.027 68% | 0.028 67% | 0.026 69% |
| Score Read | 3300 | 2187 -34% | 3161 -4% | 3285 0% | 2207 -33% | 3089 -6% |
| Score Write | 3963 | 2309 -42% | 3631 -8% | 3953 0% | 2573 -35% | 4036 2% |
| Score Total | 8874 | 5612 -37% | 8380 -6% | 8830 0% | 5899 -34% | 8620 -3% |
| Copy ISO MB/s | 2710 | 2400 -11% | 3239 20% | 2260 -17% | ||
| Copy Program MB/s | 1114 | 684 -39% | 899 -19% | 677 -39% | ||
| Copy Game MB/s | 2095 | 1629 -22% | 2171 4% | 1493 -29% | ||
| CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 | -43% | 3% | 1% | -36% | 3% | |
| Write 4K | 233.5 | 123.5 -47% | 244.2 5% | 230.7 -1% | 133.4 -43% | 230.4 -1% |
| Read 4K | 90.1 | 45.96 -49% | 89.8 0% | 87.9 -2% | 64.7 -28% | 91.6 2% |
| Write Seq | 4263 | 1861 -56% | 4300 1% | 2934 -31% | 4216 -1% | |
| Read Seq | 4468 | 1584 -65% | 4392 -2% | 2364 -47% | 4543 2% | |
| Write 4K Q32T1 | 538 | 466.4 -13% | 607 13% | 582 8% | 438.4 -19% | 667 24% |
| Read 4K Q32T1 | 703 | 566 -19% | 658 -6% | 730 4% | 516 -27% | 728 4% |
| Write Seq Q32T1 | 5097 | 2981 -42% | 5270 3% | 5152 1% | 3083 -40% | 5043 -1% |
| Read Seq Q32T1 | 7065 | 3260 -54% | 7091 0% | 7094 0% | 3584 -49% | 6821 -3% |
| Write 4K Q8T8 | 2270 | |||||
| Read 4K Q8T8 | 2490 | |||||
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -39% /
-38% | 9% /
11% | 3% /
4% | -29% /
-27% | 4% /
4% |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance — Slightly Faster than a 100 W GeForce RTX 3080
Graphics performance is excellent with 3DMark results that are 10 to 15 percent faster than the average laptop in our database equipped with the same RTX 3070 GPU. In fact, raw performance is essentially on par with last year's Blade Pro RTX 3080 SKU. It's still significantly slower than a "proper" desktop RTX 3080, however, which is more of an Nvidia thing than a Razer thing.
Upgrading to the Blade 17 RTX 3080 SKU will likely bring very minor performance benefits over our RTX 3070 SKU of just a few percentage points based on our experience with at least a dozen other RTX 3080 laptops thus far. User should also keep in mind that frame rates don't necessarily need to reach 360 FPS in order to exploit the benefits of a 360 Hz display.
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 29177 points | |
| 3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 56986 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score | 23055 points | |
| 3DMark Time Spy Score | 10649 points | |
Help | ||
| Final Fantasy XV Benchmark | |
| 1280x720 Lite Quality | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3070 | |
| Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR YD | |
| Maingear Vector Pro MG-VCP17 | |
| Razer Blade Pro 17 2021 (QHD Touch) | |
| Acer Nitro 5 AN517-41-R9S5 | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU (137 - 207, n=30) | |
| 1920x1080 Standard Quality | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 GX703HSD | |
| Maingear Vector Pro MG-VCP17 | |
| Razer Blade Pro 17 2021 (QHD Touch) | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3070 | |
| Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR YD | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU (67 - 144, n=32) | |
| Acer Nitro 5 AN517-41-R9S5 | |
| 1920x1080 High Quality | |
| Razer Blade Pro 17 2021 (QHD Touch) | |
| Maingear Vector Pro MG-VCP17 | |
| Razer Blade 17 RTX 3070 | |
| Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR YD | |
| MSI GS76 Stealth 11UH | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU (27.9 - 107, n=49) | |
| Acer Nitro 5 AN517-41-R9S5 | |