The Consumer Electronics Show held annually in Las Vegas, Nevada is the first major tech show of the year and thankfully doesn’t follow the old moniker of ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!’
A slew of tech announcements are streaming out, with Razer being among the first to announce NVIDIA’s new RTX 20-series mobile GPUs coming to its tech.
Not only that, but Razer also announced its entry into the gaming monitor market with a gorgeous 27-inch kit called the Razer Raptor.
Razer Blade 15 Advanced with RTX 20-series graphics
The Razer Blade 15 Advanced models will now come with RTX 2060(6GB DDR6), 2070 and 2080 Max-Q(8GB DDR6) variants of NVIDIA’s creme de la creme. This should bring significant improvement in graphics performance over last year’s older but still amazing 1060, 1070 Max-Q models.
And having an RTX 20-series GPU means we also get the much-lauded Ray Tracing that will start to be more commonplace in big budget games out in 2019. Games like the much-anticipated Anthem from BioWare are being optimised with a ton of graphical tricks that will work exclusively with NVIDIA RTX.
But back to the Razer Blade 15.
Much of the internals have remained the same which is fine because it was already a fantastic machine. Intel Core i7 processors, up to 64GB of system memory and up to 512 GB PCIe SSD and 2TB storage drives and a killer battery makes for ultimate gaming and productivity machine.
Two display options are available; a highly colour accurate 4K 60Hz touchscreen or the blazing fast 1080p 144Hz display. Razer also hinted at some new displays being considered for future versions of the Blade 15; a 4K OLED touch for rich blacks and contrast and a FullHD at an insane 240Hz refresh.
Overall, I’d say the best gaming laptop just got a whole lot better. The new RTX GPUs are significantly faster than previous generations and I can’t wait to see how the new Blade 15 handles modern games.
Razer Raptor 27 Gaming Monitor
Speaking of displays, Razer has taken a step into the gaming monitor market with the announcement of the Raptor, a 27-inch monitor, slated for production later this year.
“Razer has worked alongside partners in the past to bring the Razer experience to monitors, but the full potential was never fully realised. “ Says Min-Liang Tan, Razer CEO. “We have decided to tackle this space on our own and are very excited to expand our presence to include desktop displays.”
The Razer Raptor is a Wide QHD (2560×1440) IPS edge-to-edge panel with thin 2.3 mm bezels, 144 Hz refresh and 1ms response time. Add on 95% DCI-P3 wide colour gamut and HDR support, and you’ve got a winner here.
Design wise, the Razer Raptor has unique aluminium stand with a blend of fabric and metal. The stand is height adjustable as well as capable of full 90 degree backwards tilt for easy I/O port access.
Razer has built-in CNC milled channels lining the back of the base so you can elegantly manage the super bright green performance cables included with the display. This gives the Raptor a gorgeous clean look that any setup would be proud.
No Razer product is complete without Razor Chroma lighting. LED strips, customisable via Razer Synapse, along the base and feature synchronisation with other Razer Chroma enabled hardware for that perfect setup.
The Raptor has a plethora of connectivity options including 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x DP 1.4, 1 x USB-C (supports DP1.4), 2 x USB 3.0 Pass Throughs.
Razer Raptor Product Information
Key Features
- Screen Size: 27 in.
- Resolution: WQHD (2560 x 1440p)
- Panel Type: IPS
- Refresh Rate: 144 Hz
- Response Rate: 4 ms with Overdrive, 1 ms with Motion Blur reduction, 7 ms typical
- Gaming Modes: FPS / Racing / MMO Mode / Streaming
- Viewing Angle: 178 Degrees (H/V)
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Contrast Ratio: 1000:1
- Brightness: up to 420 Nits
- Colour Gamut: 95% DCI-P3
- HDR: Yes
- Height Adjustable Stand: Yes, w/ 90-degree tilt for easy port access
- Connectivity: 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x DP 1.4, 1 x USB-C (supports DP1.4), 2 x USB 3.0 Pass Throughs
- Included Cables: 1 x Power, 1 x HDMI, 1 x Display Port, 1 x USB-C (also supports DP and Power Delivery), 1 x 2 USB-A 3.1
Price:
Razer to announce local Australian pricing.
USD $699.99
Razer Blade 15 RTX Graphics Product Information
Key Features
- 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8750H Processor (6 Cores/12 Threads, 2.2GHz/4.1GHz)
- Display Options:
- 15.6-in. IPS Full HD (1920 x 1080) 144 Hz, matte, individually colour calibrated
- 15.6-in. IPS 4K (3840 x 2160) 60 Hz, capacitive multi-touch, individually colour calibrated
- Graphics Options:
- NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2060 (6 GB GDDR6 VRAM)
- NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2070 with Max-Q Design (8 GB GDDR6 VRAM)
- NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2080 with Max-Q Design (8 GB GDDR6 VRAM)
- Storage Options: Supports up to 2TB SSD
- 256 GB SSD (M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4)
- 512 GB SSD (M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4)
Price:
Razer to announce local pricing.
Starting at USD $2,299.99
Availability:
2019
