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The New 14"Razer Blade or MacBook Pro Retina 15"?

kokhoong0624

kokhoong0624

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 23, 2015
210
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I just looked up the new razer blade and the price and specifications are almost similar to the MBP 15 high end except for the graphics card.. which the blade rock a GTX 970M that is infinitely better than the MBP AMD.. And the thing is, the razer blade looks (almost) exactly like a black MacBook Pro..which is so pretty.

Does anyone here owns both the MacBook Pro and Razer Blade and can anyone give me an idea of how both of them perform? (In gaming too please!)

I do After Effects and Photoshop.. I'm not a gamer and I never considered a Gaming laptop until I saw the razer blade. Will the graphic cards increase the render speeds?
(I don't have a workstation, I am a Uni Student).

Open.jpg
 
If the screen is good I would consider it but honestly the versatility, batterylife, resale value, etc, Macbook pro takes it.

I'm waiting for the new surface pro 4...if it can run 4k displays I'm sold. I have my macbook for coding and work, the sp4 will be my portable go-to device!
 
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Gav2k said:
Because having a powerful gfx card isn't just about gaming. It can help with photo editing, encoding etc!
Click to expand...

The Blade is clearly built for gaming. GFX card isn't going to do much for photo editing. And encoding is more CPU intensive. The only thing it's going to boost is 3D performance. OP doesn't do 3D work, so...
 
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How many newbies are we going to see coming to a Mac forum asking for a Window comparison? Use your common sense OP. If all you care is spec then go for Window because it's mostly cheaper. If you look beyond spec (e.g. OSX, Apple's eco-system) then we can talk.
 
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gngan said:
How many newbies are we going to see coming to a Mac forum asking for a Window comparison? Use your common sense OP. If all you care is spec then go for Window because it's mostly cheaper. If you look beyond spec (e.g. OSX, Apple's eco-system) then we can talk.
Click to expand...
I think it's a valid comparison for this forum, I just think the motivation for asking is a little strange considering he says he's not a gamer. Also - price/performance is basically the same. Actually the Blade may be slightly more expensive overall. For $2,349 ($50 cheaper from B&H), you can get a 15" rMBP with dedicated GPU, +1", and twice the hard drive space. Not to mention better build quality and overall better screen and experience. Obviously the GPU isn't as good but close. If we're talking custom built PC vs MBP then no comparison. But then there's no point in comparing a desktop to a laptop anyway.
 
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GeForce sucks on rendering anyways and are only good for gaming. RMBP is far superior than that poser razer blade in all other spes for the same price and it'll will outperform that POS in all categories except gaming.
 
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I'm not impressed. It's quite expensive for what it is

It really is hard for manufacturers to match apples specs. Forget the build quality and battery
 
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Hey thanks guys for the replies! I appreciate them a lot.
nStyle said:
If you're not a gamer then why would you put $2.5k towards a machine built for gaming?
Click to expand...
cbautis2 said:
GeForce sucks on rendering anyways and are only good for gaming. RMBP is far superior than that poser razer blade in all other spes for the same price and it'll will outperform that POS in all categories except gaming.
Click to expand...
I am looking for a multimedia laptop, gaming laptops are heavy and bulky and I never considered them.
But the Razer Blade has a great form factor like a multimedia laptop and as a plus - a very great dedicated graphic cards.
:l
Because I own a MacBook Pro 2011 15 inch and it only has 256 MB Vram.. And I can't even run Photoshop with 3D settings... .___.
Not to mention I can't run After Effects at all.. Can't even get pass the installation.
So I am pretty skeptical about the graphic cards when choosing a laptop now..
屏幕快照 2015-08-28 下午1.48.33.png

gngan said:
How many newbies are we going to see coming to a Mac forum asking for a Window comparison? Use your common sense OP. If all you care is spec then go for Window because it's mostly cheaper. If you look beyond spec (e.g. OSX, Apple's eco-system) then we can talk.
Click to expand...

My apologies. I just hope that I can ask the more experienced people here for a better choice. :l
I like the Mac OS X. I've been using them for years. I have an iMac too.
I'm not caring for spec only, I hope that my MB can run the adobe apps for the next few years because I need the software for my uni work..
 
Mcmeowmers said:
I'm not impressed. It's quite expensive for what it is

It really is hard for manufacturers to match apples specs. Forget the build quality and battery
Click to expand...
^Yeah thats true! :l So I'm still deciding now.. But one thing is that raise my eyebrows is because the Razer blade graphic card is orders of magnitude better than the rMBP one.. and a lot more expensive.
 
One razer blade, you say? Why choose only one blade, when you could have...five blades: http://www.theonion.com/blogpost/****-everything-were-doing-five-blades-11056
 
Last time I checked, the most warranty you get with a Razer Blade is two years after purchase when you get their extended warranty. You get three years after purchase when you get AppleCare with a MBP.

One more thing to keep in mind.
 
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kokhoong0624 said:
Hey thanks guys for the replies! I appreciate them a lot.


I am looking for a multimedia laptop, gaming laptops are heavy and bulky and I never considered them.
But the Razer Blade has a great form factor like a multimedia laptop and as a plus - a very great dedicated graphic cards.
:l
Because I own a MacBook Pro 2011 15 inch and it only has 256 MB Vram.. And I can't even run Photoshop with 3D settings... .___.
Not to mention I can't run After Effects at all.. Can't even get pass the installation.
So I am pretty skeptical about the graphic cards when choosing a laptop now..
View attachment 577750


My apologies. I just hope that I can ask the more experienced people here for a better choice. :l
I like the Mac OS X. I've been using them for years. I have an iMac too.
I'm not caring for spec only, I hope that my MB can run the adobe apps for the next few years because I need the software for my uni work..
Click to expand...

No worries. It's just that we've been seeing a lot of the same questions from newbies and all they care is spec. Now that you mentioned about your worries about Photoshop with 3D setting and After Effect then people with that uses it can answer you about it.

Can't you check whether the MBP or Razer is capable of running these problem?
 
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nStyle said:
I think it's a valid comparison for this forum, I just think the motivation for asking is a little strange considering he says he's not a gamer. Also - price/performance is basically the same. Actually the Blade may be slightly more expensive overall. For $2,349 ($50 cheaper from B&H), you can get a 15" rMBP with dedicated GPU, +1", and twice the hard drive space. Not to mention better build quality and overall better screen and experience. Obviously the GPU isn't as good but close. If we're talking custom built PC vs MBP then no comparison. But then there's no point in comparing a desktop to a laptop anyway.
Click to expand...

The Razer Blade 2015 costs $2200 starting for a 128GB SATA SSD and a non-Iris Pro CPU. The only thing this has on rMBP is that GTX 970M. Without that GPU, there's literally no reason to go for the Razer Blade unless you just hate Macs regardless of being able to run windows.

Not sure why so many people online praise the Razer Blade and XPS 15 but continue to blast MacBooks for being expensive and overpriced.
 
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kingshowman said:
One razer blade, you say? Why choose only one blade, when you could have...five blades: http://www.theonion.com/blogpost/****-everything-were-doing-five-blades-11056
Click to expand...
I can't click into the link bro :p
duervo said:
Last time I checked, the most warranty you get with a Razer Blade is two years after purchase when you get their extended warranty. You get three years after purchase when you get AppleCare with a MBP.

One more thing to keep in mind.
Click to expand...
Oh thanks for reminding me this! :D I'll check them out before I buy. Anyway, the Apple Care is pretty expensive and I'm still not sure if I'm going to buy it.. ._.

gngan said:
No worries. It's just that we've been seeing a lot of the same questions from newbies and all they care is spec. Now that you mentioned about your worries about Photoshop with 3D setting and After Effect then people with that uses it can answer you about it.

Can't you check whether the MBP or Razer is capable of running these problem?
Click to expand...
No one really tests the adobe apps when benchmarking or in youtube videos.. I googled them but I'm pretty out of luck. So I resort to ask here.. to see if anyone can give me an idea.
TechZeke said:
The Razer Blade 2015 costs $2200 starting for a 128GB SATA SSD and a non-Iris Pro CPU. The only thing this has on rMBP is that GTX 970M. Without that GPU, there's literally no reason to go for the Razer Blade unless you just hate Macs regardless of being able to run windows.

Not sure why so many people online praise the Razer Blade and XPS 15 but continue to blast MacBooks for being expensive and overpriced.
Click to expand...

^ What you said is true.. But when I read the forums they say that the razer blade doesn't have a screen that is on par with the MacBooks.. Do you run Adobe Photoshop or After Effects with your Macbook pro? Does it work well?
 
Another thing about getting the Razer is.. I might try playing Batman or other games. The only game I'm playing now is Sims 4 which works perfectly even on the lowest end macbook pro 13inch :D (But I'm definitely not an avid gamer)

But really, thank you guys for your advices!
 
My info (and memory) might be outdated(so don't quote me on that), but I believe Adobe apps use CUDA instead of OpenCL, which means the AMD graphics card in the MBP will not be of much help to you.
 
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kokhoong0624 said:
Another thing about getting the Razer is.. I might try playing Batman or other games. The only game I'm playing now is Sims 4 which works perfectly even on the lowest end macbook pro 13inch :D (But I'm definitely not an avid gamer)

But really, thank you guys for your advices!
Click to expand...

If I wasn't an "avid gamer", I'd really think twice before spending almost $3k on a gaming laptop.
 
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inhalexhale1 said:
The AMD GPU in the MacBook Pro is more than adequate to do professional work like that. The Blade is designed as a Windows gaming laptop.
Click to expand...
Because it's marketed as a gaming laptop it can't be used for other tasks? That's failed logic. Hell a lot of Americans buy pickups and use them as daily run arounds.
 
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kokhoong0624 said:
Because I own a MacBook Pro 2011 15 inch and it only has 256 MB Vram.. And I can't even run Photoshop with 3D settings... .___.
Click to expand...

While not ideal, if you upgrade to 8GB, you'll have 512MB available to your integrated graphics. Use Gfxcardstatus to lock into integrated only and fire up PS. Granted, I have no idea what render times will be like, but it should at least give you the ability to access it.
 
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ThisOldMacHead said:
While not ideal, if you upgrade to 8GB, you'll have 512MB available to your integrated graphics. Use Gfxcardstatus to lock into integrated only and fire up PS. Granted, I have no idea what render times will be like, but it should at least give you the ability to access it.
Click to expand...

if it is the HD3000, on a 15-inch notebook, it may be capped at 384MB

8 GB of RAM, 512 MB allocated. Exception: 384 MB is allocated on 15-inch and 17-inch systems

But there is a thread on MacRumors for hacking the ram allocation, and bumping that to 512 or 1024MB.

Which should get the needed apps running again.
 
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