The Razer Blade 14 (2023) Laptop Review: Ryzen 9 7940HS Tested With GeForce RTX 4070 Graphics
by Gavin Bonshor on June 20, 2023 11:00 AM ESTRazer Blade 14 (2023): Compute Performance
Typically in previous notebook reviews, we lump basic compute and general performance in with our system performance summary. As we advance into 2023 and beyond, we'll split the sections up and use some of our 2023 CPU Suite benchmarks to measure performance, not just from a compute standpoint but also from memory and other compute-related variables that can substantially affect compute performance.
As we move into 2023 and beyond, we'll also have more data points as we test more notebooks, and for now, we've included our data from some of our more recent yet relevant CPU reviews to judge performance. This includes AMD's Ryzen 7 7700, which is also an 8C/16T part as the Ryzen 9 7940HS within the Razer Blade 14 is; both also use Zen 4 cores, making comparing performance relevant.
In our 3DPM v2.1 benchmark, the lower powered Ryzen 9 7940HS and the Razer Blade 14 perform very similarly to AMD's desktop Ryzen 5 7600, a 6C/12T part with a 65 W TDP. As a Zen 4 part, it comfortably beats the Ryzen 5 5600G (6C/12T) APU in compute. As AMD enabled support for the AVX-512 instruction set within the Zen 4 architecture, there's a performance boost associated with AVX-512 workloads, something the previous Zen 3 cores can't benefit from.
Moving through our short-form compute performance comparisons, Blender is a popular benchmark to determine a processor's ability to process multiple samples when rendering. Across the three tests, including the BMW27, Classroom, and Pabellon Barcelona tests, the Razer Blade 14 and its Ryzen 9 7940HS perform exceptionally well compared to desktop chips with similar architecture (Zen 4) and core/thread configuration/count.
In our Crysis CPU rendering benchmark at 1080p medium settings, the Razer Blade 14/Ryzen 9 7940HS also performs very well, similar to the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor.
In our C-Ray benchmark, the Ryzen 9 7940HS within the Razer Blade 14 comfortably beats the Ryzen 5 7600 and is only around 15% behind the Ryzen 7 7700, which also has a 20% higher TDP attributed to it. This is another win for AMD's Zen 4 efficiency.
One of the most popular CPU benchmarks for users is CineBench R23, which offers both a single-thread and multi-threaded test. In the single-threaded test, the Razer Blade 14 and its Ryzen 9 7940HS have solid ST and IPC performance, even operating with lower power. In the multi-threaded test, performance is as good as expected from an 8C/16T chip, considering its only around 19% off the Ryzen 7 7700.
The last benchmark in our short-form compute performance suite is WinRAR 5.90, which is not only a good judge of compute performance but also includes elements where memory performance also comes into play. Comparing the Razer Blade 14 (2023) with the mobile Ryzen 9 7940HS processor to other chips, it's only 9% behind the desktop Ryzen 7 7700, with the gap closed with the use of faster DDR5-5600 memory on the Blade 14 versus the DDR5-5200 on the desktop chips when we tested them.
We test memory at JEDEC specifications in our CPU reviews, and using DDR5-5600 over DDR5-5200, considering AMD's Infinity Fabric interconnect, shows some performance benefits in memory-intensive and sensitive benchmarks.
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olde94 - Wednesday, June 21, 2023 - link
i'd also add. All those graphs with one bar is just laughable. It would make more sense to combine all in to one graph and have the name of the bar, be what the name of the graph is now, given that it doesn't compare to anything,,,,Anandtech has certainly fallen a lot since back in the old days before about 2015.
Ryan Smith - Wednesday, June 21, 2023 - link
Unfortunately, if we want to test the Phoenix APU any time in the near future, the Blade 14 was a take it or leave it proposition. While I expect it will eventually come to the desktop in some fashion, for now it's a laptop only part. Which means the only way we can review it right now is as part of the laptop.To state the obvious, we don't regularly do laptop reviews these days (budget cuts). So we don't have a large collection of comparison systems to run it against. The best we could do (and what we were really interested in anyhow) is how it compares to AMD's Raphael CPU, so that is what we opted to focus our limited testing time on.
Given infinite time and resources, of course I'd prefer to do much more. But with only a few days to test, we did what we could while still meeting the embargo. The alternative would be not reviewing Phoenix at all, and that's simply not a viable option, especially given how important it is to AMD's product stack over the next few years.
cohed - Tuesday, June 20, 2023 - link
Dave2D made a comparison video between the Razer Blade 14 and Asus Rog Zephyrus G14. The Asus with RTX 4060, similarly specced to the Razer, costs $1600 which is 800$ less than Razer. Just ridiculously overpriced.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEEc65x4SMs
WestPole - Tuesday, June 20, 2023 - link
Similarly spec’ed is the operative phrase. Vendor A similarly spec’ed to vendor B generally has far less variance in performance than often found in pricing.Duwelon - Tuesday, June 20, 2023 - link
Razer makes the cleanest looking PC laptops by far, but ya the prices are bonkers. They could gain a much bigger chunk of the marketshare if they would ditch excessive RGB bs and at least try to compete with Asus/Lenovo on price. Also I'd like to see mid range laptop CPUs like 7845HX paired with a 4090, it would perform just as well as a high end Intel/AMD laptop CPU and have much better battery life.PeachNCream - Thursday, June 22, 2023 - link
The CPU accounts for a relatively small amount of power budget when compared to a 4090 so I don't believe battery life improvements would be "much better" as you have implied.lemurbutton - Wednesday, June 21, 2023 - link
That's because Razer is trying to be like Apple, but without Apple Silicon. Razer uses a metal enclosure, it's thinner like Macs which requires more expensive parts and more engineering. Whenever PC makers try to make something like the Macbook, it results in prices at or more expensive than Macs because they can't mass manufacture like Apple can.anshu87 - Tuesday, June 20, 2023 - link
Battery life in tests by Tom's and Hothardware ranged from 7.5-8.5 hours.StevoLincolnite - Wednesday, June 21, 2023 - link
Comparing notebook against desktops is fine.But to omit any like-for-like testing? Wow;.
GreenReaper - Wednesday, June 21, 2023 - link
I imagine they didn't have any systems like it to test it against, not being known as a laptop reviewer and not having the budget to just buy them (which is pretty sad, come on Future Plc).