The Razer Blade 14 (2023) is a pretty good laptop.
Along with the official announcement of the AMD Ryzen 7040HS series processors code-named Phoenix, we also received the test machine – Razer Blade 14 (2023) sent by AMD for the first time.
The Phoenix code-named AMD Ryzen 7040HS series processor has 3 models, including Ryzen 9 7940HS, Ryzen 7 7840HS and Ryzen 5 7640HS; this Razer Blade 14 (2023) test machine uses the flagship Ryzen 9 7940HS, and is equipped with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 independent display chip based on Ada Lovelace architecture.
The Ryzen 9 7940HS uses the Zen 4 architecture in the processor part, with 8 cores and 16 execution threads. The basic clock frequency of this processor is 4.0GHz, and the Boost clock can reach 5.2GHz, which is enough to meet the daily use needs of most players. ; L2 + L3 Cache configuration is 24MB, TDP is between 35 – 54W.
In addition to the Zen 4 architecture, the Ryzen 7040HS series processors also integrate the Radeon 700M series iGPU of the RDNA 3 architecture, of which the Ryzen 9 7940HS and Ryzen 7 7840HS are both Radeon 780M, and the Ryzen 5 7640HS is Radeon 760M.
The Radeon 780M has 12 Compute Units with a clock speed of 2800MHz, while the Radeon 760M has 8 Compute Units with a clock speed of up to 2600MHz.
The more special part is that Phoenix’s Ryzen 7040HS series processors have Ryzen AI technology.
Ryzen AI is based on the AMD XDNA architecture. AMD also provides an introduction to the execution modes of the traditional multi-core processor and the AMD XDNA AI engine. Compared with the traditional multi-core processor mode, the dedicated interconnection ( Dedicated Interconnect), which helps to improve the efficiency performance of the overall processor.
It’s just that there are few open applications at this stage, and we will mention more in the later testing section.
The test machine received from AMD this time is the Razer Blade 14 (2023), with a size of 310.7 x 228 x 17.99mm and a weight of 1.837kg; the Razer Blade 14 (2023) uses a 16:10 QHD+ resolution panel with a maximum 240Hz update Frequency, 3ms response time and 500 nits brightness performance.
When not plugged in, the screen update frequency will be reduced to 60Hz to save power.
In terms of manufacturing process, it is not much different from the Razer Blade 17 we tested before. The aluminum casing, anodized casing and anti-fingerprint coating, the overall texture is quite good (after all, the price is not cheap), and the anti-fingerprint coating allows users When using it, reduce the number of times you wipe your fingerprints every day.
The I/O configuration of the Razer Blade 14 (2023) is also quite interesting, we can see Kensington Lock, HDMI 2.1, 3.5mm hybrid sound source hole, 2 USB Type-A and 2 USB-C, one of which is USB-C For the USB4 specification, it is a configuration that we find quite interesting. Although we have seen some motherboards or laptops using USB4, devices at this stage are still rare, and it seems that there is still a long way to go.
Because it is an AMD Ryzen 7040HS series processor, because the Wi-Fi part uses a Qualcomm chip instead of the common Intel; as for why it is not a Wi-Fi chip that AMD and MediaTek cooperated with, this is unknown.
In addition, the keyboard has Anti-Ghosting and N-Key Rollover Per Key Razer Chroma RGB functions, and also introduces a larger glass touchpad, so that users who do not have a mouse can have better Windows Precision Touchpads Use experience.
More importantly, the Razer Blade 14 is pre-equipped with DDR5-5600 MT/s 16GB memory, but because it is not an on-board configuration, users can replace it with 32GB x2 or larger capacity DDR5 memory.
The cooling part of Razer Blade 14 has also been specially improved. After all, it uses AMD Ryzen 7940HS + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, so Razer chose the cooling solution of Vapor Chamber + Fins to assist CPU + GPU cooling.
In addition to Ryzen 9 7940HS + GeForce RTX 4070 in terms of specifications, Razer also provides the option of Ryzen 9 7940HS + GeForce RTX 4060 for Blade 14 (2023).
Let’s take a look at the performance test of Razer Blade 14 (2023).
Benchmark – CPU
Ryzen 9 7940HS
3DMark CPU Profile
Max Threads8161
16 threads8159
8 threads6871
4 threads3939
2 threads2004
1 threads1021
Cinebench R23
Multi Core16731
Single Core1790
Geekbench 6.1
Single2621
Multi11950
CPU-Z
Single702.6
Multi7364.5
CrossMark
overall1746
productivity1692
creativty1384
responsiveness1525
PC Mark
Essential10815
Productivity10350
Digtal Content Creation12258
Benchmark – 1080p Gaming
1080p GamingRyzen 9 7940HS + GeForce RTX 4070
Cyberpunk 207781.14
Cyberpunk 2077（RT_Ultra）34.38
Cyberpunk 2077 （DLSS 3 / DLSS / RSR Performance with
RT_ultra）125.2
Cyberpunk 2077（Overdrive_ DLSS 3_Performance）77.9
F1 22（Ultra）74
F1 22（DLSS 3 / DLSS / FSR）153
Horizon Zero Dawn115
Shadow of the Tomb Raider136
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege286
Boderlands 3（Ultra）96.76
Total Wars Three Kingdom90.7
Metro Exodus89.06
Fortnite188
Diablo 4204
Benchmark – 1440p Gaming
1440p GamingRyzen 9 7940HS + GeForce RTX 4070
Cyberpunk 207750.35
Cyberpunk 2077（RT_Ultra）15.79
Cyberpunk 2077 （DLSS 3 / DLSS / RSR Performance with
RT_ultra）74.16
Cyberpunk 2077（Overdrive_ DLSS 3_Performance）48.51
F1 22（Ultra）49
F1 22（DLSS 3 / DLSS / FSR）99
Horizon Zero Dawn88
Shadow of the Tomb Raider96
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege233
Boderlands 3（Ultra）65.56
Total Wars Three Kingdom55.6
Metro Exodus67.26
Fortnite149
Diablo 4145
Benchmark – Creator
Ryzen 9 7940HS + GeForce RTX 4070
Blender
Monster2050
Junk Store997
classroom1059
Vray
RTX1633
Pugetbench DaviniCi
Extended Overall1400
Standard Overall1567
4K Media Score126
8K Media90
GPU Effects Score78
Fusion Score266
Pugetbench Premiere Pro
Extended overall score439
Standard overall score610
LongGOP Score （Extended）61.2
IntraframeScore（Extended）74,1
Raw Score（Exteneded）23.6
GPU effect Score（Standard）34.8
LongGOP Score （Standard）79.1
IntraframeScore（Standard）85.4
Raw Score（Standard）53.2
GPU effect Score（Standard）38.5
We also used Diablo 4 to test the FSP performance of Razer Blade 14 (2023) in transformer (230W), USB-C charging head (100W Output) and battery mode.
Transformer – 204;
USB-C charging head (100W) – 162.13;
battery mode – 122.8;
At the same time, the performance of Radeon 780M Graphics switched to RDNA 3 GPU architecture in Diablo 4 is also added. Under the condition of Medium Preset + FSR Balanced, the average performance is 56 FPS.
It’s a pity that we don’t have an Intel Core series processor laptop that also uses the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 discrete chip for comparison of test data.
The Ryzen AI part mentioned earlier, we compare it with NVIDIA Broadcast (after all, use NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 independent display chip); Ryzen AI with XDNA architecture, under the condition of battery life, use Camera AI (background blur function On) predicts a battery life of 310 mins, however with NVIDIA Broadcast, the Razer Blade 14 (2023) has a battery life of 185 mins.
Razer Blade 14 (2023) overall power consumption:
Ryzen AI – 10W；
NVIDIA Broadcast – 21.3W；
With such a function, video conferencing can greatly reduce the overall power consumption of the notebook in the future, mainly because the design of a dedicated chip is much more power-efficient than a general-purpose chip. In the next stage, maybe AMD can consider letting Ryzen AI enhance the noise cancellation function, which will definitely be of great help to conference users.
Of course, if more software applications are added in the future, it can be foreseen that Ryzen AI will have great advantages, but this part depends on how AMD cooperates with many software developers, and we can also foresee the next generation of Windows laptops Will focus on AI.
Finally, we use PCMark 10 for endurance testing, and the Razer Blade 14 (2023) can provide 7 hours and 27 minutes of endurance under Video conditions.
Dragon Range’s Ryzen 9 7945HX and Phoenix’s Ryzen 9 7940HS have been tested one after another. The targeted groups of the two (Extreme Gamer and Creator vs. Elite Ultrathin) are different, but after completing the test on two machines with Zen 4 architecture processors, we Will recommend Ryzen 7040HS more than Ryzen 7045HX.
From our point of view, AMD Ryzen 7040HS can meet the daily needs of most users, and the integration of a more powerful RDNA 3 GPU allows users to have a better experience. Of course, most laptop options will definitely include a discrete graphics card chip, so iGPU is sometimes dispensable…
More importantly, the positioning of the Ryzen 7040HS series processors is more accessible than the Ryzen 7045HX.
The AMD Ryzen 7040HS series processors have the Ryzen AI function of the XDNA architecture, which can greatly enhance the user’s daily application (provided that the software supports it). As mentioned earlier, the next generation of Windows laptops will focus on AI, and AMD is ahead of Intel this time and is the first to launch products. This also makes us look forward to Intel’s counterattack on the Meteor Lake platform.
It must also be emphasized that the Razer Blade 14 (2023) weighing less than 1.9kg is an excellent notebook computer, whether it is the texture of the body, the feel of the keyboard or the color performance of the screen, but I hope that the transformer can be more textured Some.
The above is the test sharing of the Ryzen 9 7940HS laptop for the Phoenix platform, Razer Blade 14 (2023), thank you for watching.