Is my blade 2018 too old? | Razer Insider

Is my blade 2018 too old?


Is it normal for my razer blade 15 (2018) to not be able to run watch dogs legion at all? It's doing 5-10 fps ... Older games like AC Black Flag, Syndicate, ... all suffer as well. I honestly thought I had bought for the future 2 years ago, but apparently that's not exactly the case. Do you guys and gals experience this as well?

-- Razer Blade 15, 1070 max q, i7, 16gb, 1tb

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19 Replies

Don't rush, this forum is kind of slow.

Should handle 720p gaming, don't push it much as newer games are more GPU demanding.
Ok, I'll take that back...

In my honest opinion, I don't think the gpu is the problem. It rarely uses all the vram. It's the cpu that's bottlenecking the system.
But yeah, I'm thinking about buying myself a proper tower anyways. I'm kinda disappointed in razer tbh.
6C/12T should handle things well. Have you tried cleaning the fans, cooling fins and repasting? It might just be thermal throttling because of heat.
Oh, no I haven't, but I'll immediately order a set of screwdrivers on amazon so I can check. If it's just that, that would be awesome. Thx!
Userlevel 7
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Also keep your GPU drivers up to date. They release a new profiles, and sometimes performance improvements for the new games.
But as @dudepare01 said - clean your fans, repaste, because thermal throttling may be killing the performance. You can also put your laptop on some stand, so it could also have more air underneath the laptop (it will run a bit cooler).
Bl4ckSunr1se
Oh, no I haven't, but I'll immediately order a set of screwdrivers on amazon so I can check. If it's just that, that would be awesome. Thx!


That maybe the culprit, get that thing cleaned up and repasted! Bring her back to her former glory....lol
FiszPL
Also keep your GPU drivers up to date. They release a new profiles, and sometimes performance improvements for the new games.

Okaaay, but someone on this forum told me to never update the nvidia drivers as the 1070 max q is custom made by Razer. So I actually uninstalled all the nvidia driver updates and reverted back to the original one from razer's website...

But as @dudepare01 said - clean your fans, repaste, because thermal throttling may be killing the performance. You can also put your laptop on some stand, so it could also have more air underneath the laptop (it will run a bit cooler).

Is there something I should pay attention to when repasting? Can I break stuff? (Sorry, I'm a real noob in these things)
Bl4ckSunr1se
Okaaay, but someone on this forum told me to never update the nvidia drivers as the 1070 max q is custom made by Razer. So I actually uninstalled all the nvidia driver updates and reverted back to the original one from razer's website...

Is there something I should pay attention to when repasting? Can I break stuff? (Sorry, I'm a real noob in these things)


Repasting is a very sensitive topic...haha! Just watch you tube video tutorials. I repasted my Blade 17 2020 a month after getting it and now it runs a tad quieter as the temps are hovering 70-80c range during gaming (compared to 80's before). Just be careful with small torx screws, they are easy to round off if you have a bad tool.
Userlevel 7
Bl4ckSunr1se
Is it normal for my razer blade 15 (2018) to not be able to run watch dogs legion at all? It's doing 5-10 fps ... Older games like AC Black Flag, Syndicate, ... all suffer as well. I honestly thought I had bought for the future 2 years ago, but apparently that's not exactly the case. Do you guys and gals experience this as well?

-- Razer Blade 15, 1070 max q, i7, 16gb, 1tb

I don’t have watch dogs legion but 5 to 10 FPS doesn’t sound a 1070 performance, did you run on proper gpu not the intel one? Second this game has fancy ray tracing, not sure if you have the option though but if you switch it on in pascal GPUs it’ll run like potato I think.
Repasting and cleaning is a muss in having gaming laptop as other mentioned but it won’t increase huge FPS like from 6 to 60.
Btw no, your Blade isn’t too old I’ve exactly same specs blade it can run anything I throw on it on FHD.
Joikansai
I don’t have watch dogs legion but 5 to 10 FPS doesn’t sound a 1070 performance, did you run on proper gpu not the intel one?

Yes, on the nvidia gpu
Second this game has fancy ray tracing, not sure if you have the option though but if you switch it on in pascal GPUs it’ll run like potato I think.

It's greyed out, so no, I can't switch that on

Repasting and cleaning is a muss in having gaming laptop as other mentioned but it won’t increase huge FPS like from 6 to 60.
Btw no, your Blade isn’t too old I’ve exactly same specs blade it can run anything I throw on it on FHD.

Ok, thx for the reply.
Aby uniknąć takich problemów, polecam przeczytanie najlepszego wyboru gier - https://encyklopediagier.net/
@FiszPL and @Joikansai , should I or should I not update max q gpu drivers? I'm asking you, because you mentioned it before. But other sources that I researched claim you should only use the drivers provided by the manufacturer, in this case Razer. So, I'd be very much obliged if you could clarify this for me.
Userlevel 7
Bl4ckSunr1se
@FiszPL and @Joikansai , should I or should I not update max q gpu drivers? I'm asking you, because you mentioned it before. But other sources that I researched claim you should only use the drivers provided by the manufacturer, in this case Razer. So, I'd be very much obliged if you could clarify this for me.

Nvidia drivers should be updated through nvidia website or using nvidia experience, nvidia driver on Razer website is usually quite outdated.
Userlevel 6
Before jumping to complex and potentially damaging procedures like repasting your CPU, let's make sure you've covered the simple (more likely) things.

-Is the laptop plugged in?
-Do you have the most up to date drivers? (Razer doesn't produce their graphics cards, that's ridiculous.)
-Do you have your power settings in Synapse set to 'Balanced' or 'Gaming'?

Then if you've done all that, and it all checks out, and you're still getting terrible performance, download something to monitor your CPU heat, and use that to actually look at the temps before just carving into your expensive laptop.
figrin1
Before jumping to complex and potentially damaging procedures like repasting your CPU, let's make sure you've covered the simple (more likely) things.

Too late 😜 But it seems to have worked...

-Is the laptop plugged in?

Of course 😜

-Do you have the most up to date drivers? (Razer doesn't produce their graphics cards, that's ridiculous.)

Since Joikansai's post, yes, they're up to date. Thanks Joikansai

-Do you have your power settings in Synapse set to 'Balanced' or 'Gaming'?

It is set to Gaming


Then if you've done all that, and it all checks out, and you're still getting terrible performance, download something to monitor your CPU heat, and use that to actually look at the temps before just carving into your expensive laptop.

So, yes, I've got quickcpu. This said, that while gaming temperatures between 97 and 100 C. So I cleaned out the dust, then it dropped by a few degrees. Then I repasted the cpu, it dropped another few degrees. Now it's sitting between 89 and 94 while playing AC Valhalla. I haven't tested Watch Dogs yet, which was virtually unplayable.
Userlevel 7
Bl4ckSunr1se
So, yes, I've got quickcpu. This said, that while gaming temperatures between 97 and 100 C. So I cleaned out the dust, then it dropped by a few degrees. Then I repasted the cpu, it dropped another few degrees. Now it's sitting between 89 and 94 while playing AC Valhalla. I haven't tested Watch Dogs yet, which was virtually unplayable.

Yes repasting with similar compound would slightly reduce cpu temperature, you might want use throttlestop or intel xtu for undervolting and maybe limiting turbo boost like to 3,6 using throttlestop boost amplifier limitation, it should reduce some temperatures. Increasing bottom areas like using stand/ cooling pad or laptop feet would also decrease it more. I use under 10 bucks amazon laptop feet undervolting per xtu -130mV and limit cpu tdp to 25 watt with synapse Balance profile, on 4800 Fans rpm, with the setting could keep AC Valhalla on mid 80ish with spike to low 90ish on 1080p high around 50 FPS. I don’t have watch dogs yet but same as Valhalla, it’s new Ubisoft type not well optimized title, i think 1070maxq still can run it fine as long you don’t turn on Rtx things (not sure if the option is available though for gtx cards).
The temperature is typically on thin light categories laptops that’s powered by intel hitting 90 on such titles is normal, thanks to almost 5 years unchanged 14nm chip that intel use since 2016 with more power and cores mount packed that means extra heat. You might reduce the temperature a lot by liquid metal, but the risk I don’t think worth it.
Userlevel 7
Badge +1
Bl4ckSunr1se
@FiszPL and @Joikansai , should I or should I not update max q gpu drivers? I'm asking you, because you mentioned it before. But other sources that I researched claim you should only use the drivers provided by the manufacturer, in this case Razer. So, I'd be very much obliged if you could clarify this for me.

As @Joikansai said - I'd personally update the drivers.
Before installing you can also do a driver cleanup with DDU tool (Display Driver Uninstaller) - go into safe mode (click on start -> power button -> hold left SHIFT key and click on restart). Like on the instruction: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/start-your-pc-in-safe-mode-in-windows-10-92c27cff-db89-8644-1ce4-b3e5e56fe234 then remove drivers with DDU, restart and install fresh ones from nvidia website.
Should deal with 720p gaming, don't push it much as more up to date games are more GPU requesting.
Thanks for the reply, but I reconsidered. This laptop is about to be sold and I already invested in a proper pc. Having one system that's able to be powerful and compact is just not working. I'll get myself a tablet in addition to the pc and then I'm good.