Hey guys!



I noticed that as a brand new system there wasn't much out there on the newest Razer Blade 17 laptop.

Figured I would throw out a very broad thread with a few specs, upgrades, and questions.



So, into the knitty gritty.

The specs on my system are as listed:

Early 2022 Razer Blade 17 with 1080p screen

3080 ti with 8gb GDDR6 VRAM

32gb of ddr5 4800MHz memory

1 TB m.2 SSD

12th gen i7-1200H



First thing I did was install a Samsung 980 pro 1TB m.2 SSD into the secondary slot.

Access was simple and easy. Once I opened the bottom of the laptop case the additional m.2 slot was spotted on the right hand side (the computer's track pad closest to me)

To my surprise there was quite a thick foam pad in the slot, initially I attempted to install the m.2 over the foam pad. That began to bend the m.2 to an uncomfortable curve, so I removed the foam pad. As expected the slot was high build quality and the new component fit perfectly. After reattaching the bottom plate, ensuring none of the 10 very tiny screws ran away, I powered the system on and windows 11 file explorer instantly recognized an additional drive. Quick and painless upgrade for someone who doesn't enjoy the performance loss of external drives. Note: I have yet to experience the conveniences or potential headaches of thunderbolt connectivity.



Conclusion: Upgrade your storage! m.2's are getting cheaper and the capacity and performance you can get now is a great quality of life upgrade! The screws were tiny but nothing that the most basic ifixit kit cant handle.





Okay, now time for the not so great..

Performance of the system is amazing, it does get a bit hot to the touch but internal temps are under control never breaking 77C while playing games such as Elden Ring, Bioshock (I know its not a good benchmark but I'm a sucker for classics and upscaling) Hell let loose, Total War: Warhammer III, Tiny tinas: Wonderlands and ARK: Survival evolved all on max settings. This is the 1080p 360hz model so your milage may vary. If you have a 4k or 2k model tell me how big of a mistake I made below!



The fans are quite noisy but not as bad as I expected from such a thin laptop. This is definitely a plus.

The laptop is definitely not designed to be on your lap while doing more that forum surfing. This in mind, I purchased the razer blade laptop stand thinking, duh, getting it off the table will be perfect! Eh, not so much, the stand which said it was designed for 17in blade laptops, but it covers one of the fan ports on the bottom of the laptop in the center. I haven't done any testing on the stand and I will update.



Third addition I thought would be a good idea is DBRAND scanned and has skins for this model laptop. I ordered a full compliment to include the trackpad cover. The skin is high quality (and it should be for the prices paid, wow!) application was simple. The sticker package came with an included cloth that shed fibers everywhere so, I threw that away. After using a better quality cloth and some alcohol based cleaner to remove all the smudges(not included) i spend a good hour swearing at myself for being a perfectionist and fumbling with an extra large, extra sticky, sticker. Once applied the textured feel and design were stylish and did not impact thermals. Best of all, no more smudges! Suggestion to those who are looking at this kit, don't get the track pad cover, the texture doesn't feel right. Time for the BIGGEST FAIL of this kit. The bottom cover sticker... its one piece and is supposed to wrap around all 4 corners of the bottom plate to remain with the plate once removed, be VERY careful with it, cause in the middle are the fan cutouts where the skin can be stretched. Once you navigate that minefield, good luck picking which corner the sticker should wrap around. I ended up cutting a 45 degree angled slit in each corner and overlapping the sticker on itself for a mostly flush feeling. The adhesive is not strong enough to stay down! after a week of not even putting the laptop in a sleeve or bag, it rested flat on a surface barely being moved the corner pieces lift. Bypass the bottom plate cover and just bring a cloth with you to avoid the self-loathing that ensues after feeling the $17 USD sticker peel.



The purpose of this post is to get input from others on what products you have tried and suggest to add to this computer. Please let me know if it was helpful or if any of my information can be added to!