RazerWe’ve all been there. You’ve landed a client who wants you to use your creative flair to bring their project to life, whether it’s some cool motion graphics in AfterEffects, a fully animated product render in Cinema 4D or a virtual first-person walkthrough of a building design in Revit. But talking about it in their boardroom or via email, the client misses out important details, or forgets to mention an essential element, and before you know it, you’re on revision 16 and your desktop PC is ready to explode.
This has always been the problem when the processing power needed to render projects has been tied to bulky desktop systems. You can discuss projects with a client to fine detail, but it’s not until they’ve seen a first draft that they give constructive feedback. So, unless you can get the client in front of your screen, as you start to assemble a project, unnecessary time and effort goes into making something that the client then changes beyond all recognition as they can’t visualize what they want.
The desktop in a laptop
But there is a solution to this perennial problem, in the form of the latest generation of laptops from companies like Razer, who are packing the latest, fastest and most powerful processors and graphics chips into highly portable, sleek chassis which, although made by a company with a pure gaming pedigree, doesn’t look out of place in even the most professional of boardrooms.
With the introduction of lower power consumption processors, it’s possible to pack more processing power into CPUs which would normally be found in a desktop system. And because the processors use less power, they generate less heat, again making them ideal for slimmer laptop designs, rather than the bulky slabs usually required to allow the chip to be cooled effectively. The same goes for graphics-dedicated processors, which have a further advantage for creators as many now have dedicated architecture for processing image data or rendering scenes in real-time.
For example, the latest generation of Intel i7 run at speeds up to 4.5Ghz and have 12 ‘threads’ (parallel processing) allowing you to truly multi-task while the processor handles complex calculations in the background with minimal system slow-down. And when it comes to rendering 3D projects or encoding video streams, although a CPU with a high clock speed certainly helps, having a graphics processor to send the tasks to significantly reduces processing time.
What’s the perfect system for me?
Nearly all of the most popular creative packages, such as Cinema 4D, After Effects, Maya and many others allow for both CPU and GPU rendering. GPU rendering is, in the most part, the faster option as the chip has been designed to handle these tasks more efficiently. A CPU is designed for all general computing tasks, so while it might be faster on paper, it can often be slower in practice. So it’s always worth a little research to find out how your software of choice exports your final project, so you can make the best choice when it comes to CPU and GPU combinations.
Finally, it is always a good idea to consider a system that allows you to upgrade key components, as it will not only result in a system that you will be able to use for longer, but will also allow you to immediately upgrade if you find yourself needing more storage or system memory. This does not mean that you will have to exclude choosing a laptop as your main system however, it just means you have to choose the right one. Being able to add more RAM as well as expand the amount of storage (SSD) is especially important, and by being able to upgrade both, you will add a huge amount of longevity to your choice of system.
Portable, powerful, reliable
So, you need something portable, powerful and reliable, that looks professional and has the flexibility to cope with your changing needs. This is where the new Blade 15 Advanced laptop comes in. Delivering class leading performance, the Blade 15 Advanced is powered by Intel’s latest i7-9750H, 6 core CPU, with graphics driven by an NVIDIA RTX 2080 Max-Q GPU, the most powerful small form factor GPU Nvidia has produced to date. And with two different screen choices, creative professionals can choose between a high speed Full-HD screen with 240Hz screen or a 4K OLED display with HDR 400 and 100% DCI-P3.
And even though the Blade 15 Advanced packs the most power found in a laptop of this slim size, it won’t look out of place when meeting clients. Available in a sleek, business-like black with a subtle illuminated logo on the lid, or a silver-white Mercury case with stylish embossed logo, the Blade 15 Advanced is suitable for any boardroom or work environment. Both versions are crafted from the same, high quality T6 aluminium chassis, shaped via a CNC process and coloured with a molecular bonded anodized layer for rugged, hardwearing good looks.
All of this comes in very portable package with a footprint of only 9.25” (235mm) x 13.98” (355mm), with a height of only 0.70 inch and 4.5lbs of weight.
So now you can sit down with your client, create projects and render them in real time, speeding up the project time line and minimizing revisions. Sure, Razer might be a gaming company, but no matter if you work all day in programs like Photoshop or Octane and game a bit on the side, or you are a fiend fighting gamer who also likes to run your streams through After Effects, there is only one system that will fit the bill, the Razer Blade 15 Advanced.
Twine
