Today, Razer is announcing its new Razer Blade 17, along with a refresh of its base model Razer Blade 15. The Blade 17's claim to fame is that it has the most powerful Intel processor found in a Razer laptop to date. It includes an Intel Core i9-11900H.

The CPU has eight cores and 16 threads, maxing out at a turbo frequency of 4.9GHz. As Razer says, this offers performance levels "previously unheard of in an Intel-based Razer laptop". Of course, the firm has never had to say "Intel-based" before, because up until a month ago when it introduced an AMD laptop, it only made Intel-powered PCs.

On top of that, it's got up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics, and up to a 4K touchscreen. Unlike the 15-inch version, there's no 4K OLED model, as 17.3-inch OLED panels still don't exist.

“The Blade 17 has been a staple in the premium gaming laptop space for years, and it’s crucial that we continue to deliver the kind of mind-blowing performance and impeccable quality that our fans expect and deserve,” says Brad Wildes, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Razer’s Systems Business Unit. “Continuously integrating improvements while introducing the newest, top-of-the-line hardware advancements is what gives the Blade family its ‘edge’. Razer Blades have always been synonymous with style and power, and we intend to keep it that way.”

Aside from that, you'll also find that the new Razer Blade 17 comes with a 1080p webcam, per-key Chroma RGB lighting, THX Spatial Audio, and more.

As mentioned, the Razer Blade 15 is also getting a refresh, although just the base model. The Razer Blade 15 Advanced got a refresh a couple of months ago. Starting at $1,799.99, it now comes with an Intel Core i7-11800H, and RTX 3070 graphics. Naturally, the new Tiger Lake processor comes with other perks like PCI 4.0 slots for expandable storage and Thunderbolt 4.

Both the Razer Blade 15 and Razer Blade 17 are available for pre-order now on Razer.com.