Somebody as soon as stated that “larger is healthier.” That particular person would most likely be more than happy by the renaissance of the 18-inch gaming laptop computer. The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 ($3,899.99 as examined) is one in all a number of titanic laptops slated to reach this 12 months, and the to land in our testing lab.
With room for an Intel Core i9-13980HX and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, the Strix Scar 18 guarantees top-of-the-line efficiency. And with a design that is completely smothered in RGB lights, there is not any query that it is a laptop computer designed for gaming. (Maybe, for some individuals, will probably be one of many greatest gaming laptops.)
The Strix Scar 18 is totally aiming to exchange your desktop. It is highly effective, has a pleasant large show and stable audio system, and it will not final lengthy with out the facility adapter. Is it sufficient energy to please gaming lovers? We’ll need to see the way it performs in our testing, however at the very least you could possibly carry this rig from room to room.
Design of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18
The Asus Strix Scar 18 earns the very particular honor of being the primary laptop computer in my profession that I could not slot in my backpack. It epitomizes the time period desktop alternative for 2023, although will probably be removed from alone on that entrance.
To be honest, the Strix Scar 18 is 6.83 kilos and measures 15.71 x 11.57 x 1.21 inches. You’ll be able to inform by taking a look at this behemoth that it isn’t meant to be recurrently carried a lot additional than to the subsequent room.
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There is no large design overhaul from earlier Scars right here. The lid is a darkish grey with the ROG emblem, sporting an offended RGB eye that’s, frankly, ugly. That eye sample is repeated in a stripe diagonally throughout the lid. However you actually get the sense of scale if you elevate the lid, displaying the 18-inch display in its full glory. The underside bezel is a bit chunky, and the casing for the webcam juts out, however that each one provides to how imposing it’s.
To be clear, whereas the 18-inch show is stunning at first, the reality is that it isn’t that completely different from the 17-inch panels available on the market. These 18-inch shows change the side ratio from 16:9 to 16:10, that means that they are barely taller, however they are not any wider than 17-inchers.
On the keyboard deck, Asus used soft-touch plastic that slowly modifications from stable black to a really smoky translucent because it will get nearer to the hinge, displaying a number of the internals. Actually, the corporate ought to go full ’90s and make the laptop computer shell totally translucent or clear.
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There is no large design overhaul from earlier Scars right here. The lid is a darkish grey with the ROG emblem, sporting an offended RGB eye that’s, frankly, ugly. That eye sample is repeated in a stripe diagonally throughout the lid. However you actually get the sense of scale if you elevate the lid, displaying the 18-inch display in its full glory. The underside bezel is a bit chunky, and the casing for the webcam juts out, however that each one provides to how imposing it’s.
To be clear, whereas the 18-inch show is stunning at first, the reality is that it isn’t that completely different from the 17-inch panels available on the market. These 18-inch shows change the side ratio from 16:9 to 16:10, that means that they are barely taller, however they are not any wider than 17-inchers.
On the keyboard deck, Asus used soft-touch plastic that slowly modifications from stable black to a really smoky translucent because it will get nearer to the hinge, displaying a number of the internals. Actually, the corporate ought to go full ’90s and make the laptop computer shell totally translucent or clear.
Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 Specs
| CPU | Intel Core i9-13980HX (8 efficiency cores, 16 effectivity cores, 5.6 GHz max turbo) |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop computer GPU (16GB GDDR6, 175W max graphics energy, 2,040 MHz enhance clock) |
| Reminiscence | 32GB DDR5-4800 |
| Storage | 2x 1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSDs in RAID0 |
| Show | 18-inch, 16:10, 2560 x 1600, 240 Hz “Nebula” show |
| Networking | Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211, Bluetooth 5.3 |
| Ports | Thunderbolt 4, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Sort-C, 2x USB 3.2 Sort-A, 3.5 mm headphone jack, HDMI 2.1, Ethernet jack |
| Digital camera | 720p |
| Battery | 90 WHr |
| Energy Adapter | 330 W |
| Working System | Home windows 11 Professional |
| Dimensions (WxDxH) | 15.71 x 11.57 x 1.21 inches (399 x 294 x 23.1 mm) |
| Weight | 6.83 kilos (3.1 kg) |
| Worth (as configured) | $3,899.99 |
Gaming and Graphics on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18
The Strix Scar 18 is among the many first laptops we’re seeing with each the Intel Core i9-13980HX and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090. (It is also among the many first laptops we’re stitching with any kind of -90 collection Nvidia GPU in any respect, which is new for this technology of cellular GPUs.)
I needed to see how nicely these elements might push Management, which to today continues to be my favourite instance of ray tracing performed proper. I turned the settings as excessive as they went on the laptop computer’s 2560 x 1600 native decision. The sport ran reliably over 60 frames per second, sometimes working between 60 and 68 fps, with a couple of small boosts as much as the low 70’s as I snuck by way of the Oldest Home’s communication departments and dodged flying objects being lobbed throughout the room by an object of energy. Within the Astral Airplane, the place the background is an empty white, it reliably ran over 100 fps. Dropping all the way down to 1920 x 1200, the sport ran round 100 fps, give or take a couple of frames, even in firefights with the hiss.
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We want we nonetheless had final 12 months’s Strix readily available to check its 3080 Ti and Core i9-12950X with present drivers to see whether it is certainly quicker than the 4090 methods we’re testing right here on Far Cry 6. But it surely appears probably that the CPU is at the very least considerably bottlenecking GPU efficiency right here at decrease resolutions. We noticed comparable points when testing the extra highly effective desktop RTX 4090 with Far Cry.
It’s straightforward to level the blame at Intel for probably limiting the efficiency of Nvidia’s top-end cellular GPU. However consider we’re seeing this situation on one recreation. And we wouldn’t anticipate AMD’s greatest CPU to do considerably higher, given what we all know from testing its desktop chips. If something, this consequence makes it clear that the cellular RTX 4090 is greatest suited to a higher-resolution 4K display (which the MSI Titan has however this Strix Scar lacks).
Purple Lifeless Redemption continues to be a punishing recreation. On medium settings, the Strix Scar 18 ran the sport at 123 fps at 1080p and 86 fps at 1600p. MSI’s latest Titan hit 128 fps at 1080p, and was playable at its native 4K at 48 fps.
On the Borderlands 3 “badass” setting, the Strix 18 averaged 165 fps at 1080p and 112 fps at 2560 x 1600. The brand new MSI Titan hit 177 fps at 1080p and performed at 71 fps on its 4K display.
To emphasize-test the Scar, we ran Metro Exodus on its RTX preset at 1080p for 15 runs, which takes about half an hour. The system ran the sport at a median of 102.97 fps, which was largely constant after a quicker first run. The Core i9-13900HX’s efficiency cores ran at a median of three.84 GHz, whereas the effectivity cores measured 3.37 GHz . The CPU bundle measured a median 81.2 levels Celsius. In the meantime, the RTX 4090 ran at 2,121.62 MHz and measured 70.34 C.
Our benchmarks check outcomes have been spectacular. On Shadow of the Tomb Raider (highest settings), the Strix Scar 18 ran the sport at 181 fps at 1080p and 124 fps at its native 2560 x 1600. The brand new MSI GT77 HX Titan, with the identical GPU and a Core i9-13950HX, was a single body behind at 1080p and ran the benchmark at 70 fps on that laptop computer’s 4K display.
On Grand Theft Auto V (very excessive settings), the Strix Scar ran the benchmark at 152 fps at 1080p and 132 fps at 2560 x 1600. The Titan ran the sport at 176 fps at 1080p and 50 fps at 4K.
The efficiency on Far Cry 6 (extremely settings) was a bit complicated, with the Strix taking part in at 107 fps at FHD and 94 fps at 1600p. That FHD quantity is lower than a top-end Strix we examined final 12 months. It’s not solely clear if there are driver points, a CPU bottleneck, or part compatibility issues with the sport. However the MSI Titan GT77 HX with an RTX 4090 and thirteenth Gen Intel Core i9 HX hit 102 fps at 1080p, which is not too far off, and 71 fps at 4K.
Productiveness Efficiency on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18
Between an Intel Core i9-13980HX and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop computer GPU, alongside 32GB of DDR5 RAM and 2TB of SSD storage, we anticipated robust productiveness efficiency out of the Scar.
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We noticed positive aspects in each single- and multi-core efficiency over twelfth Gen Core methods on Geekbench 5 (with way more important enchancment within the latter). The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 achieved a single-core rating of two,066 and a multi-core rating of 19,233, whereas the MSI Titan GT77HX, with an Intel Core i9-1350HX and 64GB of RAM, noticed barely increased scores at 2,071 for single-core and a couple of,0602 for multi-core.
On our file switch check, the Strix copied 25GB of information at a fee of 1,885.81 MBps, beating final 12 months’s 17-inch Strix, however was slower than the 2022 Titan. The MSI Titan GT77 HX we examined got here in at a blazing 2,299.26 MBps.
We noticed some enhancements in Handbrake, as nicely. The Strix Scar 18 transcoded a 4K video to 1080p in 2 minutes and 49 seconds, beating the methods with twelfth Gen chips. The brand new Titan got here in a bit quicker, at 2:38.
Show on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18
Yeah, it is 18 inches. Asus’s new panel is very large, which you might have considered trying in case you’re changing a complete desktop. It has a decision of 2560 x 1600, with a tall, 16:10 side ratio. Asus manufacturers this a “Nebula” show, with help for HDR and a 240 Hz refresh fee.
The show is brilliant and colourful. Within the quick movie Tears of Metal, even the darkest scenes, together with one that includes a sniper on his perch, and one other with a home coated in vines, have been clear to see. Each lush inexperienced vegetation and neon blue and pink laptop interfaces popped on the display.
Once I performed Management, I used to be impressed by the sport’s reds, that are a visible motif all through. I might nonetheless make out particulars within the recreation’s darker areas, although within the Astral Airplane, which is all on white, some particulars might get a bit blown out.
Asus’ display covers 109.4% of the sRGB colour gamut and 77.5% of the DCI-P3 spectrum, falling wanting the MSI Titan GT77 HX’s 4K panel at 161.6% sRGB and 114.5% DCI-P3.
Keyboard and Touchpad on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18
The keyboard on the Scar 18 affords a good typing expertise, although it has a couple of oddities contemplating the sheer width Asus needed to work with.
On the monkeytype.com typing check, I hit 115 phrases per minute with 98% accuracy fee, which is about my regular on an excellent keyboard. The keys have a good quantity of click on, and I did not really feel myself bottoming out as I typed. However contemplating the scale and value of this machine, I do want Asus would have opted for low-profile mechanical keys, like we have seen on some Alienware and MSI machines (together with the newest Titan).
There are a couple of unusual structure selections. The precise shift secret’s quick, seemingly to accommodate the arrow keys jammed between the QWERTY keyboard and the quantity pad. The up arrow is true subsequent to that shift key, whereas the correct arrow is jammed into the quantity pad space.
The touchpad, at 5.1 x 3.4 inches, is spacious. There certain is room for it. It is also good and clean, and I had no drawback with Home windows 11’s most complicated gestures. Once you’re gaming, you may flip the touchpad off with the shortcut Fn + F10.
Audio on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18
One advantage of a large chassis: there’s room for stable audio system. The 4 audio system right here produce loud, detailed sound that simply stuffed my residence.
Whereas establishing the Strix, I used to be shocked by the element in AJR’s “The DJ Is Crying For Assist,” which mixes emotional violin strings with thumping bass and each pop and choral vocals. The track sounded about as clear as I’ve ever heard it.
Management additionally sounded good on the Strix, with thumping gunfire, clear vocals (the protagonist thinks aloud fairly a bit within the recreation) and haunting atmospheric music.
The audio system help Dolby Atmos, and you’ll select between some presets within the Dolby Entry software program. I feel the “balanced” setting in music mode that comes out of the field works fairly nicely in all kinds of circumstances, however there are additionally specialised settings for video games, films and voice calls.
Upgradeability of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18
The bottom of the Strix Scar 18 is held in by 11 Phillips head screws. The three closest to the palm wrest are shorter than the remainder, so you may have to recollect the place these go. The fourth one in that spot (furthest to the correct) is captive and does not come out.
Eradicating the underside took cautious prying with a guitar-pick formed device. I assumed, incorrectly, that the bottom can be held on with a ribbon cable, however the RGB lights on the underside do not come off with the underside. I favor it this manner, as I’ve seen ribbon cables connected to the underside earlier than, that are straightforward to interrupt.
Inside, there is a ton of cooling, with a great deal of heatpipes to chill the CPU and GPU. There are three followers within the system, which makes sensegiven how loud it might probably get.
There are two PCIe SSD slots (each have been stuffed in our unit), and the RAM and Wi-Fi card may be eliminated and changed as nicely. All of these elements are underneath heat-protective coverings. The battery will also be eliminated and changed. I am shocked that Asus did not go along with a much bigger 99 WHr battery, wanting on the internals: There’s some empty area across the 90 WHr one which the Strix ships with.
Battery Life on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18
The battery on the ROG Strix Scar 18 looks like a formality. I imply, how a lot are you actually going to maneuver this, except for room to room?
I hope not a lot. The Scar lasted solely 4 hours and 26 minutes on our battery check, which browses the net, streams movies and runs OpenGL assessments, all whereas related to Wi-Fi with the show set to 150 nits.
The MSI Titan GT77 HX lasted 3:48 on a cost, which is to say, that is simply the kind of battery life you need to most likely anticipate from these large laptops with power-hungry elements.
So yeah, if you transfer the Scar round, carry the facility connector. You will want it for gaming anyway.
Warmth on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18
Once you play video games on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18, the followers spin up loud. That is what it takes to chill essentially the most highly effective laptop computer elements available on the market now. The query is, do you are feeling the warmth? You very nicely might.
I measured pores and skin temperatures whereas working our Metro Exodus stress check, and located that the middle of the keyboard measured 33.5 levels Celsius (92.3 levels Fahrenheit), whereas the touchpad, which most avid gamers might be resting their wrists on, was a cooler 26 C (78.8 F). These are all completely cheap contemplating the components inside.
The underside of the laptop computer will get fairly sizzling, reaching 50.2 C (122.36 F). However contemplating this laptop computer is just too large to realistically use in your lap, it must be OK. Simply be sure you hold it firmly on a desk or desk.
Webcam on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18
Decision and picture high quality do not at all times strictly go hand-in-hand, however increased decision often helps. It is a disgrace that in 2023, Asus has a $3,700, 18-inch laptop computer with a 720p webcam. It is time to transfer to 1080p.
And on this case, the picture high quality wasn’t nice! Utilizing the webcam at my desk at house, the picture appeared cool, with a burgundy t-shirt wanting virtually purple. My pores and skin was smudgy and my beard and hair appeared muddy. I would not need to seem like this on a stream. Should you’re changing the remainder of your desktop, you would possibly as nicely spend money on one of many greatest webcams, too.
Software program and Guarantee on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18
Asus has a bunch of software program preinstalled. A few of it, like Armour Crate and Aura Creator, are helpful. Armoury Crate is a one-stop store for part statistics, settings profiles and lighting. Aura Creator has extra superior RGB lighting results. Our Scar 18 evaluate pattern wasn’t working with the lighting software program once we tried it however presumably, that might be up to date.
There’s additionally some bloat. Digital Pet, which I’ve seen on Asus’ G14 line earlier than, is successfully a extra superior Tamagotchi that lives in your desktop. (The G14 can even present it on the lid with LEDs. The Scar can not). It does not have the video games or different capabilities the G14’s pet does. I opened it as soon as and closed it without end.
Then there’s MyAsus, which is purposeful as a spot to verify your serial quantity and guarantee info, however I do not see anybody checking it recurrently.
There may be additionally the same old Home windows 11 software program within the Begin Menu, together with WhatsApp, Spotify and TikTok. Antivirus got here within the type of a trial of McAfee Stay Secure.
Asus sells the Strix Scar 18 with a 1-year guarantee.
Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 Configurations
We examined the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 with an Intel Core i9-13900HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, 32GB of RAM and 2TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage, which prices $3,899.99.
On Finest Purchase (opens in new tab), there is a cheaper mannequin with a Core i9-13980HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage for $2,499.99.
Backside Line
The Asus ROG Strix Scar is large. It is actually, actually large. With that comes room for some critically highly effective elements, and the Intel Core i9-13980HX and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 ship some severe would possibly.
Asus has additionally delivered a brilliant, colourful show and loud audio system that sound nice whereas watching films or taking part in video games. That being stated, the MSI Titan GT77 HX’s display is even brighter, and better decision. And as we famous within the gaming efficiency part, Nvidia’s RTX 4090 graphics actually is healthier suited to 4K than 1660p.
If you need an 18-inch, 16:10 display, the Strix is the way in which to go. However in case you favor the traditional 16:9 side ratio in a 17-inch panel and need to go as much as 4K, you might need to think about the Titan.
These components are designed for somebody who needs to get the utmost they’ll out of a cellular gaming rig. Should you do not play essentially the most intense video games at their highest settings, there are higher, cheaper choices. Most often, we acquired some fairly robust efficiency out of the Strix Scar, although I think about some driver refinements may even assist in a couple of questionable spots.
The Strix Scar can, in some ways, exchange your desktop. If in case you have a small residence with no room for a monitor, otherwise you simply need to have the ability to carry your PC from room to room, the Scar 18 is an costly, competent possibility.
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