Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2024) review: Pure, unbridled laptop power

Price When Reviewed

$3,899.99

Best Prices Today: Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2024)

Desktop substitute. It was as soon as a semi-official class of laptop computer: it appeared as a filter on retailer web sites like Best Buy and Newegg and was referenced in our reviews. The class has since fallen out of favor, however there’s nonetheless a uncommon few laptops that match that area of interest. Asus’ ROG Strix Scar 18 is amongst them. It delivers excessive CPU and GPU efficiency in a supposedly transportable design, powered by each Intel and Nvidia’s most beastly transportable {hardware}, nevertheless it’s at its greatest on a desk.

Looking for decide up a brand new gaming laptop computer? Check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best gaming laptops out there right this moment.

Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2024): Specs and options

The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 is a high-performance laptop computer and it pulls out all of the stops. It has an Intel Core i9 processor with 24 cores, 32GB of RAM, and Nvidia RTX 4090 graphics with a lofty most graphics energy of 175 watts. It additionally has an 18-inch Mini-LED show.

• CPU: Intel Core i9-14900HX
• Memory: 32GB LPDDR5
• Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 4090 with 175-watt most graphics energy (150 watts + 25 watts Dynamic Boost)
• Display: 2560×1600 240Hz IPS Mini-LED
• Storage: 2TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe stable state drive
• Webcam: 720p HD digicam
• Connectivity: 1x Thunderbolt 4 with DisplayPort, 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with Displayport and Power Delivery, 1x 3.5mm audio jack
• Networking: 2.5G LAN, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
• Biometrics: None
• Battery capability: 90 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 15.71 x 11.57 x 1.21 inches
• Weight: 6.83 kilos
• MSRP: $3,899.99

You pay for the {hardware}, in fact, however maybe not as a lot as anticipated. The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 carries an MSRP of practically $3,900. That’s loads, however different rip-roaring efficiency laptops are most costly. The MSI Raider 17 is priced at $5,289 on Newegg whereas an Alienware m18 (with barely much less spectacular {hardware}) will set you again $3,800.

Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2024): Design and construct high quality

The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 is technically a laptop computer, however makes little effort to supply a slim, gentle design. It measures over one inch thick, practically 16 inches large, and virtually a foot throughout. That’s beefy. It gained’t slot in many laptop computer luggage, even these designed for larger-than-usual laptops, and leaves little tabletop area on your espresso do you have to tote it to your native Starbucks. 

Asus’ design leans into this. A laptop computer that’s actually meant to journey between desks arguably beneficial properties much less from a inflexible chassis or eye-catching appears to be like, so the ROG Strix Scar 18 isn’t a head-turner. It has a easy charcoal chassis adorned by delicate ROG accents. 

The laptop computer’s most alluring design trait is the heavy use of LED accents, that are discovered on each the show lid and across the laptop computer’s perimeter. They have some utility. They blink pink when charging, for instance. But it’s principally concerning the vibe and the vibes are good. The LED accents are engaging, properly positioned, and will be personalized via the laptop computer’s included software program or Windows’ Personalization settings.

Build high quality, nonetheless, is a little bit of a miss. There’s nothing mistaken, however not a lot proper, which is disappointing for a $3,899.99 laptop computer. Plastic is the fabric selection and loads of flex is felt throughout each the show lid and the decrease chassis. It actually appears no extra sturdy than the sub-$1,000 Acer Nitro V. 

Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2024): Keyboard, trackpad

IDG / Matthew Smith

A laptop computer as large because the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 ought to have loads of area for a big keyboard, however that’s solely principally true right here. It gives a fairly spacious structure total and provides a numpad, however the numpad keys aren’t full-size and another keys, corresponding to Control and Shift on the right-hand aspect of the keyboard, are miniaturized. 

Key really feel is nice with lengthy key journey and a crisp bottoming motion, however the ROG Strix Scar 18 doesn’t present mechanical key switches, a characteristic discovered on another high-end gaming laptops just like the MSI Titan 18 HX and Alienware m18. I don’t thoughts this a lot, however I’m certain it would disappoint keyboard purists. 

A modest touchpad sits quietly beneath the keyboard. It measures about 5 inches large and three inches deep. That’s not unhealthy for a 14-inch laptop computer nevertheless it appears to be like and feels cramped on an 18-inch machine. On the plus aspect, the touchpad floor is clean, responsive, and executes multi-touch gestures properly. 

Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2024): Display, audio

IDG / Matthew Smith

The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18’s show is arguably the laptop computer’s headline characteristic, and it’s one thing to behold. We’re speaking an 18-inch Mini-LED show with 2,304 dimming zones and a refresh charge of 240Hz.

Delivering a Mini-LED with this many dimming zones radically improves distinction over a typical IPS show in addition to most prior Mini-LED laptops. I measured a most distinction ratio of 25400:1 at 100 % of the show’s most brightness. At low ranges of brightness, the distinction ratio turns into successfully infinite and similar to OLED.

The show additionally scores properly in coloration gamut, coloration accuracy, and most brightness. We’re speaking a most SDR brightness of 532 nits and a most HDR brightness of 1153. That’s larger than most HDR laptop screens, and it results in eye-searing peak brightness in HDR motion pictures and video games. When one thing goes increase, you see it.

Motion readability and fluidity is great because of the monitor’s 240Hz refresh charge and assist of Nvidia G-Sync. Fast-moving objects retail good element and effective textual content stays straightforward to learn in movement. I’ve witnessed higher outcomes from OLED shows, however the ROG Strix Scar 18 does properly.

It’s not all excellent news, nonetheless. Blooming, a difficulty with Mini-LED shows that causes shiny halos round shiny objects on a darkish scene, remains to be evident. I discover it’s just about unnoticeable when viewing motion pictures and video games, nevertheless it’s extra obvious across the edges of apps on the Windows desktop. I seen it across the Windows desktop cursor when utilizing apps in darkish mode, too. There’s additionally a vignetting impact across the edges of the show, which seems reasonably dimmer when shiny content material is proven. These points are most seen at larger ranges of brightness and when HDR is turned on.

The laptop computer’s audio sadly doesn’t dwell as much as the show. Asus presents a four-speaker system that gives moderately crisp, wealthy audio, nevertheless it’s not loud. And, regardless of that, it could possibly nonetheless grow to be muddy or metallic when requested to deal with music with deep bass or an action-heavy scene. The audio system will do in a pinch, however exterior audio system or a headset are beneficial.

Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2024): Webcam, microphone, biometrics

Despite its dimension, the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 solely finds area for a humble 720p webcam. It’s not nice. The digicam data gentle, blurry, grainy video that appears particularly unhealthy blown up throughout the laptop computer’s massive 18-inch, 2560×1600 display. Is it effective for Zoom? Sure. But you’re not going to look good. 

I used to be left with an analogous impression of the microphone. It works properly sufficient for a fast on-line assembly, however the presentation is hole and might make your voice extra obscure. 

As for biometrics, properly, there’s not any. That isn’t too uncommon for a gaming monitor, although it could have been good to see assist for Windows Hello facial recognition. 

Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2024): Connectivity

IDG / Matthew Smith

Big laptops have large connectivity, and the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 isn’t any exception. It gives one Thunderbolt 4 port and one USB-C port, each of which give energy and DisplayPort. There’s additionally one HDMI 2.1 port with FRL, a pair of USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, and a 3.5mm audio jack. It could be good to additionally see an SDcard reader or one other USB-A port, however there’s gobs of connectivity right here.

The similar is true of the laptop computer’s community connectivity. It has a 2.5G wired Ethernet port and helps Wi-Fi 6E alongside Bluetooth 5.3. Wi-Fi 7 is simply now starting to look in routers, so Wi-Fi 6E is now not the leading edge, however I’ve but to assessment a laptop computer with Wi-Fi 7 assist. The ROG Strix Scar 18’s community connectivity is as in depth as anybody can count on from a contemporary gaming laptop computer.

Power is delivered by a formidable 330 watt power-brick that connects to the laptop computer’s left flank via a barrel plug adapter. The laptop computer’s Thunderbolt and USB-C ports assist energy, as talked about beforehand, nevertheless it consumes far an excessive amount of energy to produce over these connections. You’ll have to convey the ability brick when touring. 

Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2024): Performance

Now we come to it—the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18’s actual cause for being. Performance is all the time vital for a laptop computer, in fact, nevertheless it’s extra vital for some than for others, and right here it’s completely crucial. 

Asus actually delivers on paper. The ROG Strix Scar 18 I examined had Intel’s Core i9-14900HX, a 24-core, 32-thread processor with eight efficiency cores, 16 environment friendly cores, and a most Turbo increase of 5.8GHz. It additionally had Nvidia RTX 4090 cellular graphics with a most graphics energy of 175 watts. This is top-tier equipment. Does it result in top-tier outcomes?

IDG / Matthew Smith

First up is PCMark 10, a holistic system benchmark that gauges efficiency throughout a wide range of simulated duties. The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 does properly on this benchmark with a rating of 8,145, nevertheless it nonetheless finally ends up behind another high-performance laptops such because the Acer Predator Triton 17X and MSI Titan GT 77 HX 13V.

IDG / Matthew Smith

It’s an analogous story in Cinebench R20, a closely multithreaded CPU benchmark. The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 reaches a rating of 10,971, which is great, but additionally only a hair behind different high-performance laptops. 

The Razer Blade 18 and Alienware x16 fall back, nonetheless, regardless of highly effective {hardware}. This marks the distinction between a laptop computer wholly targeted on efficiency and one which tries to stability efficiency with dimension and weight. 

Both the Razer Blade 18 and Alienware X16 can obtain outcomes nearer to the ROG Strix Scar 18 if set to their “performance” or “turbo” mode, however that drastically kicks up the fan noise.

IDG / Matthew Smith

The story continues in Handbrake, a long-duration, closely multithreaded CPU benchmark. The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 performs properly however doesn’t beat the Acer Predator Triton 17X. The Razer Blade 18 and Alienware X16 once more lag behind.

MSI’s Titan GT 77HX 13V is the outlier right here. That laptop computer’s rating of 904 felt glorious final spring, however looking back it’s decrease than I might have anticipated (it was the primary Intel Core i9-13980HX laptop computer I reviewed and solely the second reviewed by PC World). 

So, in a nutshell: the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 is quick, however the Intel Core i9-14900HX doesn’t appear to lift the bar over what was out there final 12 months. That’s certain to be a disappointment in case you anticipated a brand new processor era to ship a generational uplift. On the opposite hand, although, it’s clear that Intel’s Core i9-14900HX is extraordinarily fast.

Now we transfer on to the laptop computer’s graphics, the place I count on the story of fantastic but stagnant efficiency will proceed. Nvidia’s RTX 4090 cellular graphics is fast, nevertheless it’s additionally basically the identical GPU that debuted in high-performance laptops final 12 months. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

3DMark Time Spy was an early affirmation of my expectations. The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 hit a rating of 19,262, which is the second better of the laptops I used for comparability. But it’s additionally behind the MSI Titan GT 77 HX 13V. The ROG Strix Scar 18 is extraordinarily quick, nevertheless it’s not setting data.

IDG / Matthew Smith

The order of the rankings varies in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, however the story stays the identical. Asus’ ROG Strix Scar 18 achieves a superb common body charge of 194 frames per second at 1080p and the Highest element settings. That’s a stellar outcome and greater than sufficient to benefit from the recreation. But it’s not the best we’ve seen, because the Acer Predator Triton 17X hit 197 frames per second.

IDG / Matthew Smith

Metro Exodus, a much more demanding recreation that we take a look at at 1080p and Extreme element (although with out ray-tracing), does nothing to problem the narrative. The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 performs extraordinarily properly with a median framerate of 84, nevertheless it’s not the quickest, shedding out to the MSI Titan GT 77 HX 13V. 

The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 consists of a number of energy profiles, corresponding to a Turbo mode meant to allow most efficiency. However, these modes didn’t significantly change the laptop computer’s efficiency story, with efficiency beneficial properties of 5 to 20 %. The largest achieve was present in Cinebench R20, the place the Turbo mode boosted the ROG Strix Scar 18’s rating to 12,415. That’s the second-best rating we’ve recorded in that take a look at. 

Competitors even have a Turbo or Performance mode, nonetheless, and the ROG Strix Scar 18’s basic standing towards its opponents doesn’t change when the mode is enabled. All of the take a look at outcomes proven above have been captured in every laptop computer’s default efficiency profile.

So, what’s the decision on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18’s efficiency? 

Those who count on new {hardware} to ship efficiency beneficial properties shall be disenchanted, as a result of that’s not what occurred right here. The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 is extraordinarily quick in all benchmarks however by no means raises the bar. It’s roughly the identical because the quickest laptops from 2023.

Yet the laptop computer’s efficiency is extraordinarily robust in absolute phrases. It could not set data, nevertheless it’s very near setting data in each benchmark, and it completely demolishes smaller, thinner laptops. Choosing the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 over a thinner machine just like the Razer Blade 18 will internet you a efficiency achieve total, and it’s in a wholly completely different league than a 16-inch laptop computer just like the Alienware X16.

Personally, I lean extra in direction of the second perspective, which suggests I stay impressed. The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 is a quick laptop computer. It’s additionally relatively inexpensive for the efficiency it delivers. $3,900 isn’t low cost, however you would spend much more. Still, those that already personal a high-performance laptop computer in-built the previous couple of years don’t have to rush out and purchase the ROG Strix Scar 18. 

Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2024): Battery life

Asus ships the ROG Strix Scar 18 with a 90 watt-hour battery. That’s massive, nevertheless it’s not the biggest a laptop computer of this dimension can have (some laptops have batteries as much as 99 watt-hours). A laptop computer this highly effective will in fact tax any fashionable battery, however its endurance is a tad higher than could be anticipated.

IDG / Matthew Smith

I recorded six hours and one minute of battery life in our customary battery take a look at, which loops a 4K file of the brief movie Tears of Steel. Six hours isn’t wonderful however, as seen on the graph, it’s aggressive with different high-performance laptops. 

Keep in thoughts, nonetheless, that our battery take a look at locations the system below a lightweight load. The ROG Strix Scar 18 additionally has Nvidia Optimus, which saves energy by disabling the RTX 4090 when its efficiency is pointless. A contemporary 3D recreation will chew via the battery way more rapidly.

Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2024): Conclusion

The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 just isn’t fairly what it might sound at a look. 

I believe most buyers will see its practically $3,900 MSRP and assume it a competitor to the MSI Titan 18 or Razer Blade 18. That’s solely partially true. The ROG Strix Scar 18 is a high-performance laptop computer but, not like these options, it sticks to a thick, cumbersome, standard design. It’s not a looker and it doesn’t really feel luxurious, however the ROG Strix Scar 18 delivers on efficiency for the worth.