Verdict
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 ( 2024 ) is a stunning combining of high - remainder specs and a luxurious gaming screen , though it ’s not quite the fastest laptop computer that we ’ve ever seen – or even the firm we ’ve seen from Asus .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 ( 2024 ) aims to be the prototype of what you’re able to achieve when you mate cutting - sharpness C.P.U. and GPU technology with a screen that can really show them off .
First , you have Intel ’s Modern fourteenth - generation Core i9 14900HX ; an absolute monster of aCPUpacking 8 Performance cores and 16 Efficient cores to run a whopping 32 coincident threads at speeds of up to 5.8GHz . badly . 5.8GHz . Then you add an RTX 4090 mobileGPU , with the good part of 10,000 shader units beaver away away at speeds of up to 1.69GHz .
On top of that , there ’s 32 GB of DDR5 - 5600RAMand two 1 TB PCIe 5.0SSDs , and a humungous 18 - inch mini - LED screen . It ’s a compounding that should be equal to of dish out out remarkably immersive gambling experiences . But , you ’re going to have to pay a gamy price for the sumptuousness gaming specification that the ROG Strix Scar 18 offers . Here ’s my full reappraisal .
Design and Keyboard
In terms of design , the ROG Strix Scar 18 follows the same cues as last year’sROG genus Strix Scar 16andStrix Scar 17 X3D. It combine a semi - semitransparent obscure grey plastic plate with an Al chassis , the latter growing more seeable through the charge plate as you get towards the rear . The keyboard surround also has a series of shape to add pursuit on the right - hand side of the laptop , while RGB bars at the front and the rearward give you customisable glow in your alternative of impulse , undulation and coloration - shifting patterns . I ’m not a Brobdingnagian lover of RGB bling bling , but I ’d still have to say that the essence here are seriously impressive .
This is undeniably a big and chunky laptop , measuring closely to 40 centimetre across and 30 cm deep , while 3.08 cm thick towards the tooshie . At 3.10 kilo it ’s not the heaviest gambling laptop I ’ve ever lugged from elbow room to room , but I would n’t fancy bear it around in a backpack all day long , specially with the sum up 750 g system of weights of the power provision . However , it does sense implausibly satisfying , with minimal flex or movement anywhere in the build bar just a niggling in the lid , and some massive hinges to support that sizable 18 - column inch screen .
With the ass dominated by one enormous outlet , all the connectivity can be found on the sides . The left side hosts the exponent socket , a Thunderbolt 4 port with DisplayPort and G - Sync , one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C port , an HDMI 2.1 output , a 3.5 mm audio socket and a 2.5GbE LAN port . The right holds two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A ports , ready to crochet up , say , a shiner and a USB headset . Wireless connectivity is up the minute , too , with triple - band Wi - Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 onboard .
With the extra space allowed by the 18 - column inch screen , Asus has equip a full - sized keyboard with numeric computer keyboard . The chiclet key sense firm , and while the action mechanism is quiet rather than clicky , without the crisp response of a mechanical keyboard , there ’s plenty of tactile feedback and the mechanics feels like it ’s been built to last . It ’s great for gaming , with a set of programmable macro instruction key doubling as audio and fan control at the top , but as good for typing . I ’d brabble about the undersized Shift , Ctrl , Fn and Alt keys on the odd - hand side , not to name the lack of separation for the cursor key , but between the turgid thenar rests and overall feel , I observe I could get real work done on the ROG Strix Scar 18 .
Needless to say , the keyboard is RGB backlit , and Asus claims that inflammation is per - key fruit . However , neither Asus ’s Armory Crate app nor the Windows dynamical Lighting setting enable you to localise specific colours to specific tonality , which surely is the gunpoint .
The touchpad is n’t as Brobdingnagian as the touchpad on the latterly review ROG Zepyhrus G16 , but at 13 cm by 8.5 cm , it ’s self-aggrandising enough for navigating Windows and changing in - game preferences . It ’s also thoroughly responsive , with a shallow click mechanism in the lower section that ’s systematically flying and promiscuous to move .
In fact , there ’s only one real feature here where Asus drops the Lucille Ball ; the baffling decision to go for a 720p webcam at a clock time when even budget laptops are change over to 1080p . Gamers might still need to join video chats and conferences , especially if they ’re buying a laptop computer partly for study use . And while the webcam here does a decent problem of handling coloration and exposure , the image are visibly granular much of the time , and even fuzzy in poor light .
As far as sustainability goes , this is a big , power - hungry gaming laptop with a 330W power supplying , so not exactly the unripe choice unless your point of compare is a desktop play system . However , the cardboard packing material shows Asus ’s continue efforts to go eco - friendly , and the packaging itself is restfully impressive , do the unboxing tactile property like a treat before you ’ve even plug the laptop in .
Display and Sound
For me , the 18 - column inch Nebula Mini - LED screen is the ROG Strix Scar 18 ’s expectant asset . For mundane browsing , productivity work or running creative apps , the combination of the size , the 16:10 aspect ratio and the 2560 x 1600 resolution is a utter fit . For gambling and amusement , it ’s fabulously immersive .
What ’s more , the operation is brilliant . I mensurate the maximum brightness at a moderately staggering 976.6cdm/2 , with which a black luminance of 0.0459 yield you an telling dividing line ratio of 21243.2:1 . It covers 100 % of the sRGB gamut , 99.8 % of DCI - P3 and 91.7 % of Adobe RGB . Colour accuracy is n’t idealistic for design and television app – I could n’t get the Average Delta - E below 2.97 – but it ’s still tolerable for anything bar serious professional work , and reflects a screen door that ’s focus more on delivering blockbuster visuals than tweaking tonal curve to the nth degree .
And blockbuster visuals is what you get in spades . I pass a fair bit of clock time with the ROG Strix Scar 18 player cyber-terrorist 2077 and Destiny 2 , and I have never visualize either game look better than on this laptop computer , with stunning clearness making the most of every detail and grain , and inordinately vibrant colour . The 240Hz maximum refresh rate allows for satiny quiet visuals on game where you may push the frame charge per unit up that far . HDR telecasting looks equally dramatic , particularly from 4 chiliad streaming sources .
The sound is good , but not quite in the same leagues . It go loud , there ’s some godsend and growl for game and movie , and a great horse sense of stereo system separation that almost crosses the line into immersive pseudo - surroundings . Yet there ’s also something more or less muffle about the mid - range of mountains and treble that affects the overall clarity . It ’s unspoiled enough for casual observation and play , but you ’ll want some headphones if you really require to get stick in .
Performance
The ROG Strix Scar 18 is the first ROG Strix Scar laptop we ’ve image with a 14th - gen Intel Core i9 onboard , specifically the 24 - magnetic core i9 14900HX . Last year ’s ROG Strix Scar 16 come packing the 13th - gen Core i9 13980HX , while the AMD - powered ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D featured a Ryzen 9 7945HX3D , along with the same RTX 4090 GPU .
So , does the new bit make a braggy difference ? Well , the 2024 Scar 18 heaps a somewhat staggering 17560 in the Geekbench 6 multi - core bench mark , position it ahead of even the Scar 17 X3D ( 15420 ) and the mightyAlienware M18(14953 ) . However , in the Cinebench R23 multi - core rendering bench mark , it ’s the AMD machine that pulls ahead , scoring 27386 to the Scar 18 ’s 27386 and the Alienware ’s 28034 .
PC Mark 10 does n’t give any of these systems such a massive workout , but here the SCAR 18 scores 7718 to the SCAR 17 X3D ’s 8895 and the M18 ’s 8131 . It ’s a phenomenally brawny laptop computer , but not quite the fast on the block .
Is it different with 3D play public presentation ? Well , the ROG Strix Scar 18 can run Cyberpunk 2077 at a QHD resoluteness with RT Ultra preferences at 39.84fps , compare to 48fps from the Scar 17 . On Ultra or Epic QHD options with noray tracingeffects enable , you ’re look at 105fps in Returnal , 169fps in Rainbow Six : origin and 83fps in Cyberpunk 2077 . The Alienware M18 redeem 113fps in Returnal , 156fps in descent and 98fps in Cyberpunk , while the Scar 17 X3D strike 90fps , 192fps and 104fps respectively .
On counterbalance , the latter is still the fastest of the three machine , but the Scar 18 is still a powerhouse , dishing out playable frame rates at close to the sieve ’s native resolution , and hitting 60fps and over with ray trace turn on andDLSSenabled . This was enough to see Cyberpunk 2077 with RT Ultra preferences jump-start from 36.84fps at the aboriginal 1600p resolving to a fluid 73.58fps .
You certainly wo n’t have to vex about game – or anything else – taking long to lade . The ROG Strix Scar 18 employs two 1 TB SSDs configure as a RAID 0 regalia , and the sequent read and save stop number are amazing , at 13499.7MB / sec and 9247.98MB / sec severally .
Software
Asus is n’t the worst offender when it come to bloatware , especially with its gaming laptop , with only a fistful of additional apps pre - installed , and most of them of unfeigned usance . The MyAsus system direction and update utility program is partly rendered extra by the more gaming and performance - focalize Armory Crate app .
The app gives you leisurely access code to a full reach of rooter control and performance profiles , overclocking choice and inflammation mount , though the crossover with the new Windows dynamical Lighting configurations makes it confusing which configurations Asus controls and which are now centralised under Windows . There ’s also a hatful of info and options on each screen , plus a bunch of different tablet , so it takes a little clock time to work out where you ’ll find specific controls .
Battery life
If you look at the spec and the size and resolution of that screen and expected all - mean solar day battery animation , then prepare for disappointment . Despite pack in a 90Whr battery , it scantily made it through two 60 minutes of PC Mark 10 ’s Modern Office benchmark before curve up its toes and switching off . An time of day of Netflix playback saw the charge level free fall by 32 % , so around three minute of cyclosis is pop off to be your set . Basically , this is the form of laptop computer that needs to pass most of its time in reach of a briny socket , where it can get all the juice it needs .
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Should you buy it?
If it ’s not quite the ultimate powerhouse play laptop according to the benchmarks , it ’s fairly damn cheeseparing . The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 deliver a fantastic play experience , run cutting - edge titles at QHD and 1600p resolution with everything maxed out – albeit with a situation of help from DLSS when need be . The screen makes secret plan look incredible , and it ’s brilliant for television streaming and general use as well .
This big animate being of a laptop computer is nobody ’s idea of a fluid companion , and there are slimmer , unaccented gaming laptop computer out there , such as Asus ’s own ROG Zephyrus G series . It ’s also not the most powerful option out there , with the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D still beat its Intel sibling in some benchmark .
Final Thoughts
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 ( 2024 ) another enormously telling gaming laptop computer from the brand , with an equally immense and impressive screen . It offers excellent carrying out for demand apps and game , with enough force to run most at 1440p or aboriginal resolution , peculiarly if you let DLSS take up the slack when frame rate slide .
All the same , it ’s also fiendishly expensive , not to mention outperform in some cases by other auto . TheAlienware M18could be yours for under £ 3600 ( begin at $ 2,999 in the US ) with near to fit specs . The AMD - poweredROG genus Strix Scar 17 X3Dwas faster in key benchmarks and our gaming tests , and can also be found for less . You should also consider a gadget like theAsus ROG Zephyrus G16 ( 2024 ) , if you ’d choose something more portable and fashionable , albeit less powerful than these aforementioned powerhouses .
The ROG Strix Scar 18 has the great , salutary Nebula screen , but it ’s heavy to say whether this rationalize the extra price . I ’m almost tempted to say yes , commit it ’s the just display I ’ve used on any games machine . It ’s a great selection for those with the very deepest pockets , but not necessarily the best value of them all . For a wider range of picks , have a feel at ourbest gambling laptopsguide .
Trusted Score
How we test
Every laptop computer we review goes through a serial of uniform checks designed to approximate key things , including shape timber , performance , screen character and battery aliveness .
These let in formal synthetic bench mark and scripted tests , plus a serial of material - world checks , such as how well it runs democratic apps .
FAQs
Yes , this 18 - inch option from Asus feature a Mini LED display . That is n’t the case for the whole ROG Strix Scar range , with the AMD - power 17 - inch models now offering a Mini LED panel .
There are many configurations across both range but , in general , the TUF serial publication tends to offer entry - level to mid - range gambling laptop while ROG Strix sit in the mid to high - kitchen range . So , for public presentation , the latter run to be good .
Test Data
Full Specs
