Asus is back with a freshly updated ROG Strix Scar 18 for 2024, marketing it as the biggest, baddest laptop for serious gamers who won’t tolerate compromises. Designed for esports pros first, this massive 18-inch laptop is so delightfully over the top that even its absurd $7999.00 price tag can’t stop me from absolutely adoring it.
This year, Strix Scar 18 gets an updated Intel Core Ultra 14900HX CPU, a minimum of 32GB DDR5 memory as standard and two M.2 SSDs in RAID0 configuration for blazing speed in productivity tasks. And a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 powers an industry-leading and one-of-a-kind 18-inch, 240Hz, QHD Mini LED Nebula HDR display with a whopping 2000 local dimming zones.
This hardware selection guarantees that you’ll be close to or over 240Hz in most games. I spent three weeks with the Strix Scar 18, working and gaming on it and I have loved every minute of it; marvelling at how much power is crammed into this portable(well kinda) machine.
Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 Review
Aesthetically, the updated Strix Scar 18 doesn’t stray from last year’s model. This thing is big, flashy and unapologetically gamery. This is a powerful gaming laptop and it looks like one. The chassis is composed of plastics, some of which are translucent giving it a unique look. Most noticeable is the wrap-around light bar on the front and another ambient bar on the back.
This in combination with the per-key RGB keyboard and Logo on the lid makes this a glorious rainbow of RGB that screams “Look at me y’all”.
The Strix Scar 18 has a ‘full surround exhaust vents design to ensure plenty of airflow to the Tri-Fan cooling system required to keep those components nice and cool. Inside are 7 heat pipes and the CPUU has liquid metal thermal paste. It will take a lot to overheat this bad boy.
At 1.21 inches thick, it’s not as chunky as you’d expect but it is heavy though, weighing 3.1 kilos. You best forget about lugging this one around but weight isn’t the only issue to contend with. The Strix Scar is wider and taller than most laptops so finding a bag to house it will be quite the challenge. At 15-inches wide and 11.5-inches deep, there’s a lot of girth there. You feel it even more when the laptop is open.
The Strix Scar 18 comes loaded with the best ports for connectivity. You get USB Type-C with power delivery and DisplayPort support, as well as a Thunderbolt 4 port which opens up the laptop to Docks for better setup. There are also two USB-A of the faster 3.2 Gen 2 variety supporting 10Gbps transfers and an HDMI 2.1 for 4K 120Hz video output. Hell, the only thing missing is an SD Card reader.
WiFi 6E and Bluetooth are baked in but if you want the fastest internet, there’s a 2.5G LAN port. Finally, for the best audio, there’s a 3.5mm combo audio jack that works with the built-in DAC for Hi-Res audio. Put simply, the Strix Scar 18 is perfectly apportioned to support multiple devices and peripherals as the centrepiece of a desktop gaming setup.
Open the Strix Scar 18 to reveal a full-size keyboard that looks good and feels good to type on. Asus says the keyboard is a professional esports grade built to last over 20 million presses. It has n-key rollover and overstroke technology that registers key presses earlier in the stroke. This makes the keys very responsive when gaming and works great for touch typing.
There are also dedicated gaming keys and everything is customisable in the Armoury Crate software. One cool thing is that part of the keyboard deck is semi-translucent which lets you see some of the components inside the laptop and adds a rather nerdy flair to the whole laptop.
Additionally, there’s a 720p webcam which is honestly unacceptable for a laptop in this price range. You would think Asus would put a 1080p camera for those who intend to stream but I guess not. Speakers on the Strix Scar 18 are still great; they are loud, clear with a good amount of bass.
Display and HDR
The new display on the Strix Scar 18 is hands down one of the best on any laptop, period. I’m team OLED all the way but this Asus Mini LED Nebula HDR is simply stunning. At 18 inches, it’s massive and comes in one resolution of 2560 x 1600 resolution. This QHD resolution is the sweet spot for gaming and allows for crisp graphics and high framerates.
It uses thousands of Mini LED backlights arranged in 2000 local dimming zones which allows the panel fine control over bright and dark areas. It’s not pixel-perfect like OLED but it gets very close. The difference though is brightness and this one has a peak brightness of 1100 nits which is eye-searingly bright.
This makes it perfect for HDR content with some dazzling highlights that OLED can’t achieve while the darks remain suitably dark thanks to all those dimming zones. The picture is super bright with vivid colors that pop and sizzle off the screen.
Blooming is also lower as a result of increased dimming zones but it’s not completely eliminated. So you will still get some blooming around smaller bright elements on screen such as cursor, HUD elements or closed captions. I noticed it far more when working in Windows interface but almost never when I was in games.
Speaking of games, the panel has a 240Hz refresh rate with a 3ms response time and Nvidia G-Sync. Most games will need a little tweaking of the settings but it’s much easier to achieve 240fps in some titles like Overwatch 2, CS:GO and Valorant. Everything runs smoothly and looks gorgeous.
I played a ton of Diablo IV which is an excellent stress test for Mini LED’s given its dark environments and flickering lights. The Strix Scar 18 handled it excellently, with flickering torches shining brightly in dark dungeons. In Ubisoft’s new Skull & Bones, the bright sun over the open see was blinding to look at while the ocean looked stunning. Even more interestingly, this panel supports Dolby Vision HDR though good luck finding enough games that support it.
On the flip side, because the panel is factory Pantone colour-calibrated and supports 100% DCI-P3 coverage, it’s perfect for professional design, photography and video work. It’s funny because I didn’t like the Mini LED display on the smaller Zephyrus M16 but this one on the Scar 18 is Chefs Kiss.
Games and performance
Unsurprisingly, the Strix Scar 18 performs phenomenally across games and productivity tasks. The combination of parts is just too good, not to mention the 2TB SSD’s in RAID 0 which is just insane. Looking at our standard benchmarks, you can see that the Strix Scar 18 absolutely demolishes, easily matching and exceeding an Alienware Aurora R16 desktop PC.
Every game I tested ran well over 100fps with ultra settings at 1440p; only Metro Exodus Enhanced with Ray-tracing came in under that. Throw in Nvidia DLSS 3.5 and Frame Generation and you’ll get closer to that full 240Hz in games that support it. It’s an absolute thrill to actively look for game settings that will make the laptop choke and fail. Yeah, there’s almost nothing this laptop can’t run with ease.
As usual, the Strix Scar 18 comes with a few power profiles to choose from in the Asus Armoury Crate software; Silent, Windows, Balanced, Performance and Turbo. For most of my testing, I kept the Strix in Performance mode which was the best balance of power and noise. Go up to Turbo and you’ll definitely see a boost in performance but at the cost of ridiculous fan noise.
The Strix Scar 18 stays quite cool and quiet under load too. I measured maximum temperatures of 85C on the CPU during sustained runs of Cinebench and mid-60’s when gaming. The RTX 4090 also hovered between 65-69C in games which is perfectly acceptable. I never noticed any thermal throttling over time which is essential for longer sessions of work or play.
And as we all know by now, with great laptop power comes weak battery life and even with its 90WHr battery, the Scar is unreliable away from a power outlet. In my testing, I managed just under 3.5 hours of web browsing and music streaming on battery. Gaming will drop that to an hour at best, depending on what you’re doing.
Asus includes a MUX switch to completely deactivate the RTX 4090 but even with the more power-efficient Intel Ultra Core processor, there’s still that super bright Mini LED display that just sucks battery dry. I didn’t bother with the usual battery-saving tricks because let’s face it, people don’t use them anyway. That said, no one buys this kind of laptop for the battery longevity and I fully expect this to always be near a wall socket for maximum performance.
Verdict
As a gaming and productivity beast, the new Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 for 2024 delivers as advertised. Yes, it’s a big and ungainly and no one will want to carry this around but there’s no denying how great games look and play on this machine. The Nebula HDR display is one of the most gorgeous displays on a laptop and combined with great performance, a great keyboard, all a wealth of ports and you have one of the best gaming laptops money can buy.
And yes, it’s stupid money that makes the Strix Scar 18 all but unattainable to anyone but Asus ROG-sponsored eSports teams. And no, it doesn’t make any financial sense to spend that kind of money on a laptop — you’re better off kitting out a stupendous $4000 desktop rig and still have some change to buy something like the Asus TUF A16 Advantage Edition for mobility.
But all that said, for what it is, the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 2024 is mighty impressive and I love it.
Asus Australia kindly loaned the ROG Strix Scar 18 to PowerUp for the purpose of this review
