Asus’ ROG Strix Scar 18 is an example of the resurgence of massive 18-inch gaming laptops. The RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 Laptop GPUs bring a novel twist to this age-old problem. Asus employs the latest HX series of processors (Intel Core i9-13980HX), guaranteeing you the industry’s swiftest portable computing hardware.
The Strix Scar 18 is one of many massive laptops announced this year, and its stated goal is to replace your desktop computer. The massive chassis has a brand-new cooling system with three fans, which is meant to control the RTX 40 series’ excessive power consumption.
It has a large screen and good speakers, but it needs to be plugged in almost all the time due to poor battery performance.
The design of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18
The dimensions for the Strix Scar 18 are 15.71 x 11.57 x 1.21 inches, and it weighs 6.83 pounds making it bigger that Razer’s Blade 18, yet not as big as MSI’s Titan. It’s obvious from taking a glance at this monster that you shouldn’t have to constantly carry it further than the next room.
There are a lot of RGB Lights and see-through parts of the case; the lid is a dark gray with the ROG logo. However, the aesthetic foundation is understated and quite appealing. The only slightly low-quality details are the sides’ transparent surfaces.
The enormous 18-inch screen is the determining factor in the size of the casing. Yet, it’s not noticeably different to 17-inch displays on the market. These 18-inch screens are slightly taller than 17-inch screens since the aspect ratio has been altered from 16:9 to 16:10.
Soft-touch material was utilized for the keyboard deck, transitioning from a deep black near the edge to a very smoky translucence near the hinge, revealing some of the inner workings. The keyboard deck has been coated with a material described by Asus as “Anti fingerprint coating,” so you won’t leave as many fingerprints behind.
Port selection of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18
There are no ports on the rear of the casing; rather, they are all conveniently located on the sides. In addition, the cable location is not optimal for right-handed mouse users due to the placement of both USB-A ports on the right side near the center. Those who are left-handed may also find the network cable to be an inconvenience.
Thunderbolt is only supported by one of the two USB-C ports (the one closer to the back), and the other only partially supports Power Delivery.
Accessories right out of the box
The packaging contains an extra “Armor Cap,” which may be replaced on the left beneath the display. The cap is magnetically attached and may be intended to allow you to personalize the device.
upon opening the box you are met with the laptop. A massive 330 watt charging brick to give the GPU all the juice it needs is in a different compartment together with some paper works and the whole arrangement of the equipment gives the unboxing a premium feel.
Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 Specifications
| CPU | Intel Core i9-13980HX (8 performance cores, 16 efficiency cores, 5.6 GHz max turbo) |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU (16GB GDDR6, 175W max graphics power, 2,040 MHz boost clock) |
| Memory | 32GB DDR5-4800 |
| Storage | 2x 1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSDs in RAID0 |
| Display | 18-inch, 16:10, 2560 x 1600, 240 Hz “Nebula” display |
| Networking | Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211, Bluetooth 5.3 |
| Ports | Thunderbolt 4, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2x USB 3.2 Type-A, 3.5 mm headphone jack, HDMI 2.1, Ethernet jack |
| Camera | 720p |
| Battery | 90 WHr |
| Power Adapter | 330 W |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Pro |
| Dimensions (WxDxH) | 15.71 x 11.57 x 1.21 inches (399 x 294 x 23.1 mm) |
| Weight | 6.83 pounds (3.1 kg) |
| Price (as configured) | $3,899.99 |
Storage Solution
The Scar 18 features two speedy 1 TB Samsung PM9A1 SSDs in a RAID-0 configuration. There is a minor boost in speed, but it comes at the expense of reliability and increased energy usage.
However, when pitted against the Legion 5 Pro 16IAH7H using the identical RAID setup, the Asus Scar falls short. Yet, this is not the result of heat issues, and the performance holds up fine even while under continual strain.
Gaming performance
All current games at QHD+ resolution and Ultra settings (with or without RT) should run without a hitch on this hardware setup. This RTX 4090 Scar 18 is a significant upgrade in gaming performance over even the fastest gaming laptops of the past, which often included Core i9 HX CPUs and an RTX 3080Ti 175W dGPU.
There is also a noticeable improvement in DLSS performance. Nvidia’s DLSS3 implementation on the RTX 4000 chips has garnered a lot of attention, and for good reason. Unfortunately, DLSS 3 is currently only supported by a select few games (Witcher and Cyberpunk are among them).
If you have an external monitor and want to play games at 4K, you can do so with the vast majority of current releases.
Ray tracing disabled
| Core i9-13980HX + RTX 4090 Laptop 150-175W |
QHD+ Turbo, CPU -30 mV, Ultimate dGPU, on desk |
QHD+ Manual, CPU -30 mV, Ultimate dGPU, raised |
QHD+ Performance, CPU -30 mV, Ultimate dGPU, on desk |
QHD+ Silent, CPU -30 mV, Ultimate dGPU, raised |
| Cyberpunk 2077 (DX 12, Ultra Preset, RTX OFF) |
92 fps (60 fps – 1% low) | 91 fps (65 fps – 1% low) | 88 fps (56 fps – 1% low) | 29 fps (15 fps – 1% low) |
| Doom Eternal (Vulkan, Ultra Preset) |
378 fps (46 fps – 1% low) | 368 fps (70 fps – 1% low) | 316 fps (40 fps – 1% low) | 65 fps (21 fps – 1% low) |
| Far Cry 6 (DX 12, Ultra Preset, TAA) |
120 fps (83 fps – 1% low) | – | 109 fps (74 fps – 1% low) | 34 fps (18 fps – 1% low) |
| Far Cry 5 (DX 11, Ultra Preset, SMAA) |
159 fps (101 fps – 1% low) | – | 144 fps (96 fps – 1% low) | – |
| Metro Exodus (DX 12, Ultra Preset, RTX OFF) |
107 fps (69 fps – 1% low) | – | 102 fps (64 fps – 1% low) | – |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 (DX 12, Ultra Optimized, TAA) |
133 fps (88 fps – 1% low) | – | 121 fps (83 fps – 1% low) | 34 fps (18 fps – 1% low) |
| Shadow of Tomb Raider (DX 12, Highest Preset, TAA) |
153 fps (97 fps – 1% low) | 152 fps (104 fps – 1% low) | 145 fps (96 fps – 1% low) | 47 fps (26 fps – 1% low) |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (DX 11, Ultra Preset, TAAU) |
82 fps (44 fps – 1% low) | 82 fps (48 fps – 1% low) | 75 fps (41 fps – 1% low) | 42 fps (22 fps – 1% low) |
Here are some results for RTX – Ray Tracing performance, with and without DLSS.
| Core i9-13980HX + RTX 4090 Laptop 150-175W | QHD+ Turbo, CPU -30 mV, Ultimate dGPU, on desk |
| Cyberpunk 2077 (DX 12, Ultra Preset + RTX, DLSS Off) |
83 fps (52 fps – 1% low) |
| Cyberpunk 2077 (DX 12, Ultra Preset + RTX, DLSS Balanced) |
124 fps (87 fps – 1% low) |
| Doom Eternal (DX 12, Ultra Preset, RTX On, DLSS Off) |
258 fps (45 fps – 1% low) |
| Doom Eternal (DX 12, Ultra Preset, RTX On, DLSS Quality) |
256 fps (51 fps – 1% low) |
| Far Cry 6 (DX 12, Ultra Preset + DXR reflections / shadows) |
103 fps (68 fps – 1% low) |
| Shadow of Tomb Raider (DX 12, Highest Preset, TAA, RTX Ultra, DLSS Off) |
103 fps (64 fps – 1% low) |
| Shadow of Tomb Raider (DX 12, Highest Preset, TAA, RTX Ultra, DLSS On) |
119 fps (65 fps – 1% low) |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (DX 11, Ultra Preset, TAAU, RT Ultra, DLSS Off) |
41 fps (22 fps – 1% low) |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (DX 11, Ultra Preset, TAAU, RT Ultra, DLSS On) |
72 fps (38 fps – 1% low) |
This post may contain affiliate links which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through links. I will only recommend products that I have personally used! Learn more on my Private Policy page.
