CES 2023 welcomed this year’s laptop generation and with the recent competitive streak that both CPU makers are offering, we’ve seen a growth in performance that saw generational leap in performance for the last 2 years. This also marks a significant development for mobile with rapid development of neural gaming technology allowing larger and faster displays to be utilized more in mobile. Speaking of displays, ASUS ROG is also hot off a year following the reveal of their Nebula display standard which is their in-house standard of certifiying ROG displays deliver large color gamut coverage plus extremely fast refresh rate and response times and a minimum brightness rating.
As with every laptop generation, ASUS ROG comes out with a product that breaks convention. We’ve had the ROG GX800, the ROG Motherboard, the ROG Flow (both X and Z models) and today we now get to see the ROG Strix SCAR 18. Yes, the 18 means its has an 18″ display and it is quite big if you’re not used to large flagships. But here’s the thing: while it is and 18″ laptop, it pretty much follows the previous large case trends of thicker laptops of earlier years wherein 17″ displays where housed inside a further 2″ of plastic and metal landing us pretty much the equivalent of a two 19″ monitor sandwiched together. That’s how it felt to have a flagship gaming laptop in the mid 2010s.
But this time, the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 is easily a blown-up 16″ or a blown-up 14″. Its simple as that. While the size allows ASUS to use a larger screen, it also allows them to use a larger cooling solution. This entrails more thermal headroom which allows the system to use boosting technology which ultimately leads to better performance. And that’s what we’re here to find out. Powered by the latest 13th-generation Intel Core i9 processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, the SCAR 18 is on the bleeding of gaming laptop componentry and is this generation’s current performance flagship for the ROG banner.
Join us as we take a closer look at the ROG Strix SCAR 18.
Specification
| OS |
Windows 11 Pro
|
| CPU |
13th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-13980HX Processor 2.2 GHz (36M Cache, up to 5.6 GHz, 24 cores: 8 P-cores and 16 E-cores)
|
| Video Graphics |
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4090 Laptop GPU
ROG Boost: 2090MHz* at 175W (2040MHz Boost Clock+50MHz OC, 150W+25W Dynamic Boost)
16GB GDDR6
|
| Display |
ROG Nebula Display
18-inch
QHD+ 16:10 (2560 x 1600, WQXGA)
IPS-level
anti-glare display
DCI-P3:100.00%
Refresh Rate:240Hz
Response Time:3ms
G-Sync
Pantone Validated
MUX Switch + NVIDIA® Advanced Optimus
Support Dolby Vision HDR :Yes
|
| System Memory |
32GB (16GBx2) DDR5-4800 SO-DIMM
Max Capacity: 64GB
Support dual channel memory
|
| Chipset | N/A |
| Storage |
1TB + 1TB PCIe® 4.0 NVMe™ M.2 Performace SSD (RAID 0)
|
| Keyboard Type |
Backlit Chiclet Keyboard Per-Key RGB
Touchpad
|
| Optical Disk Drive | N/A |
| I/O Port |
1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack
1x HDMI 2.1 FRL
2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C support DisplayPort™ / power delivery / G-SYNC
1x 2.5G LAN port
1x Thunderbolt™ 4 support DisplayPort™ / G-SYNC
|
| Audio |
Smart Amp Technology
Dolby Atmos
AI noise-canceling technology
Hi-Res certification
Built-in array microphone
4-speaker system with Smart Amplifier Technology
|
| Communications | Wi-Fi 6E(802.11ax) (Triple band) 2*2 + Bluetooth® 5.2 (*Bluetooth® version may change with OS version different.) |
| Webcam |
720P HD camera
|
| Security | Security (Kensington® Type) Lock Slot Intel® PTT for system without Hardware TPM |
| Battery |
90WHrs, 4S1P, 4-cell Li-ion
|
| Adapter |
ø6.0, 330W AC Adapter, Output: 20V DC, 16.5A, 330W, Input: 100~240C AC 50/60Hz universal
TYPE-C, 100W AC Adapter, Output: 20V DC, 5A, 100W, Input: 100~240V AC 50/60Hz universal
|
| Dimensions (W x D x H) | 39.9 x 29.4 x 2.31 ~ 3.08 cm (15.71″ x 11.57″ x 0.91″ ~ 1.21″) |
| Weight |
3.10 Kg (6.83 lbs)
|
