Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 review (Core i9, RTX 4090 gaming laptop)

32 Comments

  1. AlexS

    February 8, 2023 at 5:28 am

    Thanks. A very interesting model.

    Interesting that i did not realised that these 18" have same width as a 17.3" it is just the 16:10 format that makes them 18". So they have more depth/height.
    Hope less expensive 18" with less beefy hardware came out.

  2. Brandon

    February 8, 2023 at 8:58 am

    Thanks for the review! Excellent and detailed testing as best I can tell.

    -Brandon Baldwin
    GizmoSlipTech

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 8, 2023 at 9:06 am

      Thanks Brandon. I'm a fan of your reviews on the tech channel.

      • Arian Sohrabi

        February 9, 2023 at 5:46 pm

        Thanks for great review.
        One question, which gaming laptop has the best battery life for daily activities in your opinion?

      • Andrei Girbea

        February 9, 2023 at 5:51 pm

        I'd go with an option with the biggest possible battery and an AMD platform, if that's OK for your general needs.

  3. Marco

    February 15, 2023 at 3:23 pm

    Hi, I know it may be subjective but… did you find the touchpad position annoying? I mean the fact that is almost entirely on the left side, where the hand will be placed when using WASD for gaming.
    Cause I think it's a very stupid design choice for a gaming laptop, in my opinion, and sadly almost anyone except XMG/Eluktronics seems to have adopted this design, potentially ruining (at least for me of course) very good laptops.

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 15, 2023 at 3:35 pm

      Not really. Palm rejection is good enough so I didn't notice any miss-swipes or miss-clicks. I know that having the touchpad centered under the Space key is bothering some people, but it's never been an issue to me, so perhaps my feedback won't do anything for you and you'd just have to experience this in person somehow.

      For what is worth, the Scar 16 should be a centered touchpad design as it doesn't include a NumPad section in the keyboard. And there are a few other options, just not with 17-18 inch displays.

  4. Jade Empire

    February 15, 2023 at 7:46 pm

    Hello Andrei and thanks for the review. Do you think its safe to buy this laptop on release or is it too risky when being a new design inside and out?

    Are the laptop screen larger than the normal 17 inch laptop or is it the same? I suspect the screen dimensions are the same and that they only removed a small bottom strip on the display so they could call it a 18 inch but in reality its still just a 17 inch display with the same width.

    Thanks.

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 15, 2023 at 7:58 pm

      the screen is 383 x 242 mm. A regular 17-inch 16.9 screen is 381 x 214 mm

  5. Jade Empire

    February 21, 2023 at 1:53 pm

    Andrei do you know if there's any kind of air flow or ventilation where the status LED's are placed? Can I put a piece of black tape of them or will it result in any issues?

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 21, 2023 at 2:02 pm

      there isn't, but tape would look bad imo. Some sort of thicker black permanent marker should do the trick better.

      • Jade Empire

        February 21, 2023 at 2:52 pm

        That's a good idea. I don't yet know if I'll order the laptop but I'm very tempted. Would I be future proofed for the next 3-4 years with that configuration? I plan to keep the laptop for 5 years.

  6. Jade Empire

    March 3, 2023 at 1:57 pm

    Hello Andrei:) I've been reading Reddit and tons of users report extremely loud and annoying coil whine. One user says its as loud as his volume set to 22.

    What are your opinion on this?

    This seems like a major turn off for me. I don't game with headphones and never will. It might just be a deal breaker for me.

    Also do you know if all the top tier 4080/4090 2023 laptops have this coil whine?

    Thanks.

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 3, 2023 at 2:02 pm

      coil whine is random and is a matter of luck, regardless of the brand you're going with.

      As for how loud it is, you have the measurements in the article. As far as I can tell, this is actually quieter on the Turbo profile than other laptops with similar specs. Let's keep realistic here

      • Jade Empire

        March 3, 2023 at 2:24 pm

        Thanks a lot Andrei:) I’m so afraid of getting a bad laptop with lots of QC issues and that it will appear after the return window is closed.

      • Andrei Girbea

        March 3, 2023 at 2:36 pm

        What's your return window? Coil whine should be noticeable from the beginning, as long as you test it properly. I noticed some on some of the ROG units that I'm currently working on, but as I said, it's random so impossible to predict IMO

  7. codyrocco

    March 15, 2023 at 2:20 pm

    So… It seems that the display is HDR capable – but how about Dolby Vision marketed compatibility?
    And what kind of audio capabilities have? What realtek chipset?

  8. Alek

    April 10, 2023 at 12:46 pm

    Thanks a lot for a detailed review of Scar 18 laptop Andrei Girbea! I've also read your review on Scar 17. After reading these, I need your honest opinion. I'm considering of buying either Scar 17 or Scar 18 as a desktop replacement (to replace 10 year old desktop which looks like ancient tech in comparison to these new gen laptops). I'm working in 3D (Cinema 4D + Octane GPU renderer), so GPU is the most important aspect for me (why I need mobile RTX4090). These are paired with top tear CPUs. I like performance of Scar 17 (I kinda prefer AMD's Zen 4 architecture and performance over Intel's I9, specially multicore), but thermal wise, I see Intel has newer and better cooling solution (which is kind of reasonable, considering higher thermal demands on Intel's 10nm). I though they have the same cooling system, but after your review, things cleared up. You've also mentioned once Scar 17 is on a cooling pad or angled for better airflow, temperatures are quite lower. All other specs are quite similar and I do not mind a less capable IPS display of Scar 17 (since it is on pair with my 240Hz Asus 25" displays). Price gap is also higher, Scar 18 available in my country for 4600EUR and Scar 17 for 4170EUR.
    Considering the type of work I've described, would you go for Scar 17 or Scar 18 (please ignore pricing gap from equation, only performance wise and cooling). Thanks a lot!

    • Andrei Girbea

      April 10, 2023 at 1:46 pm

      You should be good with both options. With both laptops placed on a raiser stand (to leave a gap between the laptop and the surface underneath, in order to allow for proper airflow into the fans), CPU and GPU temperatures are mostly the same on both , with a slight advantage for the Scar 18 (see the logs in the gaming section for both models).

      Other than that, I'm not familiar with the software that you're using, so it's up to you to decide which platform doest best. In theory, Intel has a slight edge in single-core performance, and AMD has an edge in multi-core.

      I'd also consider the way the two run with daily activities. The Scar 18 runs a little cooler and this allow the fans to keep mostly idle, while the AMD platform in the Scar 17 runs a littler warmer, and as a result, the fans are active most of the time, even on the Silent profile. For me, this aspect is important, but it might not be for you.

      • Alek

        April 10, 2023 at 2:15 pm

        Definitelly Intel is cooler with better thermal solution. But as I understood from reviews, both of them are not loud in normal use or too loud under heavier load (I'll read again these sections). I'd probably use a cooling pad as well to reduce temperatures and noise. I'd hook a laptop with 2 external monitors (I think total output is 3 external monitors for Scar 17) with a wireless keyboard and mouse and I would be perfectly set. Thanks a bunch for your honest feedback!

  9. [email protected]

    June 2, 2023 at 6:55 am

    Thank you for reviewing this model and doing such a through job of it, I am a fan of your writing and reviews. I have decided between two models the ASus 18 with the i9-13980\4080 or the 4090 But I just cannot justify
    the bump in dollars to the 4090 would you agree? Also the Alienware M18 same specs. The Alienware has one
    spec that is a turn off for me and that is the 300 nits display, Did you notice if the display on the ASUS
    was fine for a brightness level in everyday usage?? Also if you have used the AW M18 did you by chance
    notice a huge difference between the two? Thanks so much in Advance, Wonderful review as always.
    Tracy…

  10. hexaae

    June 14, 2023 at 3:18 pm

    [quote]the F1-F12 writing on the top keys is still not lit[/quote]
    What an absolute nonsense…

  11. Tracy S

    June 18, 2023 at 4:54 pm

    What a great review thank you. I feel very good about my purchase of this laptop after reading your review.
    I have not gotten it yet as it is being shipped from China. I bought the 64gb Ram and 2tb RAID 0 option.
    Seems to me the laptop can hold its own against any others. I did not notice any mention of HDR on your
    review, can you confirm it is capable?
    Thanks aagin for all your work educating all of us it is a huge help.

  12. Tonez

    August 22, 2023 at 2:12 am

    As stated charger is 330W and the USB-C charger is only 100W.

    My Question is Can we use a Razer GaN Power Adapter – 330W USB-C Sharger.

    Or

    Legion Pro has a 330W GaN charger.

    Can any of these be used on the 2023 ASUS Scar 18 Inch 4080 / 4090 GPU.

    Cheers.

    • Andrei Girbea

      August 22, 2023 at 3:13 pm

      No, because theose use different plugs. The size/weight difference isn't that singificant between them, though, so why would you want to use those on the Scar?

  13. hexaae

    September 25, 2023 at 1:09 am

    I'm still puzzled as to why there is a 2nd PRTSCR next to the CTRL key, instead of something more useful (!??)

  14. bittricks

    December 28, 2023 at 3:45 am

    I do not think I will ever purchase any ASUS system with Armoury Crate on it. For a very long time I never had problems with it, but then serious problems last year and this year. Getting infos to figure out the problems, the time & effort to get reliable infos and confirm it, etc – it is just not worth it.

    ASUS made a release of Armoury Crate on 9/9 that immediately began to cause issues for many users, from app crashes all the way to bricked black screen systems.

    It took the better part of 2 months to get ASUS to take the reports seriously. Even then, one has to submit bug reports via a special form only available on specific, official ASUS gaming forums.

    It is just ridiculous how ASUS handles the never ending problems with Armoury Crate.

    • hexaae

      December 28, 2023 at 3:54 pm

      ASUS handles premium products 2-3000+ Euros reports, just like the cheapest 30 Euros headphones! No priority, no premium support, software support for their own buggy products like Armoury Crate nonexistent. Sad but true…

    • Andrei Girbea

      December 28, 2023 at 4:01 pm

      have you used G-Helper?

      Not sure how I could/should cover these potential issues with AC in my ROG articles, but I'm open to suggestions

  15. Andrei

    March 19, 2024 at 3:46 pm

    For anyone following, I’ve been working on reviewing the 2024 Scar 18. Should have that up soon, we ran into some delays.

  16. Hexaae

    May 16, 2024 at 6:11 pm

    I'm in ;) I finally bought it (G834JY i9-13980HX + 4090 256bit 16GB VRAM) and is a great machine indeed!

  17. hexaae

    June 2, 2024 at 3:07 pm

    A VERY BAD *dGPU ONLY* EXPERIENCE WITH OLD SOFTWARE
    Unfortunately, after some weeks, I have to change my opinion on this expensive G834JY…
    For UNKNOWN reasons only recent games run well and smoothly, but if you try older software/games in dGPU only, I mean classic games like Doom 3 or even 2D arcade games with MAME emulator that should be a joke for this beast, well you'll notice A LOT OF NONSENSE STUTERING AND (MICRO)LAGS.
    Not a temp issue (all cpu cores are fine, GPU temps too, nothing wrong apparently) but for some strange reason A LOT of old software runs very bad on this G834JY (and believe me I'm an expert in fixing games for perfect smoothness: I write guides on Steam to help others using 3rd party tools to reduce used cores for older games, DX9-10-11 wrappers and custom tools, NVidia Profile Inspector, Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit etc.).

    I'm really disappointed and searching on the web seems a common and inexplicable issue (google "SCAR 18 G834JY stuttering" and you'll read all sorts of magic -non-working- hints).

    It's a nonsense since I can play recent demanding games like A Plague Tale – Requiem at ULTRA in 2560×1600 with 170fps smoothly but then the good old Doom 3 stutters like crazy, or simple MAME can't keep G-Sync stable and smooth for 80-90's arcade emulation (?).
    Reducing clocks or playing with NVidia Profile Inspector to force no G-Sync/half v-sync, fps cap, change resolution and v-freq, nothing solves these strange stuttering issues with a lot of old software when in dGPU only mode…
    Even UFO Test: Ghosting, online test for video/gpu sync, fails miserably to keep scrolling ufo in sync when in dGPU only mode (it's ok in Advanced Optimus on the iGPU though) with visible jittering and micro-stuttering.

    That's insanse… and I can't understand if that's a common 4090 laptop GPU and its bad drivers (after more than a year?) maybe or is just a ASUS laptops problem!?
    Using official ASUS recommended drivers (I of course checked) didn't fix it, and I've read people reinstalling Win11 from scratch also didn't solve it.

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