ROG Strix SCAR 18 or a test of RTX 4090/Core i9-13980HX combo

Parameters and details

Processors and graphics cards of the latest generations are already available in laptops nicely together, side by side, which also applies to the Asus model series – SCAR 18. We are talking about powerful hardware, or the most powerful, as far as the configuration we tested is concerned. This one features both a top-notch CPU and GPU . Meanwhile, the Scar 18 is a relatively compact laptop considering its high performance.

Evaluation

Asus ROG Strix SCAR 18 G834JY is one of the hottest candidates for laptop of the year 2023. That’s not surprising with the history of this series, and SCARs are the ones I recommend to friends and acquaintances very often. This time, however, the Taiwanese manufacturer has really outdone itself and the intergenerational leap is huge. A new design was really needed after two years, but it still takes your breath away.

The high-end Nebula display has a 16:10 aspect ratio, eliminating the wide chin on the bottom that most gaming laptops still suffer from. The cooling system has also undergone a big change, with one more fan and a new heatsink taking up the entire back. High and stable clock speeds at 230W of total power are a breeze, and the top-notch components in the form of the 13th-generation Core-i9 and the RTX 4090 literally crush the competition.

Sometimes my mind would stop and I would get afraid if the values I was seeing were right. But my sight did not deceive me. In RTX tests, the SCAR is consistently over 50% faster than the GT77 Titan with an RTX 3080 Ti, which was the „Top notch“ laptop of last year. A similar trend continued in the raster tests, where a lead of around 40% was quite common. Then came gaming, where SCAR continues to demolish the competition, again by tens of percent. Whether it is 40, 60 or even almost 100% depends on the specific title. But the raw performance of the processor is also worth paying attention to, and it doesn’t matter if it’s when encrypting, exporting video or 3D rendering. Just as fast as the processor and GPU is the internal storage, which reached up to 11 GB/s read and almost 9 GB/s write speeds.

I can also praise the 6.5 hour battery life and relatively fast charging. But it could have been better if it weren’t for the battery from the smaller SCAR 16 model. Although I would like to give the “slayer” of the GT77 Titan the same award, the SCAR 18 is unfortunately not a device without compromises. Although the elaborate cooling system ensures ultimate performance, connectivity has become a victim. It has moved again to the sides of the laptop and is not as plentiful as the competition. Biometric security is completely absent, which should have at least one representation, if not two as with the GT77 Titan.

Although I praise the return of the webcam to the standard equipment, it is not exactly the best quality piece. I would also expect a slightly greater sense of detail with the keyboard, where the competition is experimenting with mechanical switches, or a richer package would also be pretty good. SCAR 18 is nevertheless a brilliant piece, which, although it is not the ultimate solution, offers 95% of the equipment at a significantly lower price tag than the compared GT77 Titan from MSI. And it is the price that is one of the important factors for us gamers.

English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš

Asus ROG SCAR 18 laptops are on offer in the Datacomp e-shop as well

• Contents
• Parameters and details
• Testing methodology
• Display tests
• Rendering and Geekbench
• 3D/PC Mark and Unigine Heaven/Superposition
• Gaming Tests – Dedicated GPU
• Encryption, encoding
• Memory and storage tests
• Temperature and battery life
• Blender – CPU, CUDA and Optix tests
• Performance modes
• Utility App
• Evaluation