ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) review

ASUS has recently presented a large number of new products at CES 2024 in Las Vegas, including laptops from various lines. Including powerful gaming models of the Republic of Gamers gaming line. And the new ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) has already arrived at gg for review. Which, judging by the characteristics, is now one of the most powerful laptops. Below we will tell you whether it is really that powerful, what it can do, and how convenient it is to use.

Powerful gaming laptops of the maximum format have always been and are a rather niche category that has a small but steady audience. The new ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) is one of the brightest representatives of this category, both literally and figuratively. It offers an excellent quality 18-inch Mini LED display with excellent brightness and colour reproduction and a 240Hz refresh rate. The laptop's power is more than enough for gaming and any work tasks. Although it's worth noting that there hasn't been a significant performance jump compared to the previous generation. This is due to the same 4000 line of GeForce graphics cards and the very slight differences between the 14th generation of Intel processors and the 13th. The laptop has an efficient cooling system that keeps the laptop running steadily under high loads. And the two M.2 drives in the RAID0 array demonstrate impressive speed. To this should be added a comfortable keyboard, a bright design with RGB backlighting (if you are a fan of such solutions) and a very generous package that includes everything you need and more. Among the complaints, it's worth mentioning the lack of any biometric means of owner identification and the absence of a card reader, given the dimensions of the laptop. And a very budget webcam. Overall, the laptop makes a very pleasant impression in terms of use. However, if you already have last year's top model, the difference in power is not so dramatic that you should replace it with a new one.

The closest competitors include the Acer Predator Triton 17X. It is slightly more expensive, has a similar graphics card, a last-generation Intel Core i9 processor, more RAM and two 2TB drives, and a slightly smaller 17-inch Mini LED screen. And MSI Raider 17, which has a similar price and a very close configuration. But it also has a 13th-generation processor and a slightly smaller 17-inch IPS display.

6 reasons to buy ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024):

• Unrivalled 18-inch Mini LED screen with 240Hz refresh rate
• Excellent performance and very fast drive array
• Efficient cooling system
• Comfortable full-size keyboard
• Sufficient number of modern connectors and wireless interfaces
• Bright design with RGB backlighting

3 reasons not to buy ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024):

• No biometric owner identification and card reader
• Budget 720p webcam
• You have a previous generation flagship model

Quick Transition:

1. What's included with ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024)?
2. What's wrong with the appearance and construction of ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024)?
3. How comfortable is the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024)?
4. How good is the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) screen?
5. What about the performance and battery life of the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024)?
6. In the end

What does the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) come with?

The company's top gaming laptops have an interesting package and unusual packaging. This also applies to the new ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024). It is packaged in a double box: the large outer box is a typical black one with the ROG logo. The inner one is grey with the name of the line and an anime comic on the back. Given the high price, it is not surprising that ASUS decided to provide the future owner of the laptop with everything he or she needs. So, in addition to the laptop, the box contains a backpack, a mouse, a 330W power supply, an additional 100W power supply with Type-C, an additional replaceable Armour Cap and documentation.

Depending on the configuration, ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) can be equipped with different mice, we had an ASUS ROG Impact in the kit.

The bundled backpack has a Rolltop design. It looks interesting, comfortable and roomy.

What about the appearance and design of ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024)?

ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) has a design similar to last year's models. This is a massive 18-inch gaming laptop with lots of RGB backlighting. The laptop is almost entirely made of plastic with a matte surface. Like last year, the working surface is divided into two parts diagonally. The upper part is made of translucent plastic. The lower part is black. The matte finish used is quite successful and does not collect fingerprints too much. In the upper part of the working surface you can see the rather massive hinges for attaching the display unit, two of the four speakers and LED status indicators. Above the main keyboard unit are five additional buttons traditional for ASUS gaming models.

The only metal element of the laptop is the top lid. It is black with a matte finish, which also resists dirt and fingerprints very well. Any traces of use are not conspicuous and can be wiped off very easily. The lid also has a decorative diagonal line and, of course, the backlit ROG logo.

There are no connectors on the back, just a lot of vents behind which is a massive radiator almost the full width of the laptop. A little higher up is one of the RGB backlight zones. On the right side of the rear edge is a replaceable Armour Cap, which has been used in the company's top gaming laptops for several years. You can use the main and removable covers that come with the laptop or print your own version on a 3D printer. The model can be downloaded from of the official ASUS website.

The edges also have ventilation holes, and powerful components require a powerful cooling system. Despite the large dimensions, the set of connectors is not impressive, although it can be called sufficient. In fact, it is similar to last year's 16-inch version (we didn't have an 18-inch one for review). So on the right we have two full-size USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A.

On the left we have a power supply connector, RJ-45 2.5G LAN, HDMI 2.1 FRL, Thunderbolt 4 with DisplayPort support, G-SYNC, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DisplayPort support, 100W Power Delivery, G-SYNC (it is used to power an additional 100W PSU, which is enough for office tasks) and a 3.5mm combo audio jack. It has everything you need, but a card reader would be very useful, as these laptops are not only used for gaming.

The front of the laptop has another RGB backlight area.

The laptop has a very thin bezel around the perimeter of the screen. It has rubber inserts for additional protection of the matrix. There is a small protrusion in the middle of the top, which is designed to make it easier to open the laptop. It also has two microphones and a webcam with a work indicator. It has a resolution of only 720p. It seems that ASUS's logic is that streamers have a separate high-quality webcam. But given the price of the laptop, the budget webcam still looks a little strange.

The bottom cover of the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) is made of two-colour plastic and has many stylised holes for the cooling system. There are rubber feet along the entire area for good fixation of the laptop on the table. The lid is secured with 11 screws, the front 4 are slightly shorter. Under the lid, the user will have access to two SO-DIMM slots for RAM and two M.2 slots for SSDs.

ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) is a powerful laptop with a large screen, such as those usually used as a desktop replacement, so the weight of 3.1 kg is quite justified, as are the rather large dimensions: 399x294x30.8 mm. The design is typical of modern gaming models and has a lot of RGB backlighting with customisable settings and support for AURA Sync. It can be switched off completely if desired. The laptop is well assembled, the panels do not bend too much, especially considering their size. All parts fit perfectly.

How comfortable is the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) to use?

The ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) display unit is attached with two hinges that allow you to open the laptop by about 110°. It may not seem like much, but it's enough for a gaming model. The display is well fixed and hardly shakes. The large dimensions made it possible to install a full-size keyboard with an additional NUM pad. The top row of function keys is slightly reduced in height and divided into groups of 4 buttons, as in standard separate keyboards. Above the main keyboard block there are 5 additional keys to control the volume, mute the microphone, change the cooling system mode and launch the proprietary Armoury Crate software. You can also configure macros for these buttons. The power button is separated from the main key block and is located above its upper right corner. Unfortunately, there is no fingerprint scanner, nor is there an infrared camera for owner identification. So you will have to enter a password every time. The navigation block is not separated from the other keys in any way. The arrows have standard sizes, so the right Shift is slightly shorter.

The buttons have a full stroke of 2 mm and a small depression of 0.15 mm. It is claimed that the life of the switches is 20 million keystrokes. The keyboard is capable of handling an unlimited number of simultaneous keystrokes. It has RGB backlighting with individual settings for each key and support for ROG AURA Sync synchronisation. The keys have a pleasant, tangible and informative stroke, and it's convenient to use.

The touchpad has a good glass surface and excellent sensitivity. The dimensions of the touchpad are hardly large, but in general it is enough for all basic tasks. And for gaming and work, there is a bundled mouse.

How good is the screen on ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024)?

ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) is equipped with an 18-inch Mini LEDdisplay ROG Nebula HDR Display with a matte finish. The peculiarity of Mini LED is that the screen backlight is a matrix of 2304 small LEDs with local dimming support. This allows for a very high level of brightness and static contrast. On Mini LED, black looks really black, and in general, the picture is very similar in quality and saturation to OLED. The screen has a resolution of WQXGA (2560 x 1600), an aspect ratio of 16:10. ASUS promises colour coverage of 100% DCI-P3 space, refresh rate: 240 Hz, response time: 3 ms, the display is Pantone certified. It promises a maximum brightness of 500 cd/m2 and a peak brightness of 1100 cd/m2, it supports the HDR Dolby Vision standard and G-Syncframe rate synchronisation. The ROG Armoury Crate app has quite a few useful display settings. These include panel overdrive, power saving (reducing the refresh rate), multi-zone backlighting (when switched off, the screen works like a regular IPS). In the Game Visual section, you can choose from eight picture presets, adjust the colour temperature, select the colour gamut mode (DCI-P3, sRGB, etc.) and calibrate the screen if you have an X-Rite i1 Display Pro calibrator.

According to my own impressions, the screen is excellent, with very high brightness, extremely rich colours and maximum viewing angles. Hardware measurements fully confirm the observations. Themaximum brightness is higher than stated and amounts to 574.114 cd/m2. The colour space coverage is much wider than sRGB, and the colour temperature and RGB components are very close to the reference values.

What about performance and battery life?

Traditionally, the ROG Strix SCAR lineup receives the most powerful components available. The ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) with the top mobile processor Intel Core i9-14900HX of the 14th generation Raptor Lake, manufactured using the Intel 7 process, arrived in the editorial office of gg . In total, it includes 24 cores and can process up to 32 threads. 8 powerful cores operating at a frequency of 2.2 to 5.8 GHz and 16 energy-efficient cores operating at a frequency of 1.6 to 4.1 GHz. Cache - 36 MB. The standard TDP level is 55 W, but in Manual mode it can be raised to 65 W. The processor has an integrated graphics accelerator Intel UHD Graphics (32EU) with a frequency of up to 1.65 GHz. RAM - 32 GB DDR5-5600 (2x16 GB), works in dual-channel mode. The laptop supports up to 64 GB, both SO-DIMM slots are available to the user. Wireless interfaces: Bluetooth 5.3 and fast Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) (triple-band) 2x2. There is also a LAN port supporting speeds up to 2500 Mbps. The discrete video accelerator used is the top-of-the-line NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop with a frequency of 1455 - 2040 MHz and a boost to 2090 MHz. Standard level of TGP up to 150 W, supported by ROG Boost with an increase in TGP up to 175 W. Video memory capacity 16 GB GDDR6. The laptop is equipped with a multiplexer MUX Switch for direct connection of the graphics card to the display to reduce latency and increase performance. Supports NVIDIA Advanced Optimus technology for automatic MUX Switch switching.

ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) Synthetic Performance Tests

Performance test results show that ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) is a very powerful laptop that is enough for any heavy-duty task. Gaming, processing heavy 3D graphics, editing, etc. This applies to both processor and graphics tests. But compared to last year's model, the difference in processor tests between the Intel Core i9-13980HX and the new Intel Core i9-14900HX is minimal. This is quite expected, given the very similar characteristics.

ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) Cooling and performance stability

The ROG Intelligent Cooling system is similar in design to last year's ASUS ROG Strix SCAR. It includes a massive three-section radiator with ventilation holes on three sides of the laptop. The total area of the radiator fins is 195,509 mm², which is 82.5% larger than the Strix SCAR 17 2022 model. There are three fans in the laptop, one of which blows the video chip and video memory. There are seven heatpipes, and Conductonaut liquid metal is used as a thermal interface on both the processor and the graphics chip.

The AIDA64 stress test showed that at maximum load, the components initially warm up to about 97°, and after the cooling system adapts, the temperature remains at 80°, the laptop works stably without throttling. The maximum frequency is slightly less than 5.2 GHz, and the average is about 4.2 GHz. The noise of the cooling system at maximum loads is noticeable, but it is not annoying and does not exceed the laptop's audio system in volume. The working surface hardly heats up, so there will be no discomfort during long gaming sessions.

Drives ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024)

ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) has two SSD slots M.2 with PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMeinterface, supports two 2TB drives each. The configuration in the review uses two SSDs in an array RAID0.

Thanks to the use of RAID0, the drive system demonstrates impressive speeds that can be compared to new, not yet mass-produced PCIe Gen5 SSDs. In some cases, the read speed can reach almost 14,000 MB/s, and the write speed can reach about 12,000 MB/s.

The laptop's performance is enough to play any modern game at maximum graphics settings with high frame rates.

• Cyberpunk 2077. Maximum settings, including path tracing. DLSS in automatic mode. 80-100 FPS.
• Ghostrunner. Maximum settings with ray tracing. No DLSS. 90-115 FPS
• Ghostwire: Tokyo. Maximum settings with ray tracing. Without DLSS. 64-73 FPS
• Callisto Protocol. Maximum settings, tracing at maximum: 70-80 FPS
• The Ascent. Maximum settings, with ray tracing, DLSS in quality mode: about 95-115 FPS.
• Witcher 3 (updated version). Maximum settings with ray tracing: 70-85 FPS

ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) battery life

ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) has a 90 Wh battery. You can't expect good battery life from powerful gaming laptops. The model under review lasts a little over 4 hours when working with documents and a browser at low brightness in power saving mode. Games drain the laptop in an hour. Of course, the performance is limited and it's not comfortable to play the most demanding games. With a 330W PSU, the laptop charges fully in just under 2 hours. For office needs, you can use a 100W Type-C power supply.

ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) Audio System

The laptop's audio system includes 4 speakers and supports Dolby Atmos virtual surround sound. The sound quality and volume margin are very good. It's quite comfortable to play without headphones. There is bass (albeit a little), so watching a film or video is quite comfortable.

ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) Software

All the main settings of the laptop are made in the proprietary ROG Armoury Crate application, which we have long been familiar with. The functionality is standard: laptop performance modes (including manual mode), backlight settings, AURA Sync, macros, updates, etc.

Four things you need to know about ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024).

• ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) is a powerful gaming laptop with 14th Gen Intel Core i9 and GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop.
• It has a great 18-inch 2560×1600 Mini LED screen with a refresh rate of 240 Hz.
• It has an efficient cooling system.
• It is possible to upgrade SSDs and RAM.

For those who want to know more:

• ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2023) review: lightweight gaming champion
• Acer Predator Helios 16 review
• ASUS Zenbook Pro 14 OLED (UX6404) review: a compact laptop with Intel Core i9 and GeForce RTX 4060
• Lenovo Legion Pro 7 review: a powerful gaming laptop with Intel Core i9 and RTX 4090
• Mobile gaming on Windows: ASUS ROG Ally with AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme review