Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 2023 G834JY review - Gaming laptop with RTX 4090

The case is supposed to score with massive use of RGB LEDs and transparent case elements. At the same time, the basic design is relatively discreet and quite attractive. Only the transparent surfaces on the sides look a little cheap. The base unit itself is made from plastic and doesn't give much of a high-quality feel. It also warps slightly when lifting it up. On the other hand, the aluminum display lid is significantly more stable, also giving sufficient protection to the display.

The case size is determined by the giant 18-inch display, exceeding most of the 17-inch laptops significantly. On the other hand, the base unit isn't quite as massive, making the laptop appear a little smaller than it really is.

All the ports are on the left and right sides of the case. Unfortunately, this is less than optimal in desktop operation, since you can always see the cables. In addition, both of the USB-A connections are placed on the right side toward the center, making the cable position less than ideal for right-handed mouse users. For left-handed users, the network cable would be in the way.

We also have some complaints about the connection equipment. Only one of the two USB-C ports supports Thunderbolt, and the other supports Power Delivery with some limitations. In our test, the MacBook Air M1 charger was able to charge the laptop at 30 watts but without the notification in Windows. The 45-Watt Anker Nano 2 did not charge the laptop at all. On the positive side, we also want to mention the 2.5-Gbit network connection.

In terms of communication options, Asus offers a fast Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211 card in the M.2 format for wireless connections and a Realtek RTL8125 chip for wired 2.5-Gbit LAN connections. Both worked without any disruptions in our test, but the AX211 card did not find the 6-GHz network of our Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 router. Unfortunately, Wi-Fi 6E is still a hit-and-miss in our test when finding the network. 

On the other hand, the data rates in the Wi-Fi 6 network are excellent and without any drops.

Asus only offers the usual warranty of one year (two years for the models offered in Germany). A warranty for replacement parts or anything similar is not mentioned.

In addition to the number block, the full-size keyboard used here also includes five special keys above the double-usage F1-F12 row. The chicklet keys offer sufficient key travel and a quiet stroke. During the first typing test, the author reached a good 85 words per minute with 96% accuracy. The built-in RGB backlight of the separate keys can be personalized with numerous animations. In the n-key rollover test, we don't see any limitations (24 simultaneous keys max. reached).

The new 18-inch display scores with numerous features such as G-Sync, 240 Hz, QHD+, fast 3-ms response times, and DCI-P3 color space coverage according to the spec sheet. In terms of brightness, the large 18-inch display doesn't quite reach the promised 500 nits. However, the brightness is definitely always sufficient indoors, and the brightness distribution is also good at 86%. Our test unit does not show any visible backlight bleeding.

In the NE180QDM-NZ2 panel used here, the display brightness is not controlled via PWM, and we did not notice any flickering with our measurement device (across all the brightness levels). We were able to confirm the promised 3 ms response time during the gray changes. To achieve this, Asus uses a minimal overdrive, but we did not notice any negative effects. In combination with the 240-Hz refresh rate, the display is therefore ideal for gaming.

Our test unit of the Scar 18 is able to score several times in the performance measurements. Asus uses the currently fastest mobile graphics card, the GeForce RTX 4090, also enabling the maximum power consumption of 175 watts. Asus also did not cut corners with the processor, using the mobile top model from Intel. The Intel Core i9-13980HX is based on the new Raptor Lake series, offering 24 cores and a maximum boost of a considerable 5.6 GHz. The amount of storage is also considerable with 32 GB of DDR5 RAM. However, at 4800 MB/s the storage speed is slightly lower than in some models from the competitors. And finally, there are also two 1-TB SSDs in a RAID-0 system.

We ran our performance tests in Turbo mode and Ultimate GPU mode. Using this, the RTX 4090 connection is fixed via MUX and overclocked minimally by 50 MHz. In addition, we also tested the Performance mode (default in the state of delivery) and Standard GPU mode (MSHybrid Optimus switching). 

The Intel Core i9-13980HX is the current top model from Intel for laptops. It is based on the new Raptor Lake series and is technically comparable with the Core i9-13900K desktop processor. The CPU contains 8 Raptor Cove Performance cores with Hyper-Threading and a clock speed of up to 5.6 GHz. The smaller Gracemont Efficiency cores do not offer Hyper-Threading and have a clock speed of up to 4 GHz. Altogether, the CPU is able to use 32 MB Level 2 cache and is specified by Intel at 157 watts (PL2) and 55 watts (PL1) TDP. Asus specifies that the CPU runs at 65 watts (PL1), but the PL1 and PL2 values in HWInfo64 show 175 watts. In the benchmarks, the CPU starts out at 175 watts and then runs into the thermal limit at 96 °C (205 °F), after which the TDP is lowered to 135 watts. In Silent mode, the TDP is lowered to 100W / 65W, leading also to a significantly reduced performance.

In our processor benchmarks, the i9-13980HX in the ROG Strix 18 is also able to place barely ahead of the 13900HX and 13950HX CPUs of the competitors. However, this is only the case for the Turbo mode, and in Performance mode, the Strix Scar 18 only places in the middle of the field of the new 13000HX CPUs. But even then, the older devices with i9-12950HX processors are still clearly surpassed.