Work, play or whatever you want. The new Asus ROG Strix 18 is so powerful that one comes to question “how far” this series of gaming notebooks will continue to advance. This Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 is noticeably more powerful in demanding work and gaming activities than previous Scar generations, and it also cools significantly better with the redesigned thermal module. A beautiful 18-inch screen, good inputs, a familiar ROG design, and a sturdy chassis make this laptop a clear recommendation in its class.
However, at the same time, this is a rather large and heavy device, and it is plagued by some strange design decisions that affect the ergonomics of its daily use. It is the big problem with many of the gaming notebooks, but assuming its design (because it belongs to this category), the team surprises.
Notebook in detail
First of all: this is a notebook with a market price close to 5 million Chilean pesos (something like 6,400 USD or 112,000 Mexican pesos). It is not cheap equipment and even within its category it is quite expensive. In its general characteristics we find:
– NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4090 graphics card
-Windows 11 Home
– 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i9 processor
– ROG Nebula Display
– 18″ display, QHD+ 16:10 (2560 x 1600, WQXGA), 240Hz
– Storage 1TB + 1TB PCIe® 4.0 NVMe™ M.2 Performace SSD
Regarding performance, we find a notebook equipped with a 13th Gen Intel Core™ i9-13980HX processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 4090 GPU with a maximum TGP of 175 W. The SCAR 18 easily handles even the most demanding games.
It also comes with an NVIDIA Advanced Optimus compatible MUX Switch, allowing you to easily harness the true power of your GPU when gaming. With 64GB DDR5 RAM and up to 4TB of PCIe Gen4x4 storage, with the SCAR 18 you can game, stream and create content all at the same time.
full power
It should be noted that thanks to Nvidia’s technology (Advanced Optimus), the laptop can automatically route frames from the discrete GPU directly to the screen via a MUX Switch, bypassing the integrated graphics. This routing improves performance by 5-10% compared to machines without a MUX Switch, ensuring you get the best gaming experience, all without the need to touch a single button.
This automatic switching also preserves the battery life of your machine, as it can dynamically transition between the high-powered discrete GPU and the lower-powered integrated GPU. And the RAMs? DDR5. Thanks to this there is a generational leap in performance to 4800Mhz, with 50% faster write times than DDR4 equipped machines.
But the memory, the speed of the equipment and its clear optimization, is also complemented by its SSD disk. It is a PCIE Gen4 SSD configured in RAID 0. With a raw performance of up to 7000 MB/s. You won’t know what to expect.
Your notebook will not get hot
A permanent complaint in several gaming equipment is the heating of the equipment. But ROG solved very well on this team. To house such powerful components, both the Strix SCAR 18’s chassis and motherboard have been redesigned to accommodate a new full-width heatsink, while the copper fins have been moved even closer to the exhaust vents for achieve more efficient cooling.
This unique heatsink is constructed from three different sections, surrounding the motherboard with densely packed fins for a total surface area of 195,509mm², an 82.5% increase over the 2022 Strix SCAR 17. This design maximizes vias available for hot air to exit the machine and drastically increases overall cooling.
Finally, most gaming laptops feature a dual-fan cooling system, but the SCAR 18 has been able to push the limits of performance even further with the introduction of a third fan that helps keep the GPU cool. and the VRAM. Combined with seven heatpipes and liquid metal Conductonaut Extreme on both the CPU and GPU, the SCAR 18’s cooling system is an engineering marvel.
Be careful with your vents. The entire rear of the machine is in fact one vent, the SCAR 18 retains its side vents, giving it ample opportunity to move hot air out of the system. They even moved the heatsinks closer to the vents themselves, so that hot air exits the machine in a straight line and prevents any recirculation.
New Screen: incredible result
This notebook’s screen has a lot going for it. It’s the Nebula display with a 240Hz refresh rate, 100% DCI-P3 coverage, and a staggering 500 nits of brightness for impressive gameplay. The 18-inch QHD panel with 16:10 aspect ratio delivers stunningly deep blacks to make content jump off the screen, whether you’re watching a movie or playing a fast-moving arena shooter.
The SCAR 18 can also be equipped with a 165Hz Full HD panel, with each option offering fantastic colour, Dolby Vision, Adaptive-Sync support and an 89% screen-to-body ratio for a stellar viewing and gaming experience.
Optimize for play
Finally, we must not forget that ROG has long allowed us to optimize our experience. When you want to adjust the settings, regulate the temperature or play with your laptop, Armory Crate is the command center that will allow you to configure what you require. Real-time monitoring allows you to see what the GPU, CPU, and memory are doing. RGB can be adjusted game by game with Aura Sync.
Fan and power profiles let you change the acoustics, power delivery, and thermal characteristics of your laptop on the fly.
Keyboard with RGB? OBVIOUS.
SCAR 18 has a professional esports grade keyboard designed to ensure victory. Built to last, the Strix SCAR’s keyboard switches are rated to last over 20 million keystrokes, and n-key rollover ensures your system will never lose command, even if you’re pressing multiple keys at once.
The SCAR has a full-size keyboard, with dedicated media controls and dedicated hotkeys that are tuned for Armory Crate and volume controls by default, but can be customized for different functions or macros. And with per-key RGB and full Aura Sync customization, you can personalize however you want.
Audio: great item
Closing with the audio, we can mention that the equipment has speakers with Dolby Atmos, which includes two tweeters and two down-firing woofers to create a true stage for your games: immersion. High-Resolution Audio ensures that you’ll hear your music in the same quality as it was recorded. Two-way AI noise cancellation processes both incoming and outgoing audio to filter out any stray background noise, making sure your calls, chats, and streams arrive without distraction.
Two cables to connect it to the current?
This was one of the details that most caught our attention when taking it out of the box: it came with two cables to connect it to the current. This is the explanation: The Strix SCAR has a 90 Wh battery, which gives it great performance. However, to give you even more flexibility on the go, USB Type-C charging supports up to 100W.
When charged with the supplied 330W power adapter, the SCAR can recharge from zero to 50% in just 30 minutes. One is bigger, the other smaller. Everything will depend on the use you want to give the equipment.
conclusions
The equipment is expensive. But for those who are willing to make that investment, here is a solid alternative. High-end features, top-of-the-line performance, incredible design, and above all, quality. It is undoubtedly a team that will last several years and that has the support of Asus ROG, which is synonymous with quality and gaming experts. A 9/10 only because in other models Asus ROG has already opted for large, more portable notebooks, and here we are again before a great team but continuing with the typical proposal of the “big powerful gamer”. Although honestly, we like it.